Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-04-13
FRIDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1855.
THE YATURALlZATIoN la VS..

ave will maintain the doctrine that no one OF
the States of this Union has the right to adIli' "
the enjoyment of free suffrage any person o. -,
birth, who has not been first made cuzen VI 'le
United States, according to the UNIFORM runs VI
naturalization prescribed by Congress uuuer VIC
provisions of the Constitution. Gazette.
And how do you suppose the Gazette goes to
work to maintain" this
/. It tells US that the State Of Maine has passed
two laws, one that naturalized citizens shall ex-
hibit their papers three months before the day on
which they offer to vote, and another that the
courts of the State shall not naturalze foreigners
2 That in court in Ohio point, mot yet de-
cided, was made, that the State courts had no
authority to naturalize foregnersl That's ali
We need not tell any body but know nothing
that these points do not touch the doctrine which
the Gazette is pledged to maintain. They relate
to the power of the State courts to naturalze for
eigners, and however they may be decided, they
do not at all involve the power of each State to fix
the quali6ca ton of voters. The Gazstte's error,-
and we are really shocked TO see gentleman bred
to the law fall into such an error-consists in its
superstition that naturalization and the right to
vote are Synonymous terms. Our know nothing
neighbor does not know that, while Congress alone
can fix the rule of naturalization, yet the States
have the unquesiouable right, each for ITSELF to fix
the qualification Of voters Congress cannot say
that negro shall not vote in New York, or shall
vote in Tennessee. In Tennessee, none but citizens
can vote, and consequently foreigners must be
naturalzed according to the laws of the Urited
States before they can vote. But Tennessee made
This Ian, g. -, i. IL
have conferred the privilege of voting upon unna-
turalized foreigners, as is done in Illinois, New
York, and, we believe, several other States The
Constitution Of the United States declares that the
Representatives in Congress shall be chosen by the
people of the several States, and that " the cleo
tors IN each State shall have the qualifications re-
qnisite for electors of the most numerous branch
Of the Stale Legislature" But these ''qualifica-
tons are to be fixed by the States, each for ITSELF
and the United States has no control of the mat
ter
We suppose that most of the 'know nothings''
know at least this, and we write, therefore, only
for the information Of the GGzehe. For the honor
OF the craft we trust it will learn to read before it
again attempts to instruct others in constitutional
law"
In brief, then, we say to the Gazette that it COM
mits grie7ous blunder when il asserts that mo
one of the States Of this Union has the right to
admit to the enjoyment of free suffrage any person
of foreign BIRTH who has not been first made cit
lien of the United States, according TO the uniform
rule of naturalization prescribed by Congrsss, under
the provisions Of the Constitution"
We say that the qualifications of voters in each
State are fixed in the constitutions of each State ;
that the right thus to fix the qualification of voters
is one of the reserved rights of the States that
Congress in no manner interfere with its exer-
cise that the power in the hands of the States is
restricted only in this: that they cannot deny an
elector for representative in the Legislature the
right to vote for representative in Congress; and
that the States may permit unnaturalzed foreign
eTs to VOTE as is done in Illinois or say that none
but citizens shall vote as in Tennessee in the exer
else of their unquestionable, and, unit the advent
of "k7aot0 noatuqgiSnl," unquestioned sovereignty
over the whole subject
Let US see if the Gasette viii repeat its plat
forml