The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-14
TERRITORIES AND CHINESE

"hlte ne was therefore black, that be-
ing black, he was therefore a negro
within the meaning of the California
| statute, which excluded negroes from
the witness stand.
And in order to clineh the matter
the court further decided that when
Columbus discovered America he was
looking for India and supposed that he
had found it. That he, therefore,
called the aborigines Indians" That
the term was generic; that India and
! Asia We're convertible terms; that
| Chinaman, being an Asiatic was
| therefore an Indian, and being an In
/ dian, was prohibited by law from tes-
| tifying against a white man. and so
! Mr.. Hall, the prou Caucasian, who
had been improperly convicted on ne
| gro-Indian testimony of shooting a
| Chinaman into glory, was ordered to
be released.
Later this class of legislation was
swept from the statute books, and
Chinaman was allowed to testify, but
courts and juries reserved the privil-
eye of not believing him.
/ The Chinese are cunning as we'll as
bland, and they entirely appreciate the
nice points of a lawsuit. I have had,
In the course of my practice, a few
Chinese clients, but none do I bear in
mind more cool and collected than
Sam Lee. He was highbinder, fam
tan dealer, fist and gun fighter, and
an all-around Chinese bad man. He
!, was accused by fellow Celestial of
assault with intent to commit muir
der, and I was employed to defend the
accused. The prosecuting witness was
a little weakened old Chinaman. who
comprehended no English and testified
through an interpreter. He mounted
the witness stand with woebegone
features and his arm in a sling, from
the effects of a wound inflicted by my
client. From what Sam Lee had told
me had little hope of securing his ac-
quittal, unless could break down or
exclude the testimony of the prosecu- |
ting witness. With this laudable end |
in view I asked of the justice the priv |
ilege of examining the witness on his |
voir dire. His honor did not know ex- |
actly know what voir dire was, but |
I was persona grata in his court, and |
he blandly granted my request.
ASK this man. said I to the in |
terpreter, eff he understands the ma |
ture of an OATH.
The accomplished linguist who rem
dered the Chinese vernacular into |
pigeon English and transformed En-
glish slang into pigeon Chinese, jab-
bered away for a moment, received
the reply of the witness and responded:
''All light: he say he sabe."
We'll, if he understands the nature
of an oath, let him explain it,
Again the interpreter jabbered, ard
again the witness responded in Chi
nese.
HE say suppose he tell lie, Mclean
Judge send him States plison, ana
bye and bye. when he go die, he go
stIaight to helle.''
''And what said I, will happen To
his if he tells the truth?'
The witness responded with more of
animal ton than before, and pointed his
uninjured arm at ny clien-, sam Lee
and the interpreter, with face like q
craven image, and as if unconscious
of the death blow he was inhicting !
upon my case. replied: He say, sup
pose he tell tluth, Mclean Judge send
Sam Lee States plison."
But he didn't, because Sam Lee had l
three witnesses who testified that the +
little, old Chinaman was the aggressor /
in the ARRAY.
AAA 7
When the suits brought by the I
United States to condemn land at
Pearl Harbor for Notifications were be- =
value Of the land taken. and this in I
urn. depended upon it's worth for ag- q
.icultufal purposes. The counsel for =
he owners of the land insisted that =
.rops had been raised upon it, and Of q
cred as one witness a Chinaman who n
n former years had leased and cult n
-ated the land. The court refused to I
Omit the evidence, saying: THE court A
nd the jury have been on the land and il
re all know that nothing will grow Oh 7
t. If you wish to prove to the con- o,
rary. you must do it with white wit t.
Iesses; 1 will not listen to Chinese h
sstimony on the subject" AS it hap n
ened. there were white witnesses and Il
heir evidence confirmed the statement n
hat a crop had been raised upon the e
and. cl
On another occasion when trying cl
ankruptcy case in which one of the
etitioning creditors was Chinese
orporation, the same judge refused 70
low the books of the corporation in "
violence. because they We're kept IN CT
hinese. 1--WE are now" said he. ian III
merican Territory. b
On still another occasion a Chinese TT
Iilding contractor living and doing b
1siness in Honolulu. and having many IN
zen in his employment, sent to China a
IT woman who had been betrothed W
, him since boyhood. According to TT
hinese custom and law they were &C
arried in China before she departed, m
10 bridegroom being represented py st
: mother. Arrived at Honolulu. the
oman was detained and her deporta-
on TO China demanded under the pro- h.
sions of the exclusion act. A writ oh