The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1871-10-26

: 4 + 4 H7 11s5sss, Editors.
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THURSDAY MoRNINe, ocr. 26, 1871.
SENATOR HARLAN AND THE NAT.
URALIxAT10N LAWS.
" He who uttereth a Islander is fool.
He who nsssrepyesents another for bis hurt
is q knave."
We clip the following from the
Buchanan Go. Bulletin, as sample
of the material served up for their
readers in Northern Iowa by the Du.
buquo Times, Nashua Post, Des
Moincs Register, Waterloo Courier,
and tho Buchanan Co. Bulletin, who
have been vainly taxing their brains
during the past year to find some
reason to justify the people in dis
pensing with Iowa's most expert.
enced and trusted servant in the U.
s. Senate:
"The Mount Pleasant Journal, Mr..
Harlan's home organ, says Of his
vote on the proposition to amend the
naturalization laws, "that the vote
did not reflect his views upon the
simple proposition involved, but was
given under stress of strong neces-
sity." We think this an unfortunate
explanation for Mr.. Harlan. 1t will
DO difficult to make the people of
Iowa appreciate the necessity"
which compels one of her Senators to
vote on question of principle against
his own convictions. We may be
permitted to affirm that such action
savors moro Of the trimmer in poll
tics than of the statesman"
After searching Mr.. Harlan's Soma.
torial record, covering a period OF
over Is years, among tho tens Of
thousands Of votes cast on the great
est of questions Of peace and war, fl.
nancial and commercial, domestic
and international, they, with their
jaundiced eyes, find but one vote TO
criticise. His enemies being Judge,
this is very clear record. So.the PEG.
pie will conclude; even if these crit
les were honest and candid in their
fault finding. But it requires a great
stretch of charity to believe them
sufficiently ignorant Of tho facts not
TO be justly chargeable with deliber.
ate Misrepresentation for the pur-
pose Of injuring one of the most Ia.
borious and faithful of our public
men, in the estimation of the people
whom he has served with such great
distinction.
A casual reader OF such editorials
as the foregoing, might suppose that
Senator Harlan had deliberately, and
for no sufficient reason, opposed the
admission Of colorcd emigrants to
this country, to the right Of natural
ization. And yet in looking over the
statutes of the United States we find
the following law, VIZ:
And be IL further enacted, That the
naturalization laws are hereby OK.
tended to aliens of african nativitv
and to persons of African descent.
And on turning to the record we
find this law passed the Senate by
the following affirmative Republican
vote, viz: Yeas, Chandler, Drake,
Fenton, HARLAN, Mcdonald, Merrill,
of Vermont, Morton, Osborn, Pome.
roy, Rice, Robertson, Scott, Spencer,
Spraguo, Sumner, Thayer, Upton,
Trumbull, Warner, and Wiley. See
Cong. Globe, End ses. 41st Cong, paqe
SLIT.
And now this is the supreme law
OF the land, made such, in part at
least, by the vote and influence of
Senator Harlan. Why is this record
kept out of sight by Mr.. Harlan's
critics? Do they do it puposely to
make q false impression on the pub
lie mind or, is it done ignorantly /?
Near the close Of the second ses-
sion of tho dist Congress the House
passed bill TO prevent frauds at
elections in New York City, and
other great cities Of the q. S., which
under the lead ofthe Tammany Dem
ocracy had grown so fragrant and
enormous as TO defeat a fair expression
ofthe public will, and to put in immi-
minent peril our free institutions.
The passage OF the bill through both
branches of Congress before the close
of the session was deemed to be of
transcendent Importance. When
this bill came to the Senate from the
House, it had nothing in it, propos-
ing any change in the naturalization
laws, except such notifications as
looked directly to the preservation
Of the purity of tho ballot box
This was it's only purpose.
This House Bill, No. 22Ol, was re-
ferred to the Judiciary Committed, and
reported back with an amendment
inthe nature Of . substitutes: and this
amendment proposed no amendment
to the naturalization laws except as
above described. But after this bill
had been called up for consideration,
and the time had boon agreed upon
for the final vote on the Committees
amendment and on the bill, Mr.
Sumner, in violation Of this agree
ment as was alleged by Senators,
proposed an amendment to the Ju.
dietary Committee's amendment "to |
strike the word aohite from the oxist.
ing naturalization laws" The only
effect Of the adoption Of this amend. |
mant /after tho .don+;a, op A.