The Bureaucratic Limbo of the 'Mogul' Passengers
Chinese laborers who returned from China face legal hurdles and suspicious scrutiny from federal authorities in Seattle.
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.
Chin Sui, a laundryman, made application to register before Major Harlan, deputy collector of internal revenue, yesterday. Major Harlan has decided not to forward applications for Ah Quong, Ah Look, and Ah Yun, who were part of the 'Mogul' cargo admitted at Tacoma. Presuming they entered on merchants' certificates, they arrived in Seattle and swore they were laborers, seeking to secure their status. Another passenger, a boy who resembles a girl, is also under scrutiny. Born in Seattle and sent to China for education, he returned after his father, Wing Lee, died. His status is now being questioned as his uncle, Ah How, appeared as a witness but failed to disclose their recent return from China.
“The peculiar way of the Chinese is illustrated by the fact that they came immediately to Seattle and swore they were laborers, desiring to make sure of their right to be here.”
This reporting captures the cold, transactional nature of the Chinese Exclusion era. The 'Mogul' passengers' struggle to prove their right to exist in the city they were born in highlights the systematic exclusion and constant state surveillance that defined the Chinese experience in late 19th-century Seattle.
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