414
the Const ruled that the Act
embraced all Chinese labours from whatsoever country they might come, and that the acquisition by them of British nationality did not exempt them from its provisions and ordered the petitioner Pong Ah Tong to be returned to the ship.
I telegraphed this to the Minister at Washington.
San Francisco Chronicle 25th September 1883
The Exclusion Act.
Its intent broadly interpreted.
All Laborers of the Chinese Race excluded by its provisions.
Justice Field, Circuit Justice, of the United States Supreme Court, and United States Circuit Judge Sawyer, rendered a joint decision yesterday in the habeas corpus case of Pong Ah Lung, the Hong Kong Chinese, who demanded the right to land at this port notwithstanding the Chinese Restriction Act and the Immigration Treaty with China on the ground that he was not affected by them, being a subject of Great Britain. His plea, however, was overruled, as shown by the decision annexed:
In the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of California. In the matter of Pong Ah Lung