Joseph McKenna

“ The district court said:
'These cases establish the doctrine that the collector of customs, in determining the right of Chinese persons to land, may act upon his own information and discretion, and that such action, however taken, is conclusive of the matter, subject to the right of appeal to the Secretary of the Treasury; that his decision, if he decides not to hear testimony, or not to give effect to evidence which the laws of Congress have provided shall be sufficient to establish the right to land in the first instance, or decides not to decide, is conclusive. ”

“ The laws of the United States do not recognize plural marriages as valid, and while they may be so recognized in China, the said Li Tom Shi is not the valid wife of Lee Lung under our laws and in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court referred to. ”

“ It showed that the petitioner was a merchant of Portland, Oregon; that he had gone back to China and there married Li Tom Shi according to the Chinese customs and with the usual Chinese ceremonies, but that he had another wife with whom he lived when in China, and that Li A. Tsoi was the daughter by that wife. It was testified that a man in China could have as many wives as he had means to support. ”