The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1922-11-14
laps Are Barred
From Citizenship

Washing. on Nov JaiH,ne>e Al
not 4. 1iuIt fnr li:l, i;i.l>.,-,..4 as
Un.tt, states. i: WAS htld by the sd
prene court.
In lis tiuG.nr The court disposed OF
two t.;IS,S. oi.t lir0,sht from tI.:Wau
by Take U..aWa aGaiiiS. the ih'ltu
States, ana The other brought by Ia
kuli Iuuiashita aud Charles Hio knko
against the secretary OF state OF Wash
inwton In the later case, hoth Japa-
neSe had been naturaliZed by court
of the state of Washington, but were
refused Incorporate as Il real estate
firm Oh the ground that their naturali-
Zation had been Illegal. The lower
courts ,en.ed naturalization in both
cases but tie ninth circuit court OF
appeals, in considering the OZaWa
case suspended its decision and asked
tie supreme court for instructions as
to whether Japanese are eligible for
citizenship under The naturalization
laws.
The question largely turned upon
whether section 2169 of the revised
statues. restricting naturalization to
''free white persons and those OF
African descent was still in force. The
court stated that the questions be-
fore it were:
i. Is the naturalization act of June
20, 1906, limited by the provisions of
, section 2169 of the revised statutes of
the United States?
80. If SO limited, is the appellant
eligible for naturalization under that
section?"
The court answ cred the first Of these
questions in the affirmative, and then
i'll discussing the phrase free white
| lersons" as it appears IN the static,
| said:
Undoubtedly the word free was
| originally used in recognition of til"
! fact that slavery then existed and that
some white persons occupied that
status That word, however. has long
| since ceased to have any practical sig
nificance and May now Ge diSle%a:dtd
"AIanileStly the .eSt afforded by the
mere color of the SAN of each indi-
! yidual is impracticabie, as that differs
greatly dliolis- pSFi'@"iiFN VI tt'> '''''->
| race. even among .tnSi0-SaXOnS. rang
| ing by ilnperceptible @raduat-cnS from
the fair blond to the sw;irlhy brunette.
! the latter being darker than many u
F.! the lghter-hued persons of the brown
or yellow races. Hence 10 adrpt tn.
! color test alone would result i'll Il con-
| fused overlapping of races anu Il grad
/ of IN at
without any practical line OF separa-
| ton.
i "'rhe federal and state courts, in an
| almost unbroken line, have held that
| the words white person were meant
to indicate only a person of what Is
| popularity known as the Caucasian
! race With the conclusion reached in
! these several decisions, we see no rea-
| son to differ Moreover, that conclu
/ sion has BECOME so we'll established
! by judicial and execute concurrence
! and legislative acquieScence that we
| should not at this rate day feel at
liberty to disturb it in the absence of
reasons far more cogent than any that
have been suggested.
1
| the words white person means eau
| casian is not to establish sharp line
/ of demarcation between those who are
| entitled and those who are not en-
| titled to naturalization, but rather Il
| zone of more or less debatable SrOunC
outside of which, upon the one hand
are those clearly eligible, and outside
| of which, upon the other hand, are
| those clearly ineligible for citizenship,
| Individual cases falling within this
I zone must be determined as they aris;
/ from time to time by what this cour
| has called, in another connection. the
| gradual process of judicial inclusion
| and exclusion
'The appellant in the case now III.
| der consideration. however, is clearl!
! OF "A race which is not Caucasian, ant
| therefore belongs entirely outside %
the zone of the negative side. \ lars,
| number of the federal and state cour.'
| have so decided, and we find no rc
ported case definitely to the contrar!
| Th"S.' decisions ARE sustained by n"
mcrui.s scientific authorities which W
| de itnt deem ii necessary to re:i""
We think these decisions are Ii2
and 50 hold.