Evening star., 1924-10-20

A Chinese war exists within the
| jurisdiction OF the United States which
| is independent of the war in China
Fatalities have already occurred In
| New York, Brooklyn, Schenectady and
| Philadelphia, and are seriously threat
ened in Washington.
! HostiIities exist between two tongs
! IT Is alleged by @. +. Lee. assistant
! editor Of the Chinese Herald OF New
York and head of the Hip Sing Tong
THAT the On Leorg Tong has Offered
| a reward of $4,000 per head for tbs
| ssination of certain members OF
! the Hip Sings who. had been expelled
! from the on Leongs and then hae
| Joined the rival tong, carrying WITH
| them secrets belonging to their for
mer aff1liation. This'i is denied by the
On Leong Tong, with an offer OF
$1,000 reward to any one who viii
proye the charge. To the Chinese
mind 1T appears perfectly natural. IN
case of tong disagreement. that one
Etong should proceed TO fight and kill
members OF the rival tong. What
fright, they ask. has the government
! to interfere? In China the tongs are
| above governmental control.
I The six men already murdered in
! the present war had nothing to dc
| with the expulsion OF the objection
I
PEELED members themselves. That is
| timmaterial-they belonged to the
rival tong Such q feud takes no ac-
| count OF the individual-it involves
| the whole tong.
| Through the intervention of this
! Chinese Minister, DR.. SIe, an armi-
| stlce has been discusseds although II
thas not yet been accepted, because
! the Hip Sings demand that the On
| Leong Tong shall bear all the eX'
pense of getting arrested members
thorities, and the OnFLeongs have
objected to the expense. The feud is
quiet, but not dead.
| * \
| The On Leong Tong is the orGani-
| zation OF capitalists, or money-lend-
ers. claiming to be interested in aid
| ing the poor but honest Chinese with
capital with which to embark in busi-
! ness 1t is said that its rate of in
terest IS often usurious, but that IL
| is necessitated by the fact that the
security is hazardous. backed by tons
boycott In case Of default or dishon-
esty, but by nothing more Tangible
The Hip Sing Ton9-is. made Ip of the
proletariat. So there is more or less
| of ground for the worldwide jealousy
of capital and labor.
* Ss X <:
The word tong" means union or
| brotherhood" In no other country
are the trades and business interests
SO fully organized as in China, and 1t
| is claimed that it has been found
necessary for centuries in self-pro-
lection against corrupt government
| officials--the mandarins. A tong usu-
ally Is limited to from 80 to SO mem
bers in local chapter but the
chapters are bound together in wide
spread groups. There is no other
fraternal organization in the world
which binds members so closely to-
sether as does the Chinese tong. A
Chinaman who does not affiliate with
any tong is ostracized and boycotted.
The tongs have been falsely likened
/ to our Masonic lodges, but there is no
resemblance. beyond the fact of Sc
crecy Of their meetings-Which is not
peculiar TO Masonry. Every member
upon joining a tong takes an oath,
sealed in blood. to stand by all other
members of that tong in trouble and
In business, and that oath seems to
fenable them to look upon their fellow
members as blood cousins" or
''brothers," whom TO desert would be