The herald. [microfilm reel], July 24, 1898, Page 17, Image 17

About The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900

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WORDS BY
Grace Atherton Dennm
CITIZEN WONG KIM ARK
(By Enoch Knight)
Advance sheets of the forthcoming 169 th
volume of the United States supreme court
reports cohtain a decision of great interest
to the country and particularly to the. peo
ple of this state. Wong Kirn Ark, born in
San Francisco of parents domiciled there,
went to China on a visit In 1890, when ho
was IT years old. Upon attempting to land
or. his return in 1894 ho was refused the priv
ilege and deprived of his liberty.
The district court upon habeas corpus
proceedings decided against the contention
of tho collector of customs, and tho young
Chinaman was discharged upon the ground
that he was a citizen of the United States
At tho hearing tho district attorney was
permitted to intervene on behalf of the
United States and urged in defonsethat the
petitioner was shut out by the Chinese ex
clusion act. The case came before the su
preme court on appeal from the Judgment
of the district court and was submitted in
May, IS9O, as a test case under the clauso
of the fourteenth amendmont of tho con
stitution, which says: "All persons born
or naturalized In tho United States and
subject to the Jurisdiction thereof are citl
tens of the United States and of the stato
wherein they reside."
Tho case turned upon tho meaning of the
language, "subject to the Jurisdiction
thereof"—Jurisdiction being of two kinds,
territorial and political. Justice Gray de
livered the opinion of the court, laying
down the rule that the undefined frarts of i
The Maine Remembered
the constitution must be interpreted by
the common law, by which the place of
birth was made the criterion of nationality,
and up to (ho time of the adoption of the
fourteenth amendment the English rule
obtained; and therefore all white children
born In the United States, whether tho off
spring of citizens or foreigners, excepting
only children of ambassadors or of alien
enemies In hostile occupation, Were native
born citizens of tho United States. We
may make regulations as to naturalization
of foreigners as strict as we please, but we
cannot deny citizenship to the native born.
We may even refuse to naturalize the sub
jects of the emperor of China, but we can
not deny citizenship to th*-ir offspring born
here.
Justice Gray takes twenty double-column
pages to elaborate the opinion, and It Is an
exceedingly able presentation of the case,
all the more elaborate because of the di
vergence of views among tho members of
the court- Indeed, in no previous Instance of
a divided court can be recalled a conflict
of opinion more pronounced and Insistent.
Chief Justico Fuller, with whom Justice
Harlan agrees, writes a diseenting opin
ion hardly loss elaborate and even more
confident and emphatic In tone. He de
clares that the rule of the English law that
the child born In England ,was Irretrieva
bly a British subject—"once an English
man, always an Englishman"—was the
outcome of the feudal system whioh con
nected the subject with the soil, the alle
giance of liegemen to their lord, ami was
nevor adopted here or considered consistent
with the policy of the American colonies
or states. In general It Is true that we
follow tho English common law, but the
claim of the crown or the feudal lord as to
the allegiance has never been recognised
here, and would be Inconsistent with out
LOS ANGELES HERALD: SUNDAY MORNING JULY 24, 1898
policy and the spirit of liberty upon which
we. have built a naUon. English law de
clared against expatriation, but England
has never abandoned the doctrlru) of Indel
ible allegiance, as havo nearly all nations.
The dissenting opinion goes on to declare
that not only Is tho majority conclusion an
tagonistic to tha modern tendency but Is
against the principle Involved in our treaty
with China, and an interference with our
express lawa on the subject. The chief
justico assorts that tho strict rule of mere
territorial Jurisdiction is not to govern In
such a case, but It us tho political Jurisdic
tion that is to bo considered. He says:
Tho supreme court in previous deci
sions ha* admitted the validity of this i
argument. In the case- of Elk vs. Wil
kins (112 U. S. 1)4. 102). tho count said,
with respect to the phrase, "subject to
the Jurisdiction thereof:"
'The evident meaning of those last
words is, tw>t merely subject In somo
respect or degree to the Jurisdiction of
the United .States, but completely sub
ject to their political Jurisdiction, and
owing them direct and immediate al
legiance .... Indians borni within
tho territorial limits of the United
States, members Of, and owing Imme
diate allegiance to, one of tha Indian
tribes (an alien, though dependent,
power), although In a geographical
s>enf»e born In the United State*, are no
more 'born In tho United States and
subject to the. Jurisdiction thereof'
within the meaning of the first section
of the fourteenth amendment, than the
children of subjects of any foreign
rovornmraf born within the domain of
hat government, or the children born
within the United States of ambassa
dors or other public ministers of for
eign nations.
The first effect of this decision, tf It re
mains the authoritative interpretation cf
the fourteenth amendment Is pointed out
by Chief Justice Fuller, who says: "If the
conclusion of the majority opinion to cor
rect, then the children of citizens of the
United States who have bseh born abroad
Mtrsrc by
Harriet W. R. Strong
alnco July 28, 18(iS, when the. amendment
was deotared ratified, were, and arcs aliens,
unless they have, or shall, on attaining
their majority, become citizens by natural
ization in the United States; anil no stat
utory provision to tho contrary is of any
force or elTect."
He oloses with the following striking
passage: "I am of the opinion that the
president and senate by treaty, and con*
gross by naturalization, havo tho power,
notwithstanding the fourtoonth amend
ment, to proscribe that all persons of a
particular race, or their children, cannot
become citizens, and tho consent to allow
such persons to come here does not carry
with It the Imposition of citizenship upon
children born to them while In this country
by such consent, in spite of treaty and
statute."
