The Human Cost of the Exclusion Act
A Chinese crew member is jailed in Seattle immediately upon arrival, highlighting the harsh enforcement of exclusionary laws.
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 legality of the Chinese exclusion law was closely questioned in Seattle a few days ago when the steamship Peleus docked there. Among the crew of the vessel is a Chinese tallyman, and the moment the vessel was moored, and before a bond was furnished by Captain Barwise, the man was on the wharf and began checking cargo as it was discharged. A customs officer pounced on him and sent him to jail on the charge of being in the United States without a certificate. There were things doing for a while. Captain Barwise explained to the United States commissioner and the case was settled, the captain paying the costs of trying the case, $28.
“A customs officer pounced on him and sent him to jail on the charge of being in the United States without a certificate.”
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a period of intense state-sanctioned discrimination that fundamentally altered the demographic and social fabric of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle's waterfront was the site of many such encounters where labor was criminalized based on race.
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