The Grit-advocate., 1904-12-09

4
be made into the subjects OF citizenship.
| expatriation. and protection of Ameri-
cans abroad. with a view TO appropriate
! legislation.
Currency.
The attention of the Congress should
/ be especially given to the currency ques
| tion. and that the standing committees
! on the matter in the two houses charged
with the duty, take up the matter of our
! currency and See whether it is not pos
| sible to secure agreement in the busi
ness world for bettering the system; the
| committees should consider the question
| Of the retirement of the greenbacks and
| the problem OF securing in our currency
| such elasticity as is consistent with safe
| ty. Every silver dollar should be made
/ by law redeemabie in gold at the option
! Of the holder.
Merchant Marine.
| I especially commend to your immedi-
| ate attention the encouragement of our
merchant marine by appropriate legisla-
| ton.
Tariff
On the tariff I shall communicate with
| you later.
immigration and Naturalization.
| In dealing with the questions OF immi-
| grafton and naturalization it is indis
| pensable to keep certain facts ever be-
| fore the minds of those who share in
acting the laws. First and foremost. let
us remember that the question of being
| a good American has nothing whatever
TO do with a mans birthplace any more
| than II has to do with his creed. In
every generation from the time this gov
| eminent was founded men of foreign
| birth have stood in the very foremost
rank of good citizenship. and that not
merely in one but in ever field OF Amer
| lean activity: while to try to draw a dis
| tinction between the man whose parents
| this nj W
| ancestors came to it several generations
| back is mere absurdity. Good Ameri-
canism is matter OF heart. OF consci-
ence. of lofty aspiration. of sound COM
mon sense. but not OF birthplace of
creed.
There is no danger of having too many
| immigrants of the right kind. But the
citizenship of this country should not be
| debased. 1t is vital that We should keep
| high the standard of well-being among
| our wage-wotkers. and therefote
| should not admit masses of men whose
standards of living and whose personal
customs and habits are such that they
tend to lower the level of the American
| wage-worker: and above all should
| not admit any man of an unworthy type.
any man concerning whom We can say
that he will himself be a bad citizen or
| that his children and grandchildren will
detract from instead of adding to the
sum of the good citizenship OF the coun-
try. Similarly we should take The great
est care about naturalization.
Under the Constitution it is in the
| power OF the Congress ito establish
uniform rule of naturalization and
| numerous laws have from time to time
been enacted for that purpose which
have been supplemented in few states
by state laws having special application.
| There should be comprehensive revision
of the naturalization laws. The courts
| having power to naturalize should be
definitely named by national authority;
the testimony upon which naturalization
| NAV be conferred should be definitely pre-
| scribed; publication of impending natural
zation applications should be required in
advance of their hearing in court; the
form and wording OF all certificates issued
| should be uniform throughout the coun-
| try and the courts should be required to
make returns to the Secretary of State
at stated periods of all naturalizations
| conferred
Protection Of Elections.
The power Of the government to pro-
tect the integrity of the elections of its
own officials is inherent and has been
recognized and affirmed by repeated dec
larations Of the Supreme court. There
is no enemy Of free government more
dangerous and none so insdious as the
corruption of the electorate. No one de-
fends or excuses corruption, and it would
|
vigorous measures to eradicate it. 1
recommend the enactment of law di-
rected against bribery and corruption in
Federal elections. The details of such a
law may be safely left to the wise discre-
ton of the Congress, but it should go
as far as under the Constitution it is
possible to go, and should include severe
penalties against him who gives or
ceives a bribe intended to influence his
act or opinion as an elector; and provi-
sions for the publication not only of the
expenditures for nominations and cleo
tions of all candidates but also of all
contributions received and expenditures
made by political committees.
| Delays In Criminal Prosecutions
! No subject is better worthy the atten-
tion Of the Congress than that portion OF
| the report of the Attorney General deal
ing with the long delays and the great
| obstruction to justice experienced in the
| cases of Beavers. Green and Gaynor. and
| Benson. Were these isolated and special
cases, should not call your attention to
them; but the difficulties encountered as
regards these men who have been indict-
ed for criminal practices not excep-
tional they are precisely similar in kind
to what occurs again and again in the
case Of criminals who have sufficient
means to enable them to take advantage
Of a system OF procedure which has
grown up in the Federal courts and
Halcn amounts IN eIect TO making the
law easy Of enforcement against the man
who has no money. md difficult of en-
forcement, even to the point of some
times securing immunity as regards the
man who has money. In criminal cases
the writ OF the United States should run
throughout its borders. The wheels of
justice should not be clogged, as they
have been clCgged in the cases above
mentioned where it has proved absolute
ly impossible to bring the accused to the
place appointed by the Constitution for
his trial.
. At present the interests of the inno-
; cent man amply safeguarded: but
the interests OF the government, that is,
! the interests of honest administration.
that is the interests of the people. are
not recognized they should be. No
| subject better Warrants the attentinn of