The American patriot., 1855-01-03
,o.dI Irss-..tAruRA11zAr1oN LAWS.

Laws. Notice was given in both +
the Senate and House Of Representatives that bills
would be introduced sometime during the present Ii
session to extend the time of probation which the
foreigner must spend in the United States before
he shan be entitled to l the privileges and iitfnu
mites Of citizenship, to twcntyone years, instead
of five, which is now the present limit This is
precisely the move the American party is deslr
GUS to see made, but we are somewhat afraid that
it is premature and will fail The Native Ameri-
can leaders in that body arc certainly very bold,
thus to hazard general engagement before they
can marshal their whole force into the field. Had
the movement been postponed until next fall,
when all the newly elected Native American
members would have taken their seats, victory
would have been certain. and we could then have
obtained all for our country that we ask.
If. however, our party is defeated this session,
it will only be the defeat Of a skirmish and we
must be content to wait till the gigantic forces Of
our party are more concentrated and better or
ganized for action.
Tho Old Fogy opposition object strongly to
this movement, on the ground Of its unconstitu-
tionality, and some of our own party members
seem infected with this mistake, but it will be
our duty to show that the term Of probation to
foreigner can be extended to twenty-one years,
and that too without touching the Constitution.
The jealous regard which our compatriots, acting
under an erroneous impression, have discovered
for the Constitution in its present shape, is pleas
ing indeed and is silent but forcible refutation
of those insidious ISLANDERS which have been per-
pctrated on Native Amcricanism by those who
are busy to proclaim that the effect of its doc
trines carried out is to change the Constitution
and to rcnd our Union into many fragments. The
view taken Of this matter by our friends men
toned above is, we confess, more creditable to
their hearts than their heads, but in the mistake
they have manifested willingness to submit to
any evil rather than attempt to remedy it by al
tering or amending the Constitution. The term
of time prescribed for a foreigner to remain in
the country before he is allowed to vote is not
fixed in the Constitution but under the authority
of this clause: Congress shall have power to
establish an uniform rule of naturalization
The power is vested in Congress to enact from
time to time such regulations on this subject as
its wisdom shall dictate, or the condition of the
country requires. Action has been taken on the
matter several times, and various laws have been
passed. fixing the term Of probation at one time
at two years, at another at three at another at FIVE
and in the administration of John Adams the elder
at fourteen years. In the subsequent admins
tration of Thomas jefferson it was again reduced
to five years, and so has continued up to this
time.
Thus it is clearly evident from the frequent
| ,.1, :< <bo
ton laws, Congress has the discretionary power
to mould them in conformity with the condition Of
the country, and has exercised this power more
than once, and yet no change Of the Constitution
has been made. If the people, or their Repre-
sentativcs in Congress see proper to extend this
term to twenty -one years, the step wholly legti
mate, and the use of this discretionary power
will not disturb even a word or clause in that
great magma charta Of our rights and Eberties.-
Those who have been so ready to cry out that the
t Union is in danger, and that the Constitution is
about to be torn in twain, would do well to read
that document at least ONCE The purpose and
intent of this measure is one of sclfdefencc and
| protection to ourselves and our country, and it
proposes not TO deprive any one of the rights and
immunities Of citizenship, upon the abstract fact
that he is foreigner but because the exercise Of
the right of voting by this class generally is dan
gcrous to the political health of patriotic in
stitutions The foreigner who intends to live with
us has as much interest in guarding these and
keeping them pure and healthy as any native born
: citizen, and that man who happening first to see
the light in foreign land believes that the Native
American party is prosecuting the class of men
to which he belongs, is laboring under most
c cgrcgious error. The good things which VIC cx-
pect to realize from pure Government and well
administered, we arc ever ready to divide with
= any foreigner but in justice to ourselves We arc
n positively opposed to allowing those to NEEDLE
i with the State who will make things worse instead
Of better. The idea is prevalent among the for
egn population that they are entitled of RIGHT t.
vote, and they do not consider that this privilege
is given to them out Of pure benevolencc on TIN
! part of the Government, which it has right t.
!, withhold at any time when the exercise of thi
bcnevolence becomes dangerous, but they con
c ceive that these privileges belong to them 0
RIGHT, and that to be deprived Of them is to taxi
n something from them which they entitled to
c This is dangerous mistake and any one can Sc
r the fallacy Of the thing who will consider that
is man exercises the rights and privileges of citizen
a a ship only as they arc conferred on him by tn