Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-12

tue administration or the Chinese eXclu-
sion laws is a delicate matter. al best il
| reports and other records on file in the bu-
| reau of immigration are to be accepted as
evidence Commissioner General Sargent
devoted pages upon pages in his last two
annual reports to this perplexing problem.
and today he declares that great progress
has been made. But. while much has been
done, the problem is by no means solved
| The commissioner says that the extent of
trickery resorted to by Chinese DESTROYS of
admission to the United States Is almost
past belief
Claim to Be Natives
THE chief means of violating the law"
| said the commissioner general, 'is to in
| struct Chinese applicants for admission to
cross the land boundaries boldly submit to
| arrest for having entered through some
other than lawful port. and, upon trial
! before a United States commissioner. to
/ claim that they were born in the United
/ Slates-To support this claim abundant
| Chinese testimony is offered upon the point
| at issue. which it is hardly necessary to
| state that the government is unable TO re-
| fGte. Its only recourse is to cast dScredt
| upon the witnesses by showing inconslst-
| encies as to details of their evidence upon
| the same point. Failing to succeed in this,
for the Chinese witnesses have as a rule
| been thoroughly drilled beforehand the
| prisoners In most instances have been dis
! charged-not. be it observed, as admissible
| Chinese, but as American citizens. In those
| instances in which the trial officer decides
| fayorably to the government the Chinaman
| affected thereby always has a right of ap-
| peal to the United States district court
| right which he rarely fails to avail himself
| Of provided he can raise the necessary
amount to satisfy attorneys of the class
who make speciality of such practice The
| government at no stage has such right of
! appeal, and in the ma jority of cases. there
| Tore the omm.sSionerS of the United States
| courts are. in effect. doing that thing which
| is expressly forbidden by law and treaty,
| to wit. naturalizing Cinnamon.
Released on Bail
| Another evil resulting from the right of
appeal granted Cinnamon is the practice of
| the courts of allowing them to go at large
| on bail pending the hearing of such appeal.
| BY this means frequently there is substitute
! ed for the Chinaman bailed some other
| Chinaman who is willing to return to China
| at the expense of the government. Thus
| there results both an entry in violation of
| law and a fraud by which the government
| pays for a trip home of the substituted
| Chinaman."
| This last abuse is due directly to the diff
| Guilty in distinguishing one Chinaman from
| another, in the coolie class. The Bertllon
| system of examination and measurement
| has been applied with considerable success
| recently and il is now much more difficult
! for the Chinese to fool the inspectors. The
recent order of the Secretary of Commerce
| and Labor, affecting the use of the Bertil
| Ion system, does not apply to the coolie
| class. They are photographed and meas
ured the same as before, but great care Is
being exercised that no merchant or other
member of the exempt classes is subjected
to these embarrassing examinations. AS
stated in The Star recently, this care is so
pronunced that in many instances Chinese
not entitled to admission are passed into
this country merely because the inspectors
are afraid of making an embarrasst mis-
take. 1t is much more preferable from their
point of view to pass and admit China
man not entitled to admission than to hurt
the feelings of a member of the exempt
class And since the order of the President
this is particularly the case. the in
spectors said to be afraid of their Off
cial heads.
In endeavoring to prove their nativity in
the United States a great many Chinese
claim to have been born in San FranCisco's
Chinatown. The conditions are such there
that 1t is almost impossible to disprove
such a statement, and one of the federal
judges in San Francisco has gone on rec
ord as saying that If all the stories told in
the courts concerning births In Chinatown
were true every Chinese woman who was
in this country twenty-five years ago must
be the mother of at least 800 children
Nations Political Life Affected.
One of the inspectors of the immigra-
ton bureau. in discussing this point, said:
BY this method thousands of Chinese
upon the admission OF the Chinese them
selves-have been allowed not only to en-
ter and remain in the United States but
declared to be native-born citizens thereof
each with a vote and qualified to partici-
pate in the political affairs of this country.
The evil done to the commonwealth of
the United States in this phase of the ad-
mission of Chinese cannot be ovestil ted.
Every Chinese who is admitted as native
born is entitled to a vote and to all the
franchise and election privileges of Ameri-
can citizenship. Coolies who have never
seen the shores of America until they came
here on a ship have been able to avail
themselves of this method to enter and re-
main in the United States as American
citizens. Coming here as full-grown men |
in great many instances, and not speak |
ing word of English, they leave our jais !
soon after crossing the Canadian border |
qualified to take part In elections to die |
tate, far as their numerical strength |
will give them power. the future character |
of our government There are notable ex- |
ceptions, but the character of the classes I
of Chinese who have been here for some !
time shows what would be their Influence !
in public affairs if entrusted with the re- |
SpOnSibilitieS of citizenship, or if they only |
exercise the influence they possess as
voters. Chinese may be expected to vote |
for China whenever China should be an |
issue. On all other occasions the franchise
would be converted into a commodity Of !
fered to the highest bidder, for the reason
tertained. 1t presents a subject that goes
far beyond the economics of labor. The |
very political life of our nation is affected |
by this method of admitting Chinese.
Chinese Scheming Quietly.
How far-reaching the effect of such
method is can be appreciated only when
1t is borne In mind that not only the Chi
nese who may be thus admitted made
citizens. but also their alleged children,
though born in China. With the same
kind of Chinese testimony there is prac-
tically no limit to the mum Der that might |
be imported on that ground. That they |
have not as yet come forward in consider
able numbers as voters is not a criterion
by which to judge either the number eligi-
BILE to vote or their inclination to avail
themselves of the privileges of their ac-
auired citizenship. 1t Is the nature of the
Chinese to work quietly and persistently,
and at the right moment. when the num-
Der is large enough to constitute a balance
of power. the votes will be forthcoming. /
know that they appreciate this, and that
they are working quietly toward that end. !
wives OF bona nde Chinese natives OF
the United States have been declared 20 lie
4G.1 ssF VE..R II ff,1