The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-03-24
Foreign Born Residents Of Montana
Have the Right Of Citizen
ship Questioned,
The Administration at Washing
ton DISTINGUISHES Them on
q Technioality.
Seven Hundred and Fifty Declare
tIons OF Intentionto be Cancelled
In Anaconda Alone.

AGA - ~At~
then territory for a year, and who wished
to date their allegiance to the republic
from the birth of the new commonwealth,
declared their intention of becoming citi-
zens Of the United States. They thought
they had gone through all the formulas OF
law and stood on equality with all other
voters. They still believe so. The ADMIN
istration at Washington says otherwise.
United States District Attorney Weed re-
ceived orders from the department Of just
ice at Washington recently to look into the
cases of the large number OF foreiRn-born
residents of Deer Lodge county who had
declared their intention of becoming citi-
zens of the United States, previous to the
adoption Of the constitution of Montana,
and who have been voting at all elections
since making the, declaration. Why Deer
Lodge was selected is not known. though
it is currently believed to be
on account Of It's large Demo
cratic majority. The district attorney
conda with instructions to secure a list of
those who had declared their intention Of
becoming citizens. The marshal returned
to Helena yesterday with the names of 74S
such persons in his possession. As soon as
District Attorney Weed returns from Butte
liz Will llO IA 4A ~ AAp Ntp SAASAAo
court against each one of these 748, asking
to have their declarations of intention can
celIed, on the ground that they were not
legally made. The alleged ~irreRularity con-
sisted in making the declarations at Ana
conda before Deputy Clerk Nathan of the
district court. The law, it is claimed, calls
for this to be done before the clerk of the
court at the county seat. which in this case
is Deer Lodge city. Another claim is that
many of them had not lived in this state
the required length of time. When the An
aconda voters have been disposed of thus,
adopted citizens of Granite and Philipsburg
in Deer Lodge county. The next
move vii lprobably be against Butte. Should
the United Stated court decide the matter
promptly, and order the certificates of clti-
zenship cancelled, those who lose their votes
Will have ample time to make other declara-
tions in order to participate in the election
of president, congressman, and state ofiic-
ers in 1892. But should the court not dis
pose of the matter until the fall of next
year the men will be shut off from partici-
patton in the election of 1892. If the de-
oision is put off much longer after that, the
would-be citizens will be obliged to go
through the regular five years course. The
state constitution on this point says that
after five years from the time of the adop-
ton of the constitution no persons
1cAoAA AoSo SNo SAo ". sSsS'
1t will thus be seen that a technioality may
result in keeping thousands of adopted citi-
zens from the polls in 1892, or may even
compel them to go through the regular
forms of naturalization, which means a
wait of five years before enjoying rights
they had reason to believe were guaranteed
to them when they declared their intention
before the adoption of the constitution.
The Deer Lodge people, who are to be pro-
coded against first, are not confined to any
nationality. They include natives of Swe-
den, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Switzer-
land, Italy, Austria, Finland, France, Scot
land, England, Russia, Nova Scotia, and in
fact nearly every country on the face of the
globe except Africa and Greenland.
District Attorney Weed was not in town
yesterday when Marshal Furay returned
from Deer Lodge county. His rep
trict Attorney Mcdonald, says
that there is no intention of turning the
proceedings into a criminal prosecution.
No arrests lave been made and o. will be,
so far as he knows. The movement, he says,
is directed generally against a similar state
of affairs wherever it exists, whether in
New York, Montana or Texas. =
1t is not believed that the disfranchise-
ment of thousands of foreign born voters
will nave the effect of r%eopening the ques-
tion as to the result of last falls congress
sional election. A prominent democrat,
SAsAAA OA $500 $500 'NA~ SAop ~ AopNo
lican senate might allow the seating of two
Montana men who were not elected, but it
was not likely that the house of representa-
tives, with its large democratic majority,
will allow a repetition of the robbery.
The technicality on which the pr esent
proceedings hinge came about in this way:
In the fall of 1889, before the constitutional
election, there were hundreds of railroad
construction hands. miners and wood cut
ters working in remote districts or carnps
in all parts of the state who could not go te
the district court clerks to take the re-
CURED oath, and who desired to become
citizens that they might vote at the first
state election. TO accommodate them dep
uty clerks of the district courts were sent
to the various camps to naturalize them,
not knowing at the time with which of the
two great political divisions the would-be
citizens intended to affiliate. In the coun-
ty of Silver Bow alone 700 men were sworn
in at the camps and mines where they were
then working in 1889, and in Deer Lodge
county in the same year no less than 1000
were sworn in at their places of business.