Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-12-06
Court Holds
Chinese Not
ExpatrialtIed
sQuestion of Loss of Citizenship
BY Foreign Residence De.
cided; Persons Naturalized
: Under Republic Bona Eide
/ Citizens of America

Z :
The Republic OF Hawaii In con.
ferrtng citizenship upon those VINO
had been made subjects Of the
Monarchy, did not make any dis.
4 tlnetlon between those who were
bd IN the islands and those who
were not; and, IN my opinion, all
who were made citizens should be
4 REGARDED 40 the same kind or
class. BY the resolution OF an
nexstIon this law Of the Republic
of Hawaii was continued In force
thereafter; and the Organic Act
made no distinction between those
who were born In the islands and
those who were not.
In the foregoing statement IL con.
tanned one OF several important points
made by Federal Judge Horace w.
Vaughan In q decision which he has
handed down holding that Wong
Hing Chow alias Wong Chez Fong. q
well known local Chinese business
man. has not expatriated himself by
4 lengthy residence In China, and that
he d entitled to readnission to the
territory.
IN local legal circles It is believed
that this u the first decision handed
down here IA recent years touching
on the matter Of the repatriation OF
Americans. whether natural born or
naturalized.
When he returned from China re-
Gently, Wong Hing Chow, who has In,
,terests both here and in the Orient,
was denied admission by immigration
INSPECTOR r. L. Halsey on the ground
that 1.the applicant expatriated him
SELF on appeal, the assistant secre-
tary OF labor sustained Mr.. Halseya
view and ordered the deportation Of
the Chinese on the ground that he had
ceased to become an American citi-
zen. Wong Hing Chow, through his
attorney. William T. Garden, then took
his case to the q. s. court on habeas
corpus.
some Of the important points made
z bv Judge Vaughan In his decision are
theskle
BY section Of the Organic
Act, al those who were citizens
OF the Republic Of Hawaii on Aug.
ust ~, 1898, are declared citizens
Of the United States.
?. Article ~, Section 1, of the
constitution Of the Republic of Ha.
wall. declared all those born or
naturalized in the Hawaiian Is.
lands. citizens Of the republic.
g. Petitioner had been natural
Tied III the Hawaiian Islands and
became citizen Of the Republic
Of Hawaii and also Of the United
States.
The second paragraph of the
second section Of the act Of March !,
9. 1907. applies to those only who
came to the United States from
some foreign state and cannot by
construction be extended TO In
clude those upon whom citizen
shin was conferred when the coun.
try of which they were citizens
was annexed to the United States.
S. The presumption of expatria-
ton from residence in foreign
country under act Of March 2,
1907. does not arise until the citi-
zen has resided in the foreign
country for the requisite time
without evidencing any intention
to retain his citizenship, and in
computing such time. that time
during which the citizen was
claiming citizenship and the pro-
lection Of 4 passport issued by the
government Of the United States
should not be counted
The sole ground upon which the pc.
titionef was denied admission here
Was that he had failed to substantiate
his claim for admission. According
TO the decision, the II. S. attorney,
turing the hearing, contended that Pc
toner never was citizen of the
Uuffed states. He argued that petit
: er. being q paturaIised citizen Of
N3,k Republic OF Hawaii, did not be-
come a citizen of the United States.
mon the annexation Of the Hawaiian
Islands to the United States, and that
by the transfer of sovereignty to the
United States. the allegiance of ma
tire born citizens only was transferr
ed. In answering this contention by
the district attorney, the decision
says. in part:
ssThe Republic Of Hawaii. in CON
ferring citizenship upon those who
had been subjects Of the monarchy,
aid not make any distinction between
these who were born In the islands
and those who were not; and, in my
oDinion. all those who were made citi.
zens should be regarded as the same
Kind or class
HAVING been citizen OF the Re.
public Of Hawaii on August II, 1885;
(051finuo1 81 r1rf tfol