Appellant was arrested by immigration inspectors in the state of Washington for being unlawfully'in the country without any certificate of registration, and taken before a commissioner, who,- upon hearing, ordered him to be deported. He took an appeal to the United States District Court, claiming to be a native-born citizen of the United States. When the case came before the court, it was regularly referred to a United States commissioner at Seattle, who took and reported the testimony of appellant. Pursuant to a stipulation, several depositions of witnesses were taken in San Francisco, and duly reported to the court, and the cause - was regularly submitted. Before any decision was rendered, the judge caused appellant to be brought into court, and without the appellant or the interpreter being sworn, the appellant was interrogated b}’ the court. Thereafter the court, not being satisfied or convinced from all the testimony, that appellant was born in the United States, entered a decree affirming the order of deportation. From this decree, the present appeal is taken.

The industry of counsel for appellant alleges 15 assignments of error, but his contentions really present but two grounds for the *671 consideration of the court: (1) That the evidence does not support the decree. (2) That the court erred in its procedure of interrogating appellant after the testimony had been submitted.

We are of opinion that the contentious of counsel for appellant cannot be sustained.

The statutes of the United States cast the burden upon appellant to prove to the satisfaction of the court that he was born in the United States. Act May 5, 1892, c. 60, 27 Stat. 25 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1219]; Act Nov. 3, 1893, c. 14, 28 Stat. 7 [U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1322]. United States v. Sing Lee (D. C.) 125 Fed. 627, 628 ; Chin Bak Kan v. United States, 186 U. S. 193 , 22 Sup. Ct. 891. 46 L. Ed. 1121 .

Appellant testified before the commissioner that he was born at 741 Commercial street, San Erancisco, Cal., 26 years ago; that his father, whose name was Lee Quey Won, kept a Chinese grocery store on Commercial street in San Francisco, Cal., for 15 years; that his mother, whose name was Chong Shee, died when he was 4 or 5 years old; that appellant lived in San Francisco until he was 10 years old. and then moved to Portland, Or., with his father, where he lived for 11 years; that his father lived in Portland until 1897, when he went to China, where he now lives; that appellant has for the past 5 years lived in Seattle, Port Townsend, and Bremerton. The testimony of his witnesses tended, if free from doubt, to corroborate his own statement; but, to some extent, there was a conflict between his testimony and some of the witnesses, enough, at least, to create a suspicion in the mind of the court as to the truthfulness of the testimony.

Appellant, after his arrest by the immigration commissioners, had procured from San Francisco, Cal., a copy of a paper pu^rorting to be a birth certificate, issued July 23, 1902, which was filled out upon a blank requiring the “name of physician or midwife,” the answer not being given, except “Remarks: Affidavit of Jim Roy and Charles A. Bond.” This affidavit was sworn to before a notary public in San Francisco, and stated that Lee Yuen Sue “is a native-born citizen of the United States, having been born in San Francisco, California; * ⅜ * that your affiants cause this affidavit to be prepared to facilitate the travels of the said Lee Yuen Sue. Signed and swum to September 5, 1902.” In the certificate of birth appears: “Date of birth, May 5th, ,1880.” In appellant’s testimony before the commissioner when he was charged with being unlawfully in the country, he was asked:

This paper was not legal evidence. It was not prepared as required by law (Deering’s Aim. St. & Codes Cal. 1903, §§ 3075, 3078), and was of no force whatever as a legal document. The facts were brought out before the court by the testimony taken immediately after his arrest, and were certainly sufficient when read by the court, to induce a close examination of all the testimony taken in th

*672 The testimony of one of appellant’s white witnesses contains statements .which appear incredible upon their face. This witness testified, among other things:

He further testified that he knew appellant’s father and mother, and had frequently seen the boy in his father’s store and recognized his photograph attached to the interrogatories in the depositions. Upon'his cross-examination he testified:

The above is sufficient to illustrate the character of all this testimony on these and similar points. When the court, after the case was submitted, read over the testimony, it evidently noticed that there were some discrepancies, some conflict therein, and that much of the testimony was in the nature of hearsay, and unsatisfactory. If the court had acted upon it, he would doubtless have entered an order of deportation, but in order to ascertain the truth, the court deemed it proper to call appellant and give him an opportunity to explain matters. This action was favorable to appellant. It does not involve any question as to the regular methods of procedure in the trial of ordinary cases. When appellant was brought before the court his counsel was present, and the court proceeded to ask appellant several questions, to which no objection or exception was taken. Among other things, the following:

This testimony explains itself. The court in rendering its decision said:

The rule in this class of cases is universal:

In Woey Ho v. United States, supra, this court said:

Speaking of the burdens cast by the law upon this class of aliens, the court, in Chin Bak Kan v. United States, supra, said:

The suggestion made by appellant’s counsel that the court acted arbitrarily is absolutely without foundation. The conclusion reached by the court is fully sustained by the evidence.

The decree of the District Court is affirmed.