Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-12-14
LAWS CONCERNING CITIZENSHIP.

|
| should be required to make returns to the
secretary Of state at stated periods of all
naturalizations conferred.
LAWS CONCERNING CITIZENSHIP.
Not only are the laws relating to natural
1zatlon now. defective, but those relating
| to citizenship of the United States ought
also to be made the subject of scientific in
quiry with a view to probable further legis
latlon. BY what acts expatration may be
assumed to have been accomplished, how
long an American citizen may reside abroad
| and receive the protection of our passport,
whether any degree of protection should
be extended to one who has made the decla-
ration of intention to become a citizen Of
the United States but has not secured nat
uralization, are question of serious import,
involving personal rights and often produc-
Ing friction between this government and
foreign governments. Yet upon these ques-
lions our laws are silent. | recommend
| jects Of citizenship, expatriation and pro
| lection of Americans abroad, with a view
to appropriate legislation.
PROTECTION OF ELECTIONS.
The power of the government to protect
the integrity Of the elections Of it's own of
| ficialS Is inherent and has been recognized
| and affirmed by repeated declarations of the
supreme court. There is no enemy of free
government more dangerous and none SO in
sidious as the corruption Of the electorate
No one defends or excuses corruption, and
it would seem to follow that none would
oppose vigorous measures to eradicate it,
ed against bribery and corruption in federal
elections. The details Of such law may
be safely left to the wise discretion of the
Congress, but it should go as far as under
the constitution 1T is possible to CO. and
should include severe penalties against him
who gives or receives a bride intended to
influence his act or opinion as an elector;
and provisions for the publication not only
of the expenditures for nominations and
elections of all candidates but also of all
contributions received and expenditures
made by political committees.
DELAYS IN CRIMINAL PROSECU-
TIONS.
No subject is better worthy the attention
Of the Congress than that portion of the re,
port Of the attorney general dealing 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, l should not call
your attention to them; but the difficulties
encountered as regards these men who have
been indicted for criminal practices are not
exceptional; 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 q sys.
tenn of procedure which has grown I'D in
the federal courts and which amounts in
effect to making the law easy of enforce
ment against the man who has no money,
and difficult of enforcement, even to the
point Of sometimes securing immunity as
regards the man who has money In Grim
inal cases the writ Of the United States
-.
wheels of justice should not be clogged, as
they have been clogged in the cases above
mentioned, where 1t has proved absolutely
impossible to bring the accused to the place
appointed by the constitution for his trial
OF recent years there has been grave and
increasing complaint OF the difficulty of
criminality, instead of being against one
person in the republic, is against all persons
in the republic, because it is against the re-
public itself. Under any circumstance and
a ic Oft
exceedingly difficult to secure proper pun
ishment of those who have been guilty of
Wrongdoing against the government Ry
the time the offender can be brought
into court the popular wrath against him
has generally subsided and there is in
most instances very slight danger indeed
OF any prejudice existing in the minds of
the jury against him. At present the in
terests of the innocent man are amply
safeguarded; but the interests of the gov
eminent, that Is, the interests of honest
administration, that is the interests of the
people, are not recognized as they should
be. !, No subject. better warrants the at
tention Of the Congress. Indeed, no sub
ject better warrants the attention of the
bench and the bar throughout the United
States
FOREIGN POLICY.
In treating of our foreign policy and of
the attitude that this great nation should
assume in the world at large, it is absolute
ly necessary to consider the army and the
navy, and the Congress, through which the
should keep ever wildly in mind the funda-
mental fact that it is Impossible to treat
our foreign policy, whether this policy takes
shape in the effort to secure Justice for
others or Justice for ourselves, save as
conditioned upon the attitude we are willing
to take toward our army, and especially to-
ward our navy. 1t Is not merely unwise,
1t is contemplate, for nation, as for an
individual, to use bigh-sounding language to
proclaim its purposes, or to take positions
which are ridiculous If unsupported by
114o 81 ~
vide this force. If there Is no intention of
providing and Of keeping the force neces-
sary to back up strong attitude, then 1t
is far better not to assume such an attitude:
The steady aim of this nation, as Of all
enlightened nations, should be to strive to
bring ever nearer the day when there shall
prevail throughout the world the peace Of
justice There kinds of peace which
are highly undesirable, which are in the
long run as destructive as any war. Ty-
rants and oppressors have many times made
wilderness and called 1T peace Many
times peoples who were slothful timid
or shortsighted, who had been enervated by
ease or by luxury, or misled by false teach
ings, have Shrunk in unm3nly fashion from
doing duty that was stern and that needed
self-sacrifice, and have sought to hide from
their own minds their shortcomings, their
ignoble motives, by. calling them love of
peace. The peace of tyrannous terror, the
peace of craven weakness, the peace Of in
Justice all these should be stunned as we
shun unrighteous. war. The goal to set be
be set before all mankind, is the attain
ment of the peace of justice, of the peace
which comes when each na ton Is not mere
" safegu;arded do in its own rights, but
duty toward others. Generally peace tells
for righteousness; but if there Is conflict be
tween the two, then our fealty is due first
to the cause of righteousness. Unrishteous
wars are common, and unrighteoHs peace Is
rare; but both should be stunned. The
right of freedom and the responsibility for
the exercise of that right cannot be di-
vorced One of our great poets has we'll
and finely said that freedom is not a git
those. too slothful, too dishonest, or too un,
intelligent to exercise it. The eternal
vigilance which is the price Of liberty must
be exercised, sometimes to guard against
outside foes; although Of course far more
often to guard against our own selfish or
thoughtess shortcomings
If these sef-evident truths are kept be-
fore us, and only If they, are, SO kept be
fore us, we shall have clear Idea Of what
our foreign policy in It's larger aspects
should be. 1t is our duty to remember that
q nation has no more right to do injustice
to another nation, strong or weak. than an