The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-07
Judge Read Enters a Protest
Against the Manner in
which Naturalization
is Conducted,
IIe Declares it Illegal.
Judges AgneW and Williams
Agree with Judge Read,
and a Majority of the
Court will so Decide.

The following letter, addressed by the Hon.
John NJ. Read, Associate Justice OF the Su.
preme Court, to Chief Justice Thompson, will
be read with INTEREST,"
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. T. 1868, !
No. lll9 CneSnut street.
My Dear Brother:-In the early part of the
week ending on the 26Lh September last, l
heard casually that the namoer of naturaiiza-
tions in Nisi Prius was very large and on Sat
uIday was informed that some persons were
arrested Tor naturalization frauds In that Court
This arrested my attention, and wrote u note
to my brother Sharswood, who was holding the
Court, suggesting certain regulations whicn
were adopted by the courts In the city of New
York, giving facilities to any citizen To know
who was nsturalized on the preceding day. mis-
residence, and the name and residence of his
voucher, or with ss. the suggestion was only
partially adopted.
seven hundred and twenty persons had been
naturalized on that day, and that there was
strong suspicion OF fraud. That evening wrote
and had delivered to the Prothonotary a note
requesting him 10 give me the number natu-
ralized on each day in Septem Der. including
the 2Sth. The next morning calledon brother
Sharswood. and finding HIS views were SO diff
ferent from mine, wrote him y letter, which
day, q copy OF which is annexed to this note
Complaints being made that all access to the
natural alization papers or records was refused to
respectable citizens, on the next day (havinR
received from the ProJhonotary the list had
asked fOr) wrote another note to my brother
Sharswood, copy OF which Is annexed
In the proceeding before Alderman B0itl0r
Colonel snowden testified "his duty was to
attach his name to the papers when brought to
him by the tipstaves OF the Court and he ad-
mitted that his name might possibly be at
taohed TO them without their having been
sworn to-" The crier OF the Nisi Prius said, "I
or Mr. Schell swear the petitioners or vouchers,
but do not mark the papers so that we can re-
cogniZe them; have administered within the
One of the persons naturalized, named Hun1n.
ger, swore:-"I was In the Rebel army
from 1862 to 1865: schntzel asked me
and iold him; he ask ed me II had any citizen
paper and said no, and he said could get 1t
North Third street 10 a Democratic committee;
he put his name to paper and paid ten cents,
and gGt ueEes ors we tne9 i r6e came L3 the Court
said taking an oath was nothing; at Leckf kfeldt's
he said, Il can swear fifty times for glass OF
beer"
Another naturslized person named Mullock
said, ~ am forty.two, years old; have been at
New York; q man named Snyder swore
resided here over one year Immediately before
made the application; never saw him before,
Colonel Snowden could not recognize any OF
the men. 1t Is clear, then, that. the whole prac-
upstaves. who, on Monday, 2Sth of september
made sc ven hundred and twenty citizens
Duril the September Nisi Prlus six thou
SAND ana eighteen persons were naturalized of
whom wo thousand eight hundred and seventy
Two wei Q naturallzed during the last week. See
The opportunities for fraud are, therefore,
vastly multiplied oy THIS practice of lightning
speed in creating citizens, many of whom un-
derstaDd English very imperfectly The natural
consequences is that frauds are committed in
the process OF naturalization, and papers are
sfioat which are believed TO be forgeries but
are so well executed that the ProthonOtary
cannot say positively that 1t LIS not his own
name
II is therefore clearly the duty of the Protho-
notary To ferret out these frauds by every
means in his power, and by giving free access
TO all Tet pectable citizens to examine the natu.
ralization records and papers, In order TO assist
in their detection. The Prothonotary OF the
highest tribunal in the State should not avail
himself OF any technical objection, but throw