Seattle's Chinese Community Resists Mandatory Registration

The Chinese Six Companies have just succeeded in heading off a movement among the Seattle Chinese to register under the Geary Exclusion Act, opting instead to await a decision on a test case by the United States Supreme Court. About six weeks ago, the agent of the Six Companies in this city received a letter from headquarters in San Francisco stating that the Geary Act was considered unconstitutional by the Chinese minister at Washington City and the heads of the Six Companies. It was believed that a favorable decision would be handed down before May 5, when the act goes into effect. It was therefore requested that all Chinese in Seattle refrain from registering. Despite this, twenty-two men had registered, and arrangements were being made for 130 more when the Six Companies intervened, calling an emergency meeting last night at the Wa Chong building on South Fifth Street to cancel the registrations. Louis King, a Front Street bazaar merchant, denied that there would be retribution for those who choose to register, stating that the Six Companies act like a Chamber of Commerce to protect the interests of their people.