Habeas Corpus Intervention for Chinese Merchants
A local judge intervenes to stop the deportation of Chinese merchants aboard the SS Victoria in Tacoma harbor.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At 1:30 o'clock this morning, Jailer Duval, Sheriff Matthews' deputy, went aboard the steamer Victoria armed with habeas corpus papers for the bodies of You Wah, Wah Ni, and Moy Chung, alleged Portland Chinese merchants. Collector Wasson had ordered them deported, but a local merchant, Moy Yuck, filed affidavits asserting they had been residents for eight to twelve years. While Judge Pritchard of the superior court expressed doubts about jurisdiction, he issued the orders and cautioned those involved not to provoke the United States officials. Deputy Collector Bradford, who was in charge at the gangplank, eventually allowed the three men and their baggage to come ashore. Judge Hanford has ordered proceedings for fourteen additional merchants, returnable May 15.
“If they can land three Chinamen, then they can land the entire batch.”
This event highlights the tense intersection of state-level judicial resistance and federal exclusionary power during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Today, the Port of Tacoma remains a central site for debates on immigration, jurisdiction, and the movement of people across borders.
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