ATTORNEY-GENERAL.-OPINIONS-Continued. 2. Facts Should be Definitely Stated. When an opinion is desired from the Attorney-General, the facts which exist or are assumed as the basis of the inquiry should be definitely stated. The Attorney-General can not safely assume that facts not stated probably exist. 178. 3. Payment Under an Executive Department.-Except in matters of great 5. Same. The claim of Dudley & Michener for the payment of a sum 7. Same. It is neither advisable nor necessary for the AttorneyGeneral to render a decision upon any question involving a payment to be made by or under the head of any Executive Department. Under section 8 of the act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat., 208), the Comptroller of the Treasury is charged with this duty, and his decision is made final as to all executive officers. 468. 8. Same-Refund of a Fine.-The Attorney-General declines to express an opinion upon the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to refund a fine exacted, in lieu of the payment of duties, upon certain merchandise brought into the United States from Porto Rico after the ratification of the treaty of 1898 with Spain and before the taking effect of the Porto Rican act, due protest against the exaction not having been made. That duty by section 8 of the act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat., 208), is imposed upon the Comptroller of the Treasury. 586. 9. Questions of Fact.-The Attorney-General can not determine questions of fact. He can only aid in an application of the law to facts already ascertained. 231. ATTORNEY-GENERAL.-OPINIONS-Continued. 10. Same. The question whether the business of the International Ocean Telegraph Company is injuriously affected in contravention of its concession by the maintenance by the War Department of a telegraph line between Santiago and Havana, Cuba, and the transmission of private messages over it, is one the authority to determine which is not vested in the AttorneyGeneral. 425. 11. Question Pending Before the Court.-The question of the right of transit of Chinese persons from a port of the United States to the territory of Mexico, or from a port of the United States directly by sea to a foreign port, being now before the courts, it would not be proper for the Attorney-General to express an opinion thereon. 585. 12. Same. It is not the practice of the Department of Justice to give an opinion in a matter where the question involved is disputable and is the subject of a pending suit, as such action would be equivalent to expressing an opinion as to whether the question ought to be decided in favor of the Government, and might bring the Department into conflict with a judicial tribunal. 221. 13. Question Actually Arising in the Administration of a Department. — The question of the validity of a proposed regulation of the Treasury Department providing that in case a Chinese laborer who has left the United States upon a valid return certificate is delayed beyond one year from the date of his departure by reason of sickness or other disability beyond his control, the consular representative of the United States shall certify to such facts before the Chinaman shall be admitted into this country, not being a question actually or presently arising in the administration of the Treasury Department, the Attorney-General declines to express his opinion thereon. 582. 14. Same. Should this proposed regulation be promulgated, and the question of its validity arise in that Department, as upon an appeal under the act of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat., 390), the right and duty of the Attorney-General to reply to the question would be untrammeled. Ib. 15. Same Statement of Facts.-Under the rules regulating the opinions of the Attorney-General, it is necessary that the question of law presented should rest upon some case actually arising in the administration of a Department, and that it should be accompanied by a statement or finding of the facts involved. 330. 16. Question of Fact-Good Faith. It is not the duty of the AttorneyGeneral, and he can not, from the meager facts submitted, determine the question of good faith or intention on the part of the deserting sailors from the British steamship Columbia, as to whether they came to this country pursuant to their calling, intending to ship again, or as immigrants. That duty rests with the Treasury Department. 521. ATTORNEY-GENERAL.-OPINIONS—Continued. 17. Statement of Facts and Question to be Answered.-When an opinion is desired from the Attorney-General, the question to which an answer is desired, as well as a statement of the facts upon which the question is based, should be clearly set forth in the request. 92. 18. Same-Question of Law Involved. The Attorney-General will not express an opinion upon a question unless the request is accompanied by a definite statement of facts, and the question of law upon which an opinion is desired is specifically formulated. 472. 19. The President's Right to Call for an Opinion from the Attorney-General is not Limited to Questions of Law.-Article II, section 2, clause 1, of the Constitution provides that he "may require the opinion of the principal officer of each of the Executive Departments upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices." 360. BADGES OF MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS. Right to Wear.-The words "members of said organizations in their own right,” as used in the joint resolution of September 25, 1890 (26 Stat., 681), which provides that the distinctive badges adopted by the military associations of men who served in the armies and navies of the United States during the various wars waged by the United States may be worn upon all occasions of ceremony by officers and enlisted men of the Army and Navy of the United States, include all those who, under the rules of these orders, were eligible for membership, either because of their own service or because of their kinship to one who had been in the service. 454. BANKS. 1. Organization of National Banks in Hawaii. The act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat., 141), extended the national banking laws of the United States to the Territory of Hawaii, and the Comptroller of the Currency is authorized to grant permission for the organization of national banks therein. 