Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-09-13

PROVISION, nau III become "a law,
would have been to compel the per-
son seeking naturalization to travel
possibly hundreds of miles and incur
a great loss of time and money in
order to make his first declaration, +
and afterward his final application.
The bill next provided ''that any II
alien intending to apply for natu-
ralization shall at least one month
before such application file or cause
to be filed with the Clerk of said
respective Courts or with the said
Commissioner (Register in Bank
ruptcy), 10 whom such application
is to be made, notice that he in
tends to apply, which notice shall
be verified by the oath of such alien,
and shall state the time at which
such application is to be made, the
name of the town or place within
the State or Territory, or within the
District of Columbia, in which said |
application is intended to be made |
also, where the applicant has re-
sided for the year previous to such |
application, his residence at the |
time, with the street and number |
lin case he resides in a place having |
streets named and houses num- |
bered), and name and keeper of the |
house in which he lives, the name,
age, occupation and nationality of
the applicant, together with de-
scription of the applicant, age,
height, complexion, color of the
hair, color of the eyes and any
other distinguishing fact" The
object OF this provision, with all its
PECULIARLY, was to interpose another
obstacle to naturalization by the
trouble and expense that the giving
of notice might impose, but princi-
pally by enabling any person
whomsoever to interfere and oppose
the granting of the naturalization.
| For the bill went on to provide
'tthat the application must be heard
at the time specified in the notice,
and that any person might contest
! the application that no affidavits
should be admitted, and that any
attorney-at-law should be permitted
to examine any applicant or
his witnesses, and to offer counter
evidence cOnformably to the rules
of law that for taking and filing a
declaration of intention to become a
citizen, the fee should be fifty cents;
for determining whether the alien
should or should not be naturaliZed,
81 90; and for each days services
by any Commissioner in taking tes-
timony, So; and for authenticated
copies of proceedings in naturaliza-
ton, the same fees as in other cases,
that is, twenty-five cents per hum
dred words. And it further pro-
vided that the fact of residence for
four years and six months in this
country should, in addition to the
oath of the applicant, be proved by
citizen of the United States. And
then, after all, if the applicant OBJ
tanned his certificate, it was declared
that it should not be effective until
six months had elapsed after it was
, granted. Now, my friends, think
for one moment what a man, seek
ing to become naturalized, would
have had to do, had that bill become
a law. In the first place, he would
have had to declare his intention to
, become citizen, not in the State
! Court within few miles of his resi-
dence, but in the Federal Court,
. perhaps hundreds of miles from his
residence. That is the first loss OF
, time and money to which he would
/ have been subjected.
Next, at least one month before
making his application to be natu-
) rallied, he must have filed the no.
tice of which | have spoken either
| in Court or before one of the Com
t missioners of the Court. That might
| subject him to second journey and
: further loss of time and money.
Then, when his application came on
t to be heard, he would have been
; required to prove that he had re-
sided in this country four years and
six months by the testimony of a
citizen. He might produce men OF
f the highest character who were not
r citizens, to prove the fact; their tes-
timOny would be rejected. Men
: upon whose testimony a man might
r lose his life, upon whose testimony
= the most important property rights
= could be decided, would have been
t utterly disqualified by this bill, had
3 it become a law, to prove the simple
fact of how long fOreign-born man
= had resided in the United States.
. The bill was an insult to every man
5 of foreign birth, for it assumed that
in a case Of naturalization the oath
of an alien could not be trusted. His
3 testimony might be taken in a case
t of murder, it might be taken in the
l greatest property trial in the Courts,
/ but in a case of naturalization il
= should not be taken. Such was the
= provision of this bill. Its inevita-
/ bic effect would have been to make
: it impossible in many cases for an
: applicant to prove the fact of his
? residence. He could prove it by
5 the men who came with him to this
: country easily enough, but how
could he be expected to prove it by
: a citizen Of the United States wher
G he was a total stranger to all Oul
| citizens at the time he landed or
0 our shores? But there was a still
t more deadly blow at naturalization
[ contained in the bill, which pro
# vided that affidavits should not bt
Y received. Now, there is no statute
o in the United States providing fOl
n taking dispositions in cases of natu
: raliZatiOn, but it has always beer
). the practice of the Courts to receive
t properly authenticated affidavits tt
: prove any material fact, such as thu
: length of residence in this country
o or the like, There is nothing move
h in this, for it Is the common prac
: tice of Courts to receive affidavits OF
: the hearing of mere motions, and al
e application for naturalization is {
: motion to be admitted to citizen
# ship. But by fOrbidding the use o
G affidavits the bill would, in a vas
r multitude Of cases. have made i
e practically impossible for an appli
n cant to prove the length of mis- resi-
e dence. The only persons by whom
: he could prove when he came to the
' United States might live in another
# and d distant State. fine could moi
: use their aifidavits, he could not
q procure his naturalization, unless
e indeed, he GOULD procure their per
e sOnal attendance at cost of hun
+ dreds of miles of travel and of theil
r reasonable compensation. But this
: was not all. The applicant might
? be ready and have his witnesses in
e attendance when anyone might in
f terpose and contest the application
: Any pettifogging lawyer employed
I by a Know Nothing Lodge OF
. moved by his own vindictiVe feel
5 ings, might go to work TO examine
2 or cross-examine the applicant, and
: for the purpose of continuing such
f examination and the taking of testi-
t mony, the Commissioner might
d | odipIIrn tho hearing from daV tC