THE DAILY PROVINCE
MARCH 5, 1908

p. 1

HINDUS RELEASED ON HABEAS CORPUS
HINDUS STILL HELD WITHOUT BAIL
---------------Validity of Order in Council as Applied to Them Not
Tested Because of Point of Technical Neglect.

------------------“If you wish to test the order in Council you will have to go out and corral
some more Hindus,” was the advice tendered by Mr. Justice Morison this morning to
Mr. Elmer Jones, appearing for the Dominion in opposition to habeas corpus
proceeding for the release of three Hindus who arrived in Vancouver two weeks ago
on the steamer Aorangi from Suva.
It was not the fault of Mr. Jones that the order in Council could not be tested
on these Hindus who were ordered released because they had never been informed
why they had been detained. This was the sole ground for their release and they are
not yet out of trouble.
Immediately the decision of Mr. Justice Morrison became known, Provincial
Constable Munro set out for the Dominion detention shed on the run in order to
“Natalize” the immigrants. He was there ahead of the release order, however, and
not till this afternoon will he have opportunity to run them through the testing
machine. Should they fail to pass, and insist on entering the country, they will be
arrested and lodged with the Hindus now held in provincial cells for having entered
the province in defiance of the Natal Act.
There are now seventeen Hindus occupying the cells in the basement of the
Courthouse, two more of those who reached port last Monday on the Empress of
Japan from the Orient, having been arrested last night. These two were originally
detained by Federal Immigration Agent Dr. Munro because they had not sufficient
funds to assure their ability to support themselves. In some manner they found the
necessary amount of money and last night were released only to fall into the hands
of the provincial authorities.

THE DAILY PROVINCE
MARCH 5, 1908

p. 1

The arrested Hindus are making life miserable around the Courthouse for
every person not afflicted with a cold so bad that the olfactory nerves are paralyzed.
Indescribably filthy about their persons, they insist on cooking their own food, and
the vile mess they prepare in the basement sends forth a stench which by
comparison would make a fertilizer factory seem like the fountain of lilac de France.