Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-16
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

Chinese tongs have again becofn
! vicious in several cities of the United
! States. Ten murders occurred last Sun
day night, in spite of the 'perpetua
truce" signed between the On Icons
Tong and the Hip Sing in March, 1877
Two of the murders were in Wasnlng'
ton and the others in Philadelphia, New
York and Chicago. More fatalities are
expected by the police. The tong
assassins shoot down their enemies
without mercy, simply because they
belong to the opposition tong, witnouI
having themselves given any cause Iol
offenSe.
The murders are almost beyond the
barbarities of the Corsican Malta or the
Kentucky feuds. Hence there will be
another public demand that laws DC
passed by the United States Congress
expelling all Chinese who belong TO any
tong The United States civilization
must be protected. Chinese tongs might
be confined in Russia or kept at nome
hut for the fact that neither Russia nor
China has such organizations.
X 4 4 \
In March, 1927. there was a similar
outbreak of tong murders, resulting IN
some is or 16 deaths in the chief cities
of the country, including one. murder III
washington.
There are contradictory statements as
to whether tongs exist in China, but ap-
parently the most reliable IS to the Ell
feet that the organizations are OF amer
lean birth, due to the competition OF
Chinese gamblers. A gambling company
sets I'm its illegal business in q certain
legality and announces to opposition
gamblers that it takes possession OF GER
tain territory. If the opposition then
inyades that region, there Is feudal war.
not merely against the managers OF the
rival organization, but against all men,
hers of that tong. The only way they
know how to express the objection to
the competition is 70 begtn shooting.
X
According to high Chmese authority,
tongs are distinctively American lnStl-
tutions-not Chinese. They exist no.
where outside of the United States. IL
our failing to annihilate the tongs We
are tolerating not Chinese aliens OF an
undesirable character, but criminals and
rebels against American law, regardless
of their nationality. They have no
more rights than other gamblers In
America. To externinate them does not
need more laws, but sterner enforce
rnent of anti-ganbliny laws by com.
petent and incompatible police. In
China, the members of tongs who dared
defy law as they do in America would
not be deported but beheaded.
Two years ago Representative Miller
of Washington Stasa introduced a bill
in the House providing for the deporta-
ton of any Chinaman convicted of be-
longing to any tong. The measure was
defeated because opposed by the De-
partment Of Labor, which opposition was
not due to any sympathy with tong
feuds, but was protest against an in
crease of laws attacking the peculiar
faults of the Chinese.
The law provided for the deportation
by the Department of Labor of all tong
members, yet that was held imprac-
ticable, because many members OF
tongs, although of Chinese descent, are
born in America, therefore are native
American citizens, not subject to de-
portation for any cause. Our laws do
not exile criminals, and to "deport"
a native American would be to exile an
American citizen. All crimes bring
prison penalties, regardless OF the race
of the offender.
The Miller bill was framed to deport
amy alien, ineligible to citizenship,
who is found to be member of the
Hip Sing Tong, the Hop Sing Tong.
the Bow Leung Tong or the Bing Bow
Leung Tong"
The Labor Department held that
there was no Justification for singing
out Chinese for deportation on account
of a crime equally possible to Italians
or Spaniards or any other nationality.
To deport an alien who became an ''un-