New-York tribune., 1895-08-08
REFORM IN NATURALIZATION.

The provision Of the new Constitution of this
State, that no one can vote who has not Deen
citizen for at least ninety days, works well. III
has been generally commended since the time
when 1t was proposed in the convention. but the
first experience Of its operation greatly strength
ems the assurance Of its utility. and it is not i'm
probable that it may be reckoned hereafter one
Of the most important parts Of the organic law
All the incidents Of the naturalization period
which ended yesterday for this year illustrate
by contrast the abominations OF the old sys-
tem In former years aliens were rushed before
the officials in great numbers almost up to the
day of election and emerged with the rights OF
natives after process so brief and in character
so indecent as to constitute a deep reproach 10
the civilization which held itself in such llght
esteem The radical evil Of the law was that IL
PLAYED into the hands of conscenceess political
leaders. who wanted to control votes by any
and every means and cared absolutely nothing
about the quality Of the applicants recruited ny
them. During the brief interval between natu-
raliZatiOn and election 1T was easy 10 keep a
close grin upon the new citizens and 10 arrange
every detail Of their progress to the polls. Tam
many was extremely expert and reckless in the
management of this dsgraceful business. and
annually brought into possession OF privileges
which they could not appreciate and were GER
tain to abuse a horde Of ignorant and debased
allies.
If the matter had not been intrinsicaly so
serious the scenes enacted in State courts on
days when the naturalization mill was running
at its full capacity would have been as funny
as any invention Of Dickens The political drill
masters. the court attendants, and too often the
r1a1 ,la N
largely iocular A certain process OF law had
to be performed in order that these candidates
for the franchise might be turned into voters,
and the thing to do was TO put the business
through as expedtiously as possible III 1t de-
veloped mirthful incidents which relieved the
monotony, that was something 10 be grateful
for The immigrant who proved his knowledge
Of our institutions by declaring that the United
States was Democrat and George Washing
ton its last President was quite as well Informed
as thousands who got their papers without the
slightest protest. 1t hideous spectacle to
any one able and willing to realize what II really
meant but year after year it was presented to
public view, and too many of the officials who
took part in it never seemed TO be ashamed OF
their completely. One Judge was accustomed to
boast Of his naturalization feats and claimed
to hold the record fol speed in turning out worth
less American citizens.
The new constitutional provision has stopped
this outrageous abuse. The period Of three
months is too long to permit close surveillance
of alien recruits for a political party, and to
warrant confidence In their "voting right" on
Election Day And so the naturalization bu
reaus have gone out Of business, the heelers who
used to disfgure and misuse the courts are other
wise occupied, the proceedings are conducted
with intelligence care and decOrum, some indi-
cation of fitness for citizenship Is required, and
as result the number Of applicants is greatly
reduced This has been the experience Of the
first year under the new restriction, and there
is no reason TO doubt that 1t will be the uniform
experience of years to come. Thus without
struggle and without the least injustice to any
body. a practical reform Of immense value has
been accomplished. We trust that 1t may be en-
larged and perfected as time goes on by the ap-
plicaton of still more rigid tests Of character
and capacity under the influence OF higher
conception Of the benefits and responsibilities
Of American citizenship.