Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-02
CHINESE MAN OF
POWER ARRIVES
WONG F0NG TELLS OF WAR
RING T0NGS
influential Man Describes Methods OF
QuelIine Highbinder Disturb
ances-Arbitratio Proves
Successful

Cnat the lOcdi CHllhtoWh AZ DOAh"' 'NNAo
itself as 1t should.
Mr.. Fong has to his credit the ur-
usual record Of having single handed
broken the terrible power Of the high
binders in San Francisco and Oak
land and of having inaugurated a sys-
tenn Of government among the warning
tongs, the like of which would make
The Hague tribunals and the Carnegie
peace conference look like orphan boys
at circus.
Fong's star of power loomed
big in the blue skies about three years
ago when the daily reports OF the
highbinder wars were causing the San
Francisco and Oakland police officials
to stay awake nights.
1t was then that Fong was recog-
nized as the ablest Of all the Cnlnese
and the supreme power was passed
over to him. About that time the
tongs began to get along better, the
murders and terrible atrocities came
to a sudden stop and Fong as chief die
tator and supreme power on the coast
kept the Chinese lid on and kept II on
tight.
Is Swell Dresser
Yesterday there was general dofiing
of hats in Chinatown as the big ceies-
tial made his appearance. Fong
dresses in such exquisite taste that II
he were an American he would be
social leader, but being a celestial ne
Ia a man to marvel at. His clothing
is of the latest cut and fashion of i'm
ported goods and made by the best
tailors.
His shirt makers are marvels OF the
shirt makers art and one garment ior
Fong costs as much as the Ordinary
white business man spends 1or MS
ne ehi iv@td q
are In exquisite harmony with the rest
Of his clothes and his socks OF the
most carefully worked silks and linens
And Fong has heaps and heaps OF
such garments, for they are his hoppy.
Incidentally he has enough JeWelry 70
stock a jewelers. establishment, put
ali he wears in that line is great
four karat white diamond for a finger
ring and a stone Of smaller size In MS
scarf.
So. in all the glory Of his apparel. Mr..
Fong arrived in Los Angeles.
conquers Highbinders
Fong Yesterday told for the first time
how he managed to break the pack-
hone of the highbinders and the story
reads like a duplicate of some OF the
careful engineering that has been nee
essary to put the great American gov
ernment in it's present positlon.
"When I first came into power things
| were In pretty bad shape" said Fong
| In soft voiced English that would have
made him the idol of eastern drawing
4 rooms had he decided to be soclal
lion rather than the champion or MS
people.
of the tongs were killing promiscu-
ously and the Chinese were pelns
blamed generally for such perform
ances and 1t was necessary to put q
stop to it. Contrary TO tne genera
| idea people have Of highbinders, tney
are not men who go about killing pc
cause thew are mean and want to XIII.
on the other hand they are often SOFT
hearted Fellows who have to make
living somehow and who when tney
can get nothing else to do sign up
contract to act as messenger or Late
for some tong or secret society: Inc
duties of a highbinder are to XIII Wno-
ever and whenever the tong dlrects.
In that way when a highbinder muruer
;s Committed it is sure sign that the
tongs are in state of unrest and asi-
Tells of Peace Methods
"T had some influence with the six
great companies Of San Francisco and
thew in turn direct absolutely the
fortunes of the smaller tongs that cling
to them for support and protectlon. 1
went to them and made a proposltlon
of neace and after some months l
have finally secured its adoption and
now, with few small details yet un-
completed, we have a perfect system
of government among the tongs SO as
to prevent trouble.
"iTor instance, if under the old sys-
tenn two tongs quarreled, they went
To war and the killing began. Now II
a tong has a grievance with anotner
TONG the representatives OF the ag-
grieyed tong go to the offenders ana
thew arbitrate and have settlement
In which there Is no blood shed. That
is the system which I have tnaugu-
rated. II the two tongs cannot settle
the question, then the representatives
of all the tongs, in other words, OF the
six companies, come In and sett!e ths
AFFAIR. Their settlement is final ana
woe be to the tong that attempts to
object to that settlement. In that way
the highbinders are dying of starva-
tion or are going to work. for the KILL
ing days are over.
Saws Chinese Are Prosecuted
"The Chinese in the north are pc
ginning to prosper again, but IL MIS-
my heart with sadness TO see tne COIL
dition prevailing in the south. In Los
Angeles the Chinese are being treateo
IN a manner you might call badly.
This Is the only city where the chi
nese are being continually hunted ana
made to show up their papers. In the
other cities so long as Chinese be-
haves himself and attends to his busi-
ness he is not bothered by the federal
officers. In Los Angeles another method
Is used and the poor yellow boys are
kept on the jump all the time and
never allowed any rest. Now If they'd
leave them alone the Chinese would
be much happier. What Is tne use oI
treating them that way when once
thew are settled In this country and
are behaving themselves"
Mr.. Fong will be in Los Angeles two
weeks before going north.