Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-22
AS TO MEXICANS.
The Law Says They Cannot Become
American Citizens.

They Are Not whites, Nor Are They Negroes or
OF African Descent-An Inter-
esting Question
To the Gazette.
The prospective duplication OF New
Mexico for sadmission to the Union VIII
raise again the question of the eligibility
of Mexacons to American citizenship. IN
San .Eisfonio the Mexican vote is ting ad-
ansshtine rock upon which the city ad-
1Flsffstration rests authority, and safe
spon that foundation it does not hesitate
I to cut the throat of American enterprise
| with cheerful alacr1ty-
But we are not alone; developments
along the border during the past year
have called attention to political mlsao-
ings, alike shameful TO MeXlcahs' ue-
basing to Americans and disgraceful 10
republican forms OF government. The
abuses are old; the Rio Grande Is lunln-
Gus with a rotten suffrage.
American politicians, both Republlcan
| and Democratic-fOr the crime is COLL
mon to both-import herds OF Mexlcans
| from beyond the river, pen them up llAe
sheen, file their declarations Of lntenClon,
| take them under guard TO the polls anu
vote them in 'blocks of five or twenty
five at a cost of 81 or less per head. san
Antonio, Laredo, Ell Paso, BToWhsVIIe
and other border towns are suDJeoI %
this alien and venal vote, but up 20 oF''e
no one has answered the frequent ques-
tion ssWhat are we going to do about
it?'' 1t is fair to assume that no hohesC
Mexican cares to use ballot to which ne
is not entitled, so that the material
question relates to his legal status. l
have endeavored to discover the law OF
the matter briefly below:
: Texas and Coahuila constituted state
F the Mexican republic under the con-
sskstltution of 1924 To that constitution
q Texas was always loyal. Texans had
come upon urgent invitation, with the
express understanding that IN due time
the new territory should be admitted as
senarate Mexican state. So anxious
were the Mexicans for the incoming OIL
Americans that their congress provided
: that if foreigners should marry Mexican
women they would acquire ''particu4af
merit for obtaining letters of Mexican
= citizenship. q But this constitutions OF
= 1924 was e1erthrown and a decre4 was
, Misunderstanding Americans fronkset-
tIina2tff Texas. IN the distributloA OF
lands preference was given MeXl-
s cans Americans were required * 10
adoDt the Catholic religion, and IN TOO
many ways to warrant enumerthatIoa
thev were oppressed and prescribed allYz
having been invited and urged TO lnllAgss-
CRATE. Finally Mexico Determines to
axneI them from the country which they
5 had oDened to civilization, and where
) they built their homes in good faith, ano
\ the Declaration of independence re-
81 suited. In the May number oil Lhi
- North American Review the Mexican
minister, Romero, says (and 1t mas peer
said a thousand times before) that th'
l. Mexican war was caused by desire OF
II the part of the South to extend slavery
Whether that Influenced congress or no
leaves unaItered the fact, SO far as IeXa
Is. concerned, that her Declaration OF III
- / aependence was one of the purest ah'
best justified expressions OF patrlotlsn
80 that ever eliminated from tn
Z enirit of Liberty. And this dis
! cussiou is confined exclusively
Texas and the Mexicans. That declara
lion was signed by fifty-three American
and one Mexican, Lorenzo De haVallo
z who was repudiated by his MeXlca
VI cOuntrvmen, and execrated as traitor
He was patriot and during his lie OILS
closed a faithful devotion to and an III
=, +eIIigent apprehension of the principle
of a republican form of government.
- him and to the few other MeXicans VII
ii stood by her in the days OF trial, IeNt
III extended grateful, if not substantial
rncoonit1on. The declaration states thf
the 'fAnglo-Americans' nave AZ
Asnealed in vain to our Mexican brethren
and the ''Mexican population have az
~ nuiesed in the destruction Of liberty tine
are unfit to be free and incapable of sell
-, government. -
per Ter Texas, as a Republic, having declare
the Mexican ''unfit to be free and II
capable of government" IN n
. fundamental law, one would think Il
eligibility of Mexicans to American cit
zenship definitely settled, at lea
through the door of this sovereignty b
ty, the necessity of a machine boss knows
law.
The limits of this article forbid a col
sideration of the debates in the constlt1
? In tional convention, and it must suffice
note that our laws have been constru
MY NV tine encouragement of the Unit
and States. (opinions of attorney-geneI
vol. 10. page 397 } and that our citlze
A. are: ''AIl persons resident at the q
claration of independence, except the
q who left to avoid the war, who feIus
u to participate or who gave aid ana col
fort to the enemy; all persons born ne
spo IF during independence, and those nat
gaI-s rallied during Independence, ana
re course all legally naturaliZed since TEX
IN became a state From this the inferen
.ond is invitaDle, that the applicant when
-. makes his declaration of intention, MI
show affirmatively that the disquaili
cations do not apply in his case. I
war was fifty years ago, however,
av- this of itself would now exclude but re
for it might be material in determining
rms validity of papers already issued.
The Mexican applicant for Amerlc
NJ citizenship encounters two other dime
l ii'' ties. 1t is definitely settled that
-. American citizen must be a ''free VII
I'm; CniS person, or an African or of African
lo IN scent. - The Mexican belongs
I'LL neither class The Mexican I
ton according to the Mexican minis
is two-thlrds Indian. Chancellor h
says: perhaps there might be di
~? culties also as to the copper-colored IA