It Is apparent that this decision will not
be freely accepted as the last word on the
subject. One university professor of law
makes this comment:
"From thn point of view of public
policy, the present decision of the su-
Srome court seams to he a dlstine* re
•ogresslon. In this age of rapid transit
amd of large migratory populations,
citizenship should have a more sub
stantial l>asle than the ancient feudal
doctrine of birth within the allegiance.
Napoleon, with the progressive spirit
which characterized blm'ln the forma
tion of his Code, dlwo.rded tho jus soh'
In favor of the jus sanguinis as tho de
termining principle in citizenship.
Great Britain hus abandoned the doc- -
trine of Irvdollblo allegiance. Almost all
nations now accord to their citizens the
privilege of expatriation. In view of
these considerations, the wisdom of the
supreme court In giving to a doubtful
clause a construction which is contrary
to the manifest tendency of rations may
well be questioned; and if the matter is
again brought before the court, It will
wot be surprising If the present decision
Is reversed."
But the matter Aas a significance just
now quite apart from its Interest to the
■ law student. Already we have new terri
tory, with glimpses of more; and every
child born therein will be born unto nil tho
privileges and Immunities of citizens of the
United States.
SAILORS' SUPERSTITIONS
Some of the Weird Fancies That Dis
tract Seafaring Souls
Spanish sailors on certain days of the
week or month lay aloft at sunset and beat
the sheaves and pins or the blocks to drlvo
the devil out of the pear, and the noise they
make Is a horrid din. This is said to have
originated In an order given which resulted
In disaster. A certain Spanish squadron
that had been anchored some time was sur
prised by the enemy and could not make
sail and escape, as all the blocks were rust
ed and useless.
The Spanish sailor has no prejudice
against starting out on a voyage on Fri
day, that being ihe day on which Columbus
started on his voyage of discovery. Eng
lish and American sailors will not sail on
that day if they can help It. They would
consider the whole trip hoodooed by such a
beginning.
A sneeze at sea would hoodoo the ship
unless It happened to turn to the right,
when it brings good luck. Sailors have
faith In odd numbers, and naval gunners
carry out this belief In the number of times
they fire a salute.
Whistling for wind is another favorite
superstition of the men before the mast.
This Is a trick when ships are becalmed,
as "Whistles rash bid tempests roar." A
"capful of wind" or "a bagful" usually de
fines the quantity.
Tho phantom ship, to often seen by nav
igators, li not purely tbo apparition of re
mane*, but a mirage, something almost as
wonderful, but not of the supernatural
order.
The horseshoe Is still a popular contribu
tion by sailor? to the fetich of good luck.
A distinguished precedent Is given for this.
Lord Nelson believed in the luck of the
horseshoe, and had one nailed to the mast
of his ship Victory.
A peculiar superstition Is that If women
are taken on board a voyaging ship some
disaster will follow. This may be the rea
son why no government ship is allowed to
carry women passengers. Sailors, too, pre
fer a ship tha* has i masculine name, or is
called after some man. or Is goegraphlcal.
A lino of steamers will often employ a cer
tain selection of names to the exclusion of
all others. The Cunard steamers end all
tholr names with "la." a feminine terminal,
but one that has been the reverse of dis
astrous, since that line has never lost a ship.
Captains are quite as superstitious as their
crews, being of bettor education, and that
may account for tha names of sailing ves
sels being identical with that of wife or
sweetheart. Certain names are known In
the history of nautical nomenclature as hoo
doos. They have been painted over and
other names substituted, hut bad luck at
tended the ship, nnd not even reconstruction
saved It. Then. If tho name must he femi
nine, the crew want something: they are fa
miliar with. One old tar who was told the
name of a new ship was the Aurora laid:
"Why don't they leave poetry to the navy
folk and stick to tho Susannahs and Mary
Anns and Jemimas of my day? Aurora!
How Is a plain able seaman to answer a ."\ail
with such a mouthful as that behind his
teeth?"— Chicago Times-Herald
Under the laws ot China the man who
loses his temper In a discussion is ient
to jail tor five days to cool down.
PARTING SHOT OF PAT
Salute to a General Whose Wife Was)
Commander in the Home Field
Two visitors at Camp Black had saluted a
general and passed on when one chuckled
and said:
i "1 never meet an officer of that rank
I that I am not reminded, of an incident that
j occurred on the veranda of a retired gener-
I al's house where I was a visitor. He had
| Just been retired. He had been a brave sol-
I dier, and his advancement was due to merit.
But his excellent wife had the reputation of
commanding the home Held. Her word was
law.
"A quick-witted son of the old sod had
been employed about the place as a general
utility man. He had the usual weakness,
which caused him to be forgetful, and the
day 1 was there he had received his dis
charge from the wife for over-indulgence.
There was an agreeable party omthe ver
anda as Pat passed with his bundle on hi 9
shoulder. He halted immediately In front
of the general and saluted him, and then hs
said in the hearing of the general's com
pany:
•• 'Good-bye, sor. I can lalve, sor. Ts
can't.' "—New York Sun.
Another Titled Vaudevilian
The Countess Moussacky, who Is said to
belong to a family of great prominence in
Hungary, arrived in New York a few days
ago. She wants to be a vaudevllllan. and
has engaged Harry Brunelle to book her
for what she hopos will be a long and profit
able season. Vaudeville has been a Dttla
shy of titled performers of late, and the
public might possibly welcome tho Countesa
Moussacky as ft did the Countesa Vso
HatsfeldU - -■*•--'» v»w
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