William Hepworth Dixon, White Conquest: Volume 2

The American Constitution opens American ports to all the world; the laws of California limit and control the entry of Asiatics into San Francisco. The American Constitution gives to every man who lands a right of citizenship on easy terms; the laws of California deny a Chinese immigrant the right of citizenship on any terms.

Under the new conditions created by the influx of these Asiatics, San Francisco has ceased to be a free port in the sense in which New York is a free port. New York is open: San Francisco is not open. If he lands in New York a Mongol may be naturalized in a year; but if he lands in San Francisco a Mongol cannot be naturalized in twenty years. This conflict of principles leads to much confusion in practice. No one in Oregon, California, and Nevada, can be sure of what is legal or illegal. A Court, administering the local law, rules one thing; a second Court, administering the general law, rules another thing. They clash alike in maxims, methods, and results.