The Irish standard., 1893-12-02
S
y Continued from First Page.


/ the vision Hoff mind the sad rail- Of these
/ troops after the din Of battle was over,
and I saw that q the twelve hundred
who had greeted the dawning 81 that
fatal day, barely two hundred and fifty
esponded to the ron call at night.
stood upon the very spot, upon that
battlefield where one Of my near kin, 9
brave soldier and good patriot. died
Tor his and my country leading his regi-
ment (the gallant Sixty Ninth New York
Volunteers) to q forlorn hope in his at
tack upon the stone buttress Of the
Isunken road And as I stood, the words
of the poet, penned in memory Of that
battle, REQUIRED to my mind, and invol-
unfairly my lips spoke:
they closed the ledger and they stilled the
loom,
The pillow lie 1T rusting in the prairie farm;
They saw but union in the gathering gloom
The fearless women helped the men to arm:
Brigades from towns, each village sent us
! band,
German and Irish, every race and ta1th;
There was no question then of native land,
But love the flag and follow unto death.
| IF sacrifices Of life are to be weighed
lin the scales which determine our right
to live in and be citizens Of the land OF
the brave and the home Of the free, then
| the foreign born citizen who has given
to America hostages OF fidelity in meas
ureless streams of blood, is entitled not
alone to residence and citizenship, but
say to you of American birth, he is en-
titled to more. He has right to be
treated in this country not as one who
hold, by mere suffrage a citizen OF q
lower order, but he has sacred claim
on you men of American birth, which
should impel You to regard and treat
him as your brother in peace, as he was
your brother in war
| But let me return for moment to the
provisions of this bill. In the conclud-
ing remarks Of his report the gentleman
from Alabama says: The name, Ameri-
can citizen, should be esteemed as was
that of Roman when Rome was the
mistress OF the world. I applaud that
sentiment. adopt it, and honor the
proud spirit which caused it to be
penned. 1t could inspire were it not for
the fact that the bill which this report
accompanies is sadly at variance with
that sentence.
What safeguards do you provide for
Che right Of acquiring this priceless boon,
this proud distinction? In every State
in this Union in controversy involving
paltry sum of money, the law provides
an appeal to the party who feels that in
justice is doe him by a Judgment.
In the trial for which this law provides
to obtain the cherished right Of citizen
ship no such provision is made, and the
man who is denied this right by the ig-
norance, the corruption, the partisan
ship of some Judge, or the cunning trick
cry Of some lawyer, is turned away with
out remedy. No appeal is allowed him
from the most grievous injustice which
may be done.
Rightless and remediless some man
whose heart may be yearning for admit
lance into the brotherhood of citizens OF
this Republic, some man OF purest
motives Of noble character, may be de-
MED tins right, and have affixed to him
forever and ever the stigma of having
! been solemn!y adjudged unfit to be civis
Americanus.
Does the gentleman say that this is
just? Does he claim it is right?
Our immigrants of Old hada higher, q
better conception of the value and solem-
| nifty Of naturalization.
Mr.. Speake short time ago | came
| across some old volumes of Pennsyl-
vania Colonial Records dealing with the
early history Of that sturdy race to
which we are indebted for some OF the
best men which the country produced
the Germans of Pennsylvania.
From time to time these records show
number Of men as having gone to the
county seat to stake the sacrament" and
I ascertained that this term in the quaint
language of that people meant-taking
the oath of allegiance
SO sacred was to them this function
that it formed part and parcel OF their
religion, ana thus acquired the very
name of q religious exercise. Is.
Let me sure you that the spirit
which made sacrament of the cere.
mony Of naturalization is as strong to-
day among the foreign-born population
as it ever was. 4
No danger will ever come to the insti-
tutions Of America from her foreign-born
citizens. Speaking as one OF them, and
O. one who knows them, / say to you
that We have ever considered our oath OF
allegiance solemn and binding com
pact; and I challenge proof Of its having