177. 2. Same. Sections 5154 and 5155, Revised Statutes, do not apply to banks existing in Hawaii prior to the passage of the act of April 30, 1900, but refer exclusively to banks organized under special or general laws of a State. Ib. 3. Organization of National Banks in Porto Rico.-By virtue of section 14 of the act of April 12, 1900 (31 Stat., 77), the laws of the United States relative to the organization and powers of national banks were extended to Porto Rico. 169. 4. War-Revenue Tax-Surplus.-The "undivided profits" or "profit and loss" accounts of banking institutions are not taxable as surplus under section 2 of the war-revenue act of June 13, 1898 (30 Stat., 448). 341. 5. Same. In enacting this law Congress meant to tax only the capital of a bank in its strict technical sense under the banking BANKS-Continued. laws; and in taxing surplus, it meant the fund formally set apart by the authorized officers of the bank as surplus, and not the undivided profits of the institution. Ib. BOARD OF CHARITIES FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Supervision of Certain Charitable Institutions-Secretary of the Interior. The Board of Charities for the District of Columbia has general supervision of the Government Hospital for the Insane, the Washington Hospital for Foundlings, the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and the Freedmen's Hospital and Asylum, and, under the order of the District Commissioners, has power of investigation, with the duty of submitting a report and recommendation to Congress. With this exception, the powers and duties of the Secretary of the Interior are unchanged by the act of June 6, 1900. 287. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE SOLDIERS' HOME. Temporary Absence of a Member-Who May Perform His Duties.When the place of any chief of bureau named in section 10 of the act of March 3, 1883 (22 Stat., 565), has been temporarily filled under section 178, Revised Statutes, the person so temporarily acting may perform the duties of such officer as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Soldiers' Home, just as he performs the other duties of the officer in whose stead he is acting. 473. BOND INVESTMENT COMPANIES. See LOTTERY, 1-5. CALIFORNIA STATE HARBOR COMMISSIONERS. See STATE CHEROKEE INDIANS. See INDIANS, 1-2. CHINESE. 1. Attorney-General-Opinion-Readmission of Chinese Laborer-Treasury Regulation.-The question of the validity of a proposed regulation of the Treasury Department providing that in case a Chinese laborer who has left the United States upon a valid return certificate is delayed beyond one year from the date of his departure by reason of sickness or other disability beyond his control, the consular representative of the United States shall certify to such facts before the Chinaman shall be admitted into this country, not being a question actually or presently arising in the administration of the Treasury Department, the Attorney-General declines to express his opinion thereon. 582. 2. Citizenship of Chinese Born or Naturalized in Hawaii.-Under the provisions of section 4 of the Hawaiian act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat., 141), a Chinese person born or naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands prior to the annexation of that Territory, and who has not since lost his citizenship, is a citizen of the United States. 345. CHINESE-Continued. 3. Same. The wife and children of such naturalized Chinaman are entitled to enter the Territory "by virtue of the citizenship” of the husband and father. Ib. 4. Same.-A Chinese child born in Hawaii in 1885 and taken to China by his mother is entitled to reenter that Territory, where his father still resides. Ib. 5. Citizenship-Hawaii-United States.-All Chinese persons who, on August 12, 1898, were citizens of the Republic of Hawaii, became by virtue of section 4 of the act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat., 141), citizens of the United States. 509. 6. Same. Any Chinese person who was a citizen of the Republic of Hawaii on August 12, 1898, and who has not since abandoned or been legally deprived of his citizenship, is a citizen of the United States. 352. 7. American Registry-Vessel Carrying an Hawaiian Registry.—Such naturalized Chinese citizen may take the oath required by sections 4131 and 4142, Revised Statutes, and have his vessel admitted to registry as an American vessel, provided it carried an Hawaiian register on the 12th of August, 1898, and was at that time owned bona fide by a citizen of Hawaii or of the United States. Ib. 8. Entrance into Hawaii.-There is nothing in the resolution of annexation of the Hawaiian Islands (30 Stat.,750), nor in the organic act which provides a government for that Territory (31 Stat., 141), nor in any law of Congress, which would prevent the entrance into those islands of Chinese, now legally resident in the United States and holding certificates of registration provided for by the acts of May 5, 1892 (27 Stat., 25), and November 3, 1893 (28) Stat., 7). 487. 9. The "further immigration" of Chinese forbidden by the resolution of annexation is immigration from other countries than the United States. Ib. 10. Right to Return to United States from Hawaii.—The question of the right of such Chinese person, to return to the United States from the Hawaiian Islands, not decided. Ib. 11. Exclusion Laws Jurisdiction of U. S. Commissioners. In the hearing of cases arising under the Chinese exclusion laws, the duties of a United States commissioner are judicial rather than ministerial. Consequently the Treasury Department has no authority to issue instructions to United States commissioners as officers charged with the enforcement of these laws. 40. 12. Exclusion Laws-Readmission of Returning Merchant.—A Chinese person, resident in the United States and member of a firm engaged in the manufacture of cigars within the United States and of selling the cigars so manufactured, who, having temporarily left the United States, desires readmission, is a returning merchant in the sense in which that word is used in the treaty |