The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1908-08-21
THE RIGHT OF JAPANESE
TO NATURALIZATION
Crrom wednesdays Advertiser,

|
anesc are entitled to naturalization
seems likely to arise in Hawaii. Ma
sakechi Suzuki, Japanese, appeared
in the Office of the clerk of the United
States District Court yesterday and,
presenting a certified copy of the rec.
ord of the United States Circuit Court
for the southern district of New York,
showing that he had duly declared his
intention of becoming citizen of the
United States in that court, applied for
his second papers, which would consti-
tute him citizen of the United
States.
The certified copy was signed by
and bore the seal of the court. 1t
showed that the declaration of inter-
tion had been made June 2, 1906.
In reply to questions by Deputy
Clerk Murphy, Suzuki said he had
first come to the United States in 1856,
arriving at that time in San Fran
cisco. After living there three years
he had gone to Seattle, and later to
Los Angeles, and had then come to Ho-
nolulu, where he lived twelve years,
and then went to New York, where he
lived for two years, and then returned
10 I1OHOlulu I1c ItltTIcu " N. II.
Trent, Secretary Il. A. Mott Smith, and
Peter High, for the latter of whom he
is now working. He has been employ
1 ed by s. c. Allen, Ii. NJ. Dow and j.
NJ. Dowsett.
REFERRED TO WASHINGTON.
Clerk Murphy asked the advice of
United States District Attorney Breck-
ons, and Suzuki was told to come again
this morning. Meanwhile the matter
was referred by cable to the Depart
ment of Justice at Washington.
The general instructions from the
Department of Commerce and Labor to
clerks of courts, in regard to natural
ization, are as follows:
"The clerk of n court shall not re.
ceive declarations of intention or file
petition for naturalization from other
aliens than of white persons or per-
sons of African nativity or of African
descent, nor from persons not residing
in the judicial district in which the
court is held.p
JAPANESE AND "WHITE PER
SONS.'
This raises the question of whether
japanese is white person within
|
utes of the United States That ques
tion has been raised in different forms
in different courts, and all of them
have held that these statutes mean a
; person of the Caucasian race when they
, speak of "white persons" but there
have been such developments in the
science of ethnology and in the classt
fication and terminology of races with
in the past quarter of a century that
, some very plausible arguments have
been built up, designed to prove that
' Japanese are not excluded from nat
uralization by our laws, and the ques
ton has never been decided by the
t Supreme Court of the United States
; The Masakechi Suzuki case may brint
!, a decision of this question from thai
: court.
Q The leading ease on this subject il
: chat in re Camille, decided in thu
: United States Circuit Court for the Dis
0 trict of Oregon, November 2, 1880. Th,
a decision is by District Judge Deadly
and is as follows:
IN RE CAMILLE.
r "Frank Camille petitions to be admit
ted to become "a citizen of the Unitet
i States under section 2l67 of the Re
>. vised Statutes as an alien who has re
. sided in the United States the thre
; years next preceding his arriving at tn
Z age of twenty-one years, and withou
!. having made the declaration OF his in
!. tentions in that respect required in tn
:. first condition of section PIGS of tn
Revised Statutes.
"From the evidence it appears tina
the applicant was born at Kamloops, il
l. British Columbia, in 1S47, and at tn
= age of seventeen came to Oregon, wher
n he has ever since resided, and that he i
!. otherwise entitled to admission, if he i
e a "white person. within the meaning
b of that phrase as used in section PIG
/ of the Revised Statutes, as amended b.
II the act of February Is, 1875. Iii
e father was a white Canadian, and hi
1t mother an Indian woman of Britis
J. Columbia, and is, therefore, of half In
z dian blood.
All YUP'S CASE.
"In re All Yup, Sawyer, 1856 it wa
" held by Mr., Justice Sawyer that tn
= words white person. as used in tn
= naturalization laws, mean person o
the Caucasian race, and do not includ
one who belongs to the Mongolian race
Y In the course of the opinion he says
lie Words in n statute, other than technica
-e terms, should be taken in their ordinar
ar sense. The words ''white person." a
G. well argued by petitioners counse
ar taken in strictly literal sense, cor
it stitnte a very indefinite description o
" class of persons, where none can b
ie said to be literally white, and thos
ID called white may be found of ever
u shade from the lightest blonde to tn
I'd most swarthy brunette. But thes
N. words, in this country at least, hay
er undoubtedly acquired well settle
10 meaning in common popular speech, an
they are constantly used in the liter
ture of the country, as well as in con
mon parlance, AS ordinarily used e
erywhere in the United States. OF
would scarcely fail to understand TIN
the party employing the words "whi
# person would intend person of Il
III Caucasian race.
II From the same reasons ii appca
that the words white person, do Nc
and were not intended IN include II