The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-01-26
n ENFORCE TREATY
JAPANESE SCHOOL QUESTION IS
NOW In COURT.
Mandate Issued By California SUI
nreme Court at Request of At.
torney-General of the United
states..-Case Will Be One Of
Great Importance.

con Francisco. Jan. 21.-The first
.o+ion in what promises to be one of
.he most important legal battles in The
hiotory of the United States between
-,ato Of the Union and the federal gov
srnment. was taken when the supreme
sonrt Of the state of California issued
w alternative writ of mandate COM
handing Miss Mary A. Deane, princi-
nal of the Redding primary school, to
Omit Keikei Aoki, 1O-year-old Jap
anese boy, as a pupil in her school or
onnear before that court at 10 o'clock
February II to show cause why she
should not admit him.
The order was signed by every men,
her of the supreme court. This action
Of the supreme court was in answer to
The petitlon of the United States dis
trict attorney, Robert T. Devlin for
writ of mandate against Miss Deane
following the latter's refusal to admit
Young Aoki to her school.
Attached to the petition for writ
Of mandate is a request by United
States Attorney General Bonaparte to
the effect that the United States be
made party of record for the purpose
of enforcing the treaty with Japan.
The Issues Involved
State rights, the treaty of the Uni
tes States with Japan, the validity of
the order issued by the San Francisco
board of education and the constitu-
tionality of law of the state of Cali
fornia, as we'll as the Interpretation of
the word Monaghan, are involved in
the two suits.
Every phase of the trouble arising
over the exclusion of the Japanese
from the schools attended by whites
by the board of education is mention
ed in the petition for writ Of man
date. After reciting the age of the
boy, the fact that the Redding pri-
mary school, which he attended until
excluded by the resolution of the
board of education, is the nearest
school to his home, and that the Or
iental school is six blocks further
away, the petition asserts that the
Aoki child, although Japanese, is not
an Indian, nor is he Chinese or
Mongolian, implying thereby that the
state law requiring the segregation Of
those races in the public schools does
not apply to the Japanese.
Violation of Treaty Alleged
The document sets forth that the
resolution passed by the board of edu-
cation, including the japanese in the
segregation with the other races, is a
discrimination against the Japanese
and denial to the latter of the rights
and privileges and liberties granted by
the state of California to subjects OF
the most favored nations, and that the
acts complained of are in violation OF
tie treaty now in force between the
United States and Japan. A copy Of
article of the treaty is attached to
the petition.
A contention which heretofore has
not been mentioned in this controver.
sy between the state and federal gov.
ernments is the claim that the federal
government by land grants and ap
preparations of money has helped te
support the public schools of this
state, as contained in the following
section of the petition:
THAT the United States has at var
lous times made grants of land and ap
propriated money to the state of Cali
fornia for the support Of the public OF
common schools of said state, the last
provision for which was made by ar
act of congress approved June y, 1905,
OF all of which various acts it prays
that this court will take judicial To-
tlce, all of which grants and appro
priations were made with the under
standing and intent that said schools
should be conducted in conformity
with the constitution of the United
States and to all treaties made unde,
the authority of the United States.
The second suit is very compre
hensive bill in equity filed by the Uni
ted States in the federal circuit court.
The allegations in both proceeding
are substantially the same, but in thu
bill in equity the various facts upor
which the government relies are SCI
out at greater length. In both pro
ceedings the government alleges thu
execution OF q treaty with Japan il
1895 which provides that, in what
ever relates to the rights of residence
and travel the subjects Of each part!
to the treaty shall enjoy in the terri
tories Of the other ''the sape priv
leges and rights as the citizens OF thi
nation.n