Formerly, in California, by statutory enactment, a Chinaman was rendered incompetent to testify for or against a white person on trial in a criminal case.16 That act is no longer in force., and everywhere Chinamen are competent to testify in all matters, except that they are excluded by federal statute from testifying that a fellow-countryman attempting to re-enter the United States had been engaged as a merchant previous to his departure therefrom.17