New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-10-14
HOW N.ATURALIZED CITIZENS ARE MADE.
SHAMELESS CONDUCT OF TAMMANY HALL JUDGES
THREE CITIZENS A MINUTE! MIN NATU-

SHAMELESS CONDUCT OF TAMMANY HALL JUDGES
THREE CITIZENS MINUTE MIN NATU-
RALLIED WITHOUT APPEARING IN COURT.
Let us spend morning in the courts and see how
the process of naturalization carried on Let us
90 first to the Superior Court where i'll different
| rooms Judges Garvn and McCunn are " running the
machine" though in different ways. The doors OF
each Of the rooms are guarded by officers, and out
side is crowd of would-bo citizens and their wit
nesses who are led into the rooms IN small
armies On entering Judge Garvin's room the
future citizen and his witness come up 10
the desk with the naturalization paper al
ready prepared The witness is told TO hold up
his hand, and the Judge taking the paper, repeats
to him the substance of it, and asks him if he swore
TO it, and yet the Judge speaks so rapidly that we
hazard nothing in saying that the witness does not
understand one word in ten Of what the Judge says,
and does not know what he is swearing to. The
papers are then signed by the Judge and passed to
Clerk who repeats the oath of allegiance for the
citizen even more rapidly than the Judge, If
that were possible, and the citizen is made.
II we Iwere TO time" Judge Garvin, we
should find that he made citizen minute.
EJudge McCunn operates differently. The would
be citizen in admitted TO the room and the
Judge has no knowledge that there is in existence
any such man as the one he is converting into
citizen The witness is not put to the trou-
BILE of identifying the party 10 whose
residence and moral character he IS swearing. The
witnesses are admitted to the room in long train.
AS they approach the Judge, clerk thrusts
book into the hands Of a dozen ut time,
and mumbles an oath. The Judge has large
pile Of papers before him. Picking up one he calls
ont John Strauss" Teuton steps up the Judge
says: do you know this man ~ Have you known
- -, IA aa
of good moral characterp The witness bows
his head and tho Judge signs the papers
Occasionally the Judge asks the witness if
he has read the affidavit but it has been
found that only in one case in half an hour does
he AJAX him if its contents are true if he to
it, The future citizen not being present the witness
need not have known who "ths man. is for whom
he 10 swearing and occasional mistakes arising from
confusion in the papers show that point OF fact he
doee not During the first five minutes Judge Mo
Cunn naturalizes fourteen persons but during the
next five minutes he makes better time. and pats
fifteen through After the papers are signed by the
Judge. they are passed TO q clerk, who takes them
into another room across the entry where the would
be citizen is supposed to take the oath OF allegiance
before q clerk. Such 10 the expeditions process OF
citizen making one may witness here any day. In
point of fact, recent visit to the NATURALIZATION
mills we saw many man naturalized who took no
no oath of allegiance, and in case was there any
pretense of attempt to provide that the same man
who was sworn to by the witness was the one who
got the naturalization papers, who took the oath.
On the same expedition We vistedthe Court of Com
mon Pleas. Judge Daily was engaged IN the same
business, but less rapidly than Judge McCunn. His
highest rate was one minute he asked various
questions but was less careful than Judge Barrett,
whom we had seen in the same Court on previous
day. Judge Barnard of the Supreme Court had not
then commenced his operations in the making of cit
liens. He has. however since been driving them
with a speed that will soon enable him to oyertake
Judge McCunn. if he has not already done 80. We
hare The best Of crdeHce that bcfoTe JHdge barnard me
same three men ,rre Hdturatzed three times orcr ThiH
ten minutes on The oath Of the same pitness OF course