TONG WARS END

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 125, 24 November 1930, Page 3

TONG WARS END

PEACE PACT MADE

CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES

Seven Chinese tongs have recently signed an agreement in New York City to keep tho peace, and a notice of this treaty has been forwarded to toug leaders iv other'cities in America, says an exchange. If the agreement is observed an arbitration board will supplant hatcbet men in settling future controversies. Furthermore, it has been agreed that in case, the board fails to reach a decision which is unanimously accepted by all parties1 concerned, the matter will be referred to Police Commissioner E. P. Mulrooney, of New York City, whose judgment shall be final. A threat of wholesale deportation unless tong warfare ceased was in no small way instrumental in persuading the various factions to make peace. Although tong hostilities are frequently in the news, it is a subject regarding which the average man has a, rather vague comprehension. Many persons believe that a vast majority of the Chinese in America belong to some toug, but this is as untrue as to think that all Americans are affiliated with some underworld gang. The multiplicity of Chinese societies and associations may be responsible for the present confusion regarding the exact nature of tongs. Yet an analysis of the situation breaks up the complicated array into three distinct and easily identified groups—the district councils, the trade, guilds and the secret societies, or tongs. DOMINANT. In the first group the Chung Wall Kung Sow—popularly known as the.Six Companies—cracks the legislative, judicial, and executive whip. Eight powerful district councils now make up its personnel—these consolidated councils, in turn, representing the multitude of minor social, religious, educational, political, and financial societies. The Chong Wall Kung Sow is the Chinese Supreme Court in America, and the great majority of Chinese bow to its decrees. The trade guilds arc what the name connotes —associations for tho protection of the laundry workers, tailors, shoemakers, cigarmakers, and the lesser trades. They combine many features of tho American trade unions and benefit societies. Under the third heading are listed the secret societies, or tongs. The majority of these organisations must be classed as decidedly destructive units. The tong, as we'know'it, does not exist iv China. It is of American origin, and may be defined simply as a gang. What tho notorious Whyos, Gophers, and Dead Babbits were to New York, so are the tongs to the Chinese colonies—thugs and hoodlums with restless trigger fingers, paid killers, who ply their trade in time of tong war and make a comfortable living by blackmail' and "protection" service in time of peace. Admittedly^ the most conspicuous of all Chinese organisations, the tongs, are also the least understood. EARLY DAYS. The first tong appeared in California during the early days of tho Civil War. It was an offshoot of the Triad Society,' a Chinese political organisation whose activities were responsible for the horrible Tai Ping rebellion and later the Boser uprising. Oriental silence contributes nothing to the solving of tong mysteries. Fifty Chinese may see a.tong sacrifice sprawl on tho sidewalk with a; bullet in his head. They will very likely be commenting volubly, upon the event when the police patrol clangs upon the scene. But with the arrival of the law comes a complete mental and ocular lapse on the part of the. spectators. A tong brother may be huddled op the concrete—perhaps a blood brother—but that knowledge .will never be incorporated in the official police report. There are three fundamental reasons why this condition exists. First, the individual Chinese, like any other normal human, has a whole-souled love of life, and prefers to make his eventual exit in a graceful —and natural—way. Second, he feels that American justice is full of strange legal loopholes of which he knows nothing. Third, he observes the code of his fathers. The matter.of retaliation, he feels, is a private affair—a delicate problem to be solved by the family council. ' NO BAERIERS. The tongs place no restrictions upon admission requirements and consequently enjoy a larger following and are stronger financially than tho more discriminating societies. And so, like strong nations, they are inclined to test supremacy among themselves upon any pretext. A dispute between individuals becomes.a dispute of the tongs, and because a genuine spirit of reconciliation is lacking tong wars are the inevitable result. . ■ ■'_■' The On Leongs and the Hip Sings are pbrhaps the largest and most active tongs in America to-day. Between the two there is a constant rivalry, and the police records show a series of bloody sorties in their militant struggle for supremacy. To date, the On Leongs probably lead the' weaker but more aggressive Hip Sings. In New York the year 189/ marked the peak of On Leong.prospenty. With the suave Tom Lee at their head, they experienced but little competition from tlie. Hip Sings, who, in turn, were captained by an inactive sort of indi-vidual-named Wong Get. Mr. Wong gazed with longing eyes upou the golden rakeoff coming from the gaming tables, but his wabbly directorship could not pilot tho Hip Sings into a worth-while cut of the easy money pie. MOCK DUCK. About this time- there appeared on the scene a certain Mock Duck, a bland yellow gentleman with aspirations and a-mighty yen to break the On Leoiig straugebold oa the gambling concessions in the colony. Mock Duck found nothing much to work with.' The Hip Sings, while hard-boiled enough to suit any one's taste, obviously needed efficient organisation. They clattered along aimlessly in the wake of Wong Get, patiently waiting fora sign from their: leader. But Mr. Wong seemed unable to spark on any idea, and so he turned eagerly to Mock Duck, when that worthy submitted a plan, which, like all super schemes, was so simple it was laughable. Even Wong Get chuckled his appreciation. Mock Duck advocated reform. -Ko deplored the prevalence of fautah and pi gow in Chinatown. But being an astute and worldly strategist, he wisely refrained from going directly to the police with his solution of. the problem. Accompanied by the enthusiastic Wong Get, he did, however, pay a discreet call at the offices of the Park-hurst-Society. And-when this precious pair of conspirators departed, they lett much incriminating evidence behind— specifically, an extremely accurate and complete list of the palaces of chance controlled by the On Leongs. ENDED. The Parkhurst officers demanded immediate action. Accordingly the police were compelled to swoop down upon the bewildered overlords and in a single night the- On Leoug gaming dynasty cams to an abrupt end. Locks rattled briskly as the crusaders "swept pi gow blocks and fantan counters, into oblivion. At the heels of this formidable procession shuffled a picked mob from the Hip Sings, re-enforced by a delegation of their allies, the notorious Four Brothers tong.- And as soon as a resort was officially wiped out of existence, it re-opened for business unde* the

