A Chinese Merchant Became a Cook—and the Treaty Still Protected Him
A federal judge in Seattle ruled that a Port Townsend merchant did not forfeit his right to remain in the United States when he sold his share in the firm and took work as a cook, a rare legal win amid the exclusion era.
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.
The first decision under the new treaty with China was rendered by Judge Hanford in the United States court yesterday. Its effect is that a Chinese merchant once in this country is entitled to remain, even though he becomes a laborer.
The case was a peculiar one, and involved a question never before raised. Gow Coy was a merchant in Port Townsend and a member of the firm of On Co. On May 6, 1893, he left for China, leaving as a merchant, and remained there until May 12, 1894, returning as such. On his return he sold out his interest in the firm, ceased to be a merchant and became a cook, and consequently became a laborer. It was while working as cook in Cathlamet, in Cowlitz County, that he was arrested by a United States officer for not having a certificate required by law. As he had no money, he had to go to jail until his trial, which was set for yesterday.
The case, involving a purely technical point, was heard without a jury by Judge Hanford. The argument was made on both sides. Coy showed his papers and contended that under the treaty with the United States, proclaimed December 8, 1894, a Chinese person of the merchant class is entitled to remain in the United States. District Attorney Brinker contended that he forfeited his rights to remain when he ceased to be a merchant. Judge Hanford decided that under the treaty, which says the United States shall extend to Chinese subjects the same protection as is given to citizens of other nations, except the right of naturalization, Coy could remain, and ordered his discharge.
“Its effect is that a Chinese merchant once in this country is entitled to remain, even though he becomes a laborer.”
The ruling came during the exclusion era, when Chinese residents had to carry certificates and could be jailed for falling outside a narrow legal status. Today’s immigration debates still turn on whether a person’s legal category survives a change in work or circumstance—and on how courts read treaties and statutes.
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