Van Shaick to Mr. Bee, June 18, 1879

Mr. Van Shaiek to Mr. Bee.

Sir: You are aware that I have a large number of clients among the Chinese population of this city and, as their attorney, many facts come to my knowledge as to the manner in which these people are oppressed and plundered by outrageous and unnecessary rules and regulations of public officers and more particularly the internal-revenue office in this city.

I now desire to call your attention to the present management and conduct of William Higby, collector of internal revenue of this district. It seems to be his object and aim to drive the Chinese cigar manufacturers out of the business by persecution and oppressive rules and regulations discriminating against them alone in the matter of giving bonds, and compelling a renewal of good and sufficient bonds.

Mr. Higby is enforcing rules entirely outside of internal-revenue law relative to the sufficiency of bonds for the manufacture of cigars. His uncalled-for and arbitrary course has closed up many Chinese cigar factories, besides incurring great loss to these people, depriving many of employment, besides lessening the revenue of the government, from this source alone, at least from severity-five to one hundred thousand dollars per year.

This collector refuses to approve a bond signed and properly qualified to by a Chinaman as one of the sureties, no matter what amount of property the surety is worth. He also requires at least one white man on the bond, and refuses to accept a bond of two good and sufficient Chinamen even if they are worth ten times the amount of the penalty mentioned in the bond.

It has come to my knowledge that there are respectable Chinese cigar manufacturers in this city, who have been engaged in the business for years, who have paid the government thousands of dollar’s for stamps, under the uncalled-for regulations of Mr. Higby, were called upon to file new bonds in accordance with the above-mentioned rules of his office or close up business. These men have been obliged to seek out and employ “professional bond-signers”—white men—and pay them each as much as $250 to sign a cigar manufacturer’s bond in order to comply with Mr. Higby’s requirements and to coutinue in business, and that Mr. Higby has refused to sell them cigar-stamps until such new bonds were filed and while the old bonds were still in force and effect.

These bonds have been approved by Mr. Higby after his attention had been called to instances of a similar nature to the above.

There are other instances where Chinese cigar manufacturers are now paying white “professional bond-signers” interest at the rate of one per cent. per month as the amount of the penal sum mentioned in the bond signed by them, besides a bonus at the time of signing the bond. These bonds have also been approved and accepted by Mr. Higby in preference to receiving good and sufficient bonds signed by Chinese sureties or permitting the old bonds to remain intact and allow the manufacturers to proceed under them as he had been doing previous thereto.

I know of one instance where a respectable Chinese cigar manufacturer, who has been in the business for years, and who has now on hand 440,000 cigars ready to be boxed, stamped, and put on the market. This man was recently notified by Mr. Higby to fill a new bond in the sum of $4,000, and the collector’s office refused to sell him stamps until he did so. He procured one white man and one Chinaman to sign the bond, each of whom justified in more than double that amount, the Chinese surety being a merchant in this city owning two stores and worth at least $15,000 in personal property; still Mr. Higby refused to receive this bond or to sell the manufacturer stamps, so that he is deprived of selling his cigars and subjected to great loss.

I might mention other instances where great injustice has been practiced upon the Chinese cigar manufacturers by this collector’s office under the sanction of Mr. Higby.

I remain, &c.,