watchful'management of the Hip Sings. Mock Duck had earned his: .wreath or1, laurel. It was a neat stroke of business and everybody was happy—except tho On Leongs. They struck back. Hard. . But the Hip Sings were waiting in joyful anticipation and the two tongs tangled again in a war which did not terminate until the treaty of 1906 was signed. For a short time the white dove hovered over Chinatown, keeping an alert eye cocked on the gambling fraternity, as trouble had a disagreeable habit of emanating from that source. However, a woman was at the bottom of the nest ilare-up, although it is chrouieled that sho was an innocent victim of tho gods of misrule. ' Her name was Bow Kum. Lithe, sloeevod, and vermilion-lipped, she passed into the custory of one Low Hco Tong for 3000 dollars cash. Low llcc Tong, hicrh in the councils of the Hip. Sings and the Four Brothers, was pleased with his domestic arrangements, and became petulant when the authorities evinced 'a too-deep interest in the details of his family life. He could not understand their horrified disapproval and bewailed his ill-fortune when they whisked the delectable Bow Kum to the settlement headquarters, where she would be free to marry whom sho might choose. Tt is further recorded that to the settlement there came a certain Tchin Len, a truck gardener from the Jersey hinterland. Tchiu Len. of the tribe of On Leong, was not especially interested in the fact that at one time the gorgeous Bow Kum belonged to a Hip Sing leader.:He loved her. She loved him, and so they were married. TROUBLE. Scarcely had the fatal words been utttred when Low Hce Toug approached the glowing bridegroom. He cherished no particular ill feoling toward ■Tehin Len, but, as ho suavely pointed out, there was ;i slight financial adjustment that should be made. He, Low Hee Tong, had paid 3000 dollars for Bow Kum —and she was lost to him forever. Tchin Len, on the other hand, had secured the lovely lady for nothing. Accordingly, as a gentleman, Tchin Len would undoubtedly bo glad to pay Low Hee,Tong the 3000 dollars that the latter U»d lost in his unfortunate martimonia.l venture. Tchiu Len did not subscribe to Mr. Low's suggestion. ■ In fact, he refused to givo: the plaintiff, Mr. Low, a- dime. The interview was over. Back to the council of the Hip bings flitted the chagrined Low Hee Tong. To his sympathetic brothers he poured out his tale. Soon the affront became public gossip and was discused openly m tho mob rendezvous while chopsticks clicked and unbelievable quantities of rice wine were consumed. The air was pregnant with war, but it was rumoured neither army could decide upon the strategical master stroke that_ would send its enemies winging back into the arms, of their ancestors. Pending that momentous decision, the Hip Sings announced publicly that one On Leong, at least, was doomed to go. Further, they specified the exact date of his demise. The gentleman so marked for the preliminary slaughter was one Ah Hoon,. who held forth nightly as the starred comedian in a Chinese theatre on Doyers street. Gifted with a facile tongue and a ready wit, Ah Hoon was-a; celebrity, of sorts in the Chinese colony. However, there has always been a sharp distinction between inoffensive buffoonery and personal satirisation, and when . tho talented Ah Hoon began_ to interpolate barbed comments relative -to the ignoble part Vw Hoe Tong played in the Bow Kum affair, the loyal Hip Sings writhed in their seats. This impromptu humour, while uproariously funny to the On Leongs, failed to amuse tho Hip Sings. It was, they, agreed, an unpardonable breach of etiquette, and they had only one answer for bright young men who talked too much. . NO MENTION. . On tho night designated for his departure from this earth, Ah Hoo-n discreetly refrained from alluding' to Bow Kum or the low mentality of the Hip Sings. This was upon advice of;counsel—two burly police officers who guarded the comedian from tho.-wings. Out front, the audience was composed almost entirely, of tong brothers from the On Leong. Nothing happened. After the performance Ah Hoon was. convoyed to his lodgings by the officers and, after he was deposited safely in his room, a guard of On Leongs surrounded the house in an all-night Vigil. Certainly no Hip Sing highbinder could hope to penetrate that deadly cordon. It is recorded that none did. But in the morning Ah Hoon was found stretched on the bed with a bullet in his heart. Then swiftly the Hip Sings struck again. The lovely Bow Kum was discovered —quite dead. She had been stabbed. Thus did Tehin Leu pay for his'parsimony. ■