Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-04-05

In the latter part of May, how
ever, about the time of the passage
of the first enforcement bill, Mr..
submitted a bill Of his
own Ia relation to naturalization,
which was also referred to the Judi
ciary Committee. In the last week
of June, and just before the adjourn I
ment of Congress, Mr.. ConkIing /
reported the House naturalization 4
bill to the Senate, with a long I
in the nature of q sub !
stitute, which embodied, in fact, |
the bill offered by that Senator. |
This substitute, which contained
the supervisor and deputy marshal
clauses, was assigned day for dis
cussiOn, and when it came up was
Immediately attacked. by Republic
cans and Democrats alike, as being
practically destructive of every
principle of naturalization acted
upon by the government from its
inception down to that moment. 1t
was openly said by men of both
parties that the bill land especially
the supervisor and deputy marshal
clauses) was meant to benefit Mr..
COnkling in New York city at the
expense of the country at large.
The bill did indeed, in effect attempt
to legalize the very.acts which John
l Davenport has since done without
warrant of law, and particularly in
requiring all naturalization papers
granted after July /, 1873, to be
renewed. Senator Morton declared
he would not vote for the bill; the
present Secretary of the Interior
denounced it; many other Republi-
can Senators and all the Democrats
declared that it ought not to be
acted upon because there was not
time to discuss it.
Finally July I'd was set to take a
vote on it, and, after a hot discus
sion, in which Senators Bayar
Thurman and Vickers were active
assaiIants of the bill, as being SUBJ
verSive of the rights of naturalized
citizens, the vote was taken, and the
Senate's substitute Mr.. Conkling's)
rejected. The Senate then passed
the original House bill, but, at Mr..
Conkling's urgent solicitation added
to it the two last sections of his
amendment, covering the provisions
for supervisors and deputy marshals
in cities of over 10000 Inhabitants.
The bill in this shape was about to
pass the Senate when Mr.. Sumner
insisted upon having his amend
ment, that neither color nor race
should act as bar to natura lization,
appended to the bill, in order, as he
said. to carry out the Declaration of
Independence. The Pacific coast
/ Senators at once amended the
amendment by proposing to except
! the Chinese from naturalization a
! hot discussion sprang up and was
adjourned to the 18th of July, on
which day one of the most memOra-
! BILE debates in the history of Congress
occurred. Such was the bitter feel
ing involved during this discussion,
! which covered very wide range,
! that several times in the course of
! the day the bill, supervisors, mar
/ shals and all. came within an ace of
being defeated. Mr.. COnkling's
personal interest in the matter was,
however, so strong that finally he
procured the reconsideration and
| defeat of Mr.. Summers amendment
and saved his bill, which t. us be-
came law, being approved by the
President July IA, 1870.
The two obnoxious clauses which
have caused so much trouble and
confusion were scarcely under dis
cussion during all the debate, and
were apparently not understood in
their entirety by any member of the
/ Senate. 1t was in this way that
this legislation was first procured,
and the case shows how careieSSly
and reckleSsly measures so vitality
important to the institutions of the
country have now and then been
adopted. The supervisOrandd deputy
| marshal clauses were not left long
in their unnatural position on the
naturalization law. On February
18th, 1871, an amended form of the
enforcement act of May 31st, 1870,
was approved by the President, and
i'm the body of this measure was in
corporated, in an enlarged and con-
centrated form, all the substance of
the two clauses which were then
repealed so far as they stood as
sections ) and of the act of July
18th, 1870.
In all the votes taken upon the
passage of this outrageous bill, with
its seventeen sections and its violent
pains and penalties, all the Republi-
cans voted for its adoption, and all
the Democrats against its adoption.
1t was, therefore, in no sense of the
word an act of Congress to prevent
frauds in elections, but to all intentS
and purposes a partisan measure,
| designed to secure the political SUI
premacy of party, in spite of the
changes in popular sentiment then
threatening or anticipated in the
remote future. AS such, the Re-
publican minority will struggle to
retain it upon the statute book.