2 Game laws for Alaska passed 1902. 3 Hunting or fishing in Yellowstone Park prohibited. At altitude higher than 7,000 Closed season does not apply to hunting in inclosed premises or fishing in private ponds.

feet above sea level the open season for water fowl begins September 15. or small animals may be killed for protection of crops.

The Game and Fish Laws of Canada.

Birds

Chinese Exclusion Act.

In spite of the efforts of Chinese ministers in the United States, diplomats of that country who used all their abilities for the benefit of their people, and in spite of the eloquence of Wu Ting Fang, the Fif ty-seventh Congress re-enacted the Chinese Exclusion Law, keeping from this country Chinese laborers who might compete with American workmen. When the question of the re-enactment of this law, which was about to become null by statute, came before Congress, the old cry of "the Chinese must go" was raised with a new emphasis, for the colonies of Hawaii and the Philippines had to be considered. In these latter the Chinese laborer seemed to be a factor almost necessary to the cultivation of the products indigenous to the soil, and the Governor of Hawaii, in his report for 1901, asked that the law be made inactive in Hawall, at least until commercial conditions were placed on a firmer basis. Minister Wu Ting Fang brought all his diplomatic powers to bear on the question, arguing the right of his people to have as free entry into the United States as those of any other nation. From the Pacific Coast, however, there came a demand that could not be resisted for the re-enactment of the exclusion law and for the preservation of American labor. The Governor of California was particularly strong in opposing any change in the conditions, claiming that a free entry of Chinese coolie labor would mean a fatal competition for the American who demanded and deserved higher wages for ordinary work. After some debate, in which several of the most prominent statesmen of Congress took active part, the exclusion law was re-enacted by a large vote. While there seemed to be but little question as to the unique aptitude of Chinese coolies for the sort of field work demanded in Hawaii, there was thought to be no constitutional way of preventing laborers in these islands from becoming citizens, or their children being born into suffrage rights.

The Chinese Exclusion Act provides "that from and after the passage of this act

the

coming of Chinese laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby suspended, and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come from any foreign port or place, or, having so come, to remain in the United States."

Those Who Are Exempt and Those Who Are Not.-Any registered Chinese laborer who has a lawful wife (to whom he has been married at least one year), child, or parent, in the United States, or property of the value of $1,000, or debts of like amount due him and pending settlement, may return to this country, provided that, before leaving the United States, he shall have deposited with the Collector of Customs of the district from which he departed, a full description, in writing, of the qualifications entitling him to return. This right of return must be exercised within one year, except in cases when, by reason of sickness or other cause of disability, he was unable to avail himself of the privilege, but these facts must be fully reported to the Chinese Consul at the port of departure and by him certified to the satisfaction of the Collector at the proposed port of arrival. In order to enjoy the benefits of these conditions a Chinese person who proposes to leave the country must apply to the Collector of Customs of the district from which he wishes to depart at least one month prior to the time of his departure, and if the certificate he may obtain be transferred it shall not only become void, but the person to whom it was issued shall forfeit his right to return to the United States.

Chinese officials, teachers, students, merchants or travellers for curiosity or pleasure, may still come to the United States and may continue in this country, but even those of the exempt classes, and their wives and children, must present the certificates prescribed by law. Such certificates must be issued by the Chinese Government, or the Government under which the subject last resided, and must be vised by the diplomatic or consular representative of the United States in the country or port whence they departed. Mexiean functionaries and Chinese consular officials, either here or in China, have no right to issue such certificates.

The word "laborer" is legally construed to mean both skilled and unskilled manual laborers, including Chinese employed in mining, fishing, huckstering, peddling; laundrymen, or those engaged in taking, drying, or otherwise preserving shell or other fish for home consumption or exportation. Similarly, the term "merchant" bas a mandatory meaning, which is: "A person engaged in buying and selling merchandise, at a fixed place of business, which business is conducted in his name, and who does not engage in

the performance of any manual labor, except such as is necessary in the performance of his business.

No law on the Federal Statutes is more rigidly enforced than that which applies to Chinese exclusion, and in 1898 the Attorney General decided that the true theory of the law was not that all Chinese persons might enter this country who were not specifically forbidden, but that only those are entitled to enter who are expressly permitted to do so. As the result, Chinese persons known as "traders" have been forbidden to enter this country, even when they presented the prescribed certificates, and admission has been denied to all persons described as "salesmen," "clerks," "buyers," "bookkeepers.", "accountants," "managers," "storekeepers,' " "apprentices," "agents,' ," "cashiers." "Interpreters." "physicians," "proprietors of restaurants," etc. The law definitely provides that only "officials, teachers, students, merchants or travellers for curiosity or pleasure" may be admitted to the country, and all persons not coming under one of these classifcations are excluded, while the fact that a man may be the employer of a large number of persons, as in the case of the owner of several laundries, does not change his status as a laborer. Chinese persons enterIng the United States as "students" or "merchants" and soon becoming laborers, have no right to remain, and the fact that a Chinese person is naturalized under the laws of another country does not entitle him to enter the United States. Long residence in this country does not entitle a Chinaman to visit China, even for a short period, but a merchant in this country may return to China without loss of rights in this country provided he establishes by the testimony of two creditable witnesses other than Chinese, the fact that he has Conducted the business of a "merchant" as defined by law, and has not engaged in the performance of manual labor for at least one year before his departure. The requirement that a "merchant" must conduct his business in his own name is fulfilled if the Chinaman can prove that he is, or was, an actual bona fide partner of a legitimate mercantile firm, even if his name is not a part of the firm name.

Chinese laborers who left the country prior to the promulgation of this treaty with China cannot now return, and those who go out of the country under the present treaty cannot be permitted, upon their return, to bring their wives with them.

Chinese persons employed on board American or other vessels, whether in the United States Navy or in the merchant service, may enter port, but they cannot land in the United States; but Chinese persons shipping at a United States port on an American vessel and returning in the same capacity on the same vessel are not affected by the provisions of the Exclusion Act.

The Supreme Court has decided that children born in this country of Chinese parents are of right citizens of the United States, and as such are entitled to return to this country after a temporary absence, provided the fact of their birth here is established.

Naturalization papers obtained by Chinese subjects subsequent to May 6, 1882, were illegally issued and cannot be recognized.

A Chinese laborer possessing a return certificate may be admitted only at the port from which he departed, and no Chinese person, except diplomatic or consular officers and their attendants, are permitted to enter the United States except at the ports of San Francisco, Portland, Ore.; Boston, New York, New Orleans, Port Townsend, Richford, St. Albans, Plattsburg, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Key West, Tampa, Mobile, Eagle Pass, Laredo, El Paso, Nogales, San Diego, Astoria, Pembina and Honolulu.

A Chinese person who has clandestinely entered this country cannot acquire a right to remain here, or to return to the United States, by qualifying as a "merchant," and any Chinese person found unlawfully in the United States will be imprisoned at hard labor for a period not exceeding one year, and, afterwards, deported, while any person who aided in bringing him into the United States will be held liable for all necessary expenses incurred in the investigation and removal. If any Chinaman is found who is unable to produce his certificate of registration, or satisfactory evidence of his status as prescribed by law, he must be reported to the proper authorities for the determination of his right to remain in the country.

The importation of opium into the United States is forbidden to Chinese subjects and all opium so imported will be seized and forfeited.