Evening star., 1924-10-20
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

shame. II Is i common practice for
a member to insert the tong name
between his own two names. For ca
ample. Wo Lee would thus become
Wo Hip Lee, indicating that lie BE-
longed TO the Hip Sing Tong.
u = :: x
| Some years ago a tong war broke
| out in California. y mistress Of Il
! Hop Sing man was stolen by Il Sue
| Sing man, and the berFft one de-
| manded her return or his Indemniti-
cation. = Beth demands -y-err t-fused
and the respective tongs took up the
light, as they are sworn in blood to
| do. The c0nfitt .began III. NarvsvilIe
where there We're only 500 Chinese.
all known 10 the polite. and aS the
! environs were too small % carry on
| the war without Interference: goo Chi
| namen migrated to san Francis"
where. minsling with the $4,000 Chi
| nese in the metropolis, their idthtity
would not be 50 quickly recognized.
1mme ediately six Hop Sing members
and four Suey Sings were- murdered
and many others wounded. Neither
of the two original disputants were
among the victims. An arrangement
was made To fight Il pitched battle.
all Suey Sing men to line up on one
! side OF the street and ali Hop Sing
men on the other. The SueH men ar
rived. each carrying a revolver IN or"
sleeve and a knife in the other. tul
when the Hop Sing men had counted
off they dccid.d that the superior
number of their mics made dis
erection the better part II vaior. and
they failed To appear. f"li"" inter
ference prevented furthc" hloodshed
=
In San jose = chicken belonging -,
a member OF ono tong trcspasSed upo'r
the garden Of member of another
tong. That called for war involving
thousands uf rival tong members aud
lasting for several months, NOBODY
killed the chicken, but many men
were slain.
In Los Angeles two gamblers quar-
relied over cards. and the tonss TOOK
up the fight. Result, ono death auG
several wounded but neither gamble
was hurt.
Among the tongs is a higAbindor
element, made up OF avowe.i assas-
sins and toughs. These eeneral3y
lead in the Niolrn"> az. cunnen ui
thugs, hut even they rely upon ih,
oaths of all members Ia stand with
! the tong, right or wrong.
The general impression got Ch
nese character. that it is impassive
suave. unconditional aud non quarrel
some is directly cont rad ed by these
tong wars. The Characteristic is just
the reverse. A Chinaman Is ultra
sensitive to affronts, and quickly re
sents what he takes to be an insult
or abuse of his rights. 1t is not an
individual quarrel that ensues be
tween Cinnamon, but tong war
1t has been said that a tong was
without parallel in being above the
control of courts in China, and so th.,
members felt that they should be
above all law restraint in America
and be permitted to settle their diff
ferences by their tong wars.
The tong IS not unique in independ-
ence OF courts eNen here iu America,
so far as internal acts go No court
undertakes to direct a grain exchange
or stock exchange what it shat adopt
as its rules or how Il shall peusiize
its members by fines or other -
plinary penalties. Fraternal organ
cations also are Independent of court
jurisdiction in making rules over
their members. But no American Or
ganization construes that independ-
ence to cover criminal license, as
does a tong. The Chinaman cannot
comprehend the line beyond which
the law restrains the Independence OF
tong law.
Civilized nations exerciss. in China
what is known as extraterrftorial
rights of justice to maintain their
own courts for trial of their respcc-
tive nationals. 1t has been seriously
proposed that If in American courts
trying a Chinaman there sat CHI
nese judge alongside the American
judge to try the accused, even exclu-
siyely under American law. the effect
would be efficacious in impressng
Cinnamon with the impart.ality of
American justice, which from their
standpoint seemS to be lacking so
Iqag as it forb Is tYhg vengeance,
Mea is not ansksd by Amerit
ss.svi1