New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-12-05
THE COURTS.
N.TuRALIZATION RECORDS.

..,,,,r>-r on TIE PAPERS OF loOo-DlsIklOiAi-
Son~rv wOoDFORD PRESENTS THE CASE FOR
rpE GOVERNMENT.
M document was held before Judge blatch-
10 tbe United States Circuit Court YESTERDAY Oh
Ioiu ~ question in the case OF Peter Cole
mo was committed to Ludlow Street JAN on eIec-
- o,, for voting on one Of the naturalization papers
- 1ses T. T. Anderson counsel OF the Iammahy
and General Wingate appeared for the prisoner
md district AttOiuey WoOdford iOr ule Wv
srnment This has been intended as a tesV c"o0
90 determine finally the question 6hether INC nat
ra,izot,ou papers Of 1868 are valid, as they were
rot recorded on the minutes of the court but were only
..s,arod in the index Coleman was committed on the
sCdavit Of stephen Mosher; this charged him with
nlawfully using certain certificate Of citizenship OF
the supelior Court OF this city, showing him to he su-
,ed citizen knowing that such certificate had Deeh
pnlayfuly issued made" Tic prisoner was brought
befose Judge BlatchfOrd on habeas corpus ana GER
orari TO determine the grounds on which he was heLG
The Court appointed Commissioner beus ~ an by tbe
dence regarding the facts. IL was there proven W to
Clerk OF tine superior Court that the only evidence SHOW
iug the naturalization OF the pIsQeI Vines and
the index giving date name natlohahy' ""n0'' "N0
When the case came before Judge Blatchford for ars
ment Yesterday he said thst ,hSTs VIZ had been viii
fully guilty Of crime, ana ne W0utu ia ga n,y Eppi
Coleman in custody that final judicial decision Ls
he DroDOuuced on the question, MT Anderson su tht
he ould prefer that Coleman should be kept IN CUSTODY
NTH srGpmept was had. The Court said that If both
sides were confident that they had the best case that
could be brought forward, be WOulu listen " 'N0
TT. Anderson therefore proceeded 10 argue on
morton for the discharge OF the prisoner He SAID ne
made this motion on three grounds: First, because
under the affidavit of stephen MosheT, compassionate "
nnrt acquired no jurisdiction TO issue the warrant OF
10 commit the relatOr jail second, because the charge
made against the reator was not cnaIge o. of The
United states the penalty Of imprisonment eoI" 90;
affixed THIRD beoPe Davenport that
the relatOr had been guilty OF any any CoI,nis
snneT DsyenpoPt acquired jurisdiction to issue ms
warrant as the affidavit OF stephen MOsner ul9 not
nite crime The citizen ought not to be made charge
able with CRIME because Of an error or hreguaIS oh
c rb al made against Coleman not for crime
for which he could be imprisoned nad DeJn issued
nv courts having jurisdiction Of the subject matter MeIo
conclusive evidence OF the regularity OF the f i
ON winch they we're based. Again. the record PROOF
mis- case was complete record or an t tne
naturalization proceedings. The courts ,o %TI% of
their records: In this case ~ 5 aPpTaI 'n
stead of recurring its clerk enter in book OF minutes
a memorandum in the form Of an order declaring InaI
fgc anDcant had been admitted TO naturalization, pre-
ferred TO note the fact Of such admission by entering IN
a hook kent as an index complete memorandum Oi
the entire proceedings. Mr. Anderson SAID IN eonciu
s-on tat fbey represented not Oaly Coleman, but the
many honest men who had in their possession me Ger
fifcates which If unlawful, were made unaWIu Dy INC
acts of clerks and not by Their own acts D., a., ,,r
Distrct-Attorney WOOdford made answer Tor Ine Goo
erument He said that in 1865 many IhQusanu9 s ~
aliens were alleged to have been naturalzed 10 the ou
peror Court of this city. Charges OfegSity IN tuese
cntion nv Congress- which was followed by the passage
O. the present naturalization laws He said he snOa QUIZ
consider essentially only one QuestionCthe aleg1u SI
cheney of the records Of the Superior Court IN sIoMt
an alleged judgment Of that Court IN regard 20 INC
intent Of Congress, he continued, in ,reg,mH
TO naturalization, has always Dee1 fO', ,I5
administration Of the elder Adams. The statutes
egisi9, The act of is05 commonly known as the JET
ferson Act ana that 1924 IN force in 1868 ana
anon tLs case Il will be found that the skeleton Of
lie method OF naturalization has been found nearly
uniform. wish to submit to the Court SeVeIa PROPOSE
The admission OF an alien to citizenship is judicial
ment in a Irrigated cause the Government claims that
70 private czSn, cerS OF Juoge GI E court mas 81
rnnsiton ia tb9t fLe evidence Submitted to the Court
10 secure admission citizenship must be legal evil
The proceedings and judgment Of the proceeding
must be recorded.
Therecord Of the Court is the highest evidence known
to the OF what the Count mas done. In order that
there should be 10 mistake, Congress has enacted in
every statute the subject that the proceedings shall
be recorded IL these statutes are followed the cearest
light is thrown upon the intention OF the LEGISLATORS
Tacrc distinct purpose 20 secure full record 10
winch appeals can be made by the natural zed citizen or
Tnc question mere is Was the certificate Of the natural
iZatOu OF Coleman unlawiuiy issued, ana IL so DID
Coleman know II The second part shall not argue
] have a.rcaOy come 10 the coGcu'i"O lhdt
Coleman, an ignorant man, was mslcd, ana
not wuully guilty or crlhe' Com
ing then 10 the lawuiuess Of tine issue OF TIE GER
mat II was unlawful uGttSS tucIt vas
matter o. record which the certificate might be
issue The clerk had no right 10 issue IT, he had only
The right 10 certify to the Judgment Of the Court Then
what constitutes record Of naturallzauonf In ordi
nary proceedings there must De form 10 show mat
the Judgment found by the Court must be entered
1t must indicate exactly what was DONE In some
book required TO be kept by law. 1t must snow
the relief granted. and that the grant was made
by the Court. There IL in tins case nothing cX
ccptiug the record on the index. There j.
nothing to show that the Superior Court ever
regarded that index record, or that they knew
was IN existence. Regular minutes kept by the
Superior Court at this time but these minutes contain
no mtimatiOn that Peter Coleman was naturalzcd.
Ii will be argued that the rights OF 10000 persons
naturalZed IN 1868 will be affected. should the Court
hold with that these papers are Illegal and real Cs
tate titles VIII be unsettled. But the Government has
Cny proceeded against those VINO have refused TO
rect the error and there likely 10 be many qucs
tons on the estate matters under recent decisions
in New-YOrk But courts VIII not throw down the
visions of and decisions to what actually
records in courts OF justice 10 the future injury Of many
persons at the risk of working some injury 10 few.
The argument has not yet been finished.