Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1904-12-08

! tality.
| But the citizenship OF this country shoult
not be debased. 1t is vital that we shoule
| keep Ligh the standard of weil-belng anohi
our wageworkers, and therefore we should no
| admit classes of men whose standards OF nv
| ing and whose personal customs and hapi.
are such that they tend to lower the level o
the American wageworker; and above all WI
should not admit any man of an unworthy
type, any man concerning whom we can say
that he will himself be bad citizen, or tina
his children and grandchildren VIII detrac
from instead Of adding to the sum or the gooc
citizenship of the country. Similarly, we
| should take the greatest care about naturaliza
tion. Fraudulent naturalization, the natural
ization Of improper persons Is curse 10 oui
Government; and 1t is the affair of every
honest voter, wherever born. to see that No
fraudulent voting is allowed that no fraud IT
connection with naturalization is permitted
In the past year the cases Of false, fraudu
lent and improper naturalization Of aliens
coming to the attention OF the executive
branches Of the Government have Increased
alarming degree. Extensive sales OF
forged certificates OF naturalization have been
discovered, we'll many cases of naturali-
zation secured by perjury and fraud; and. IN
addition instances have accumulated showing
that many courts issue certificates OF natural
izaton carelessly and upon insufficient evil
dence.
Under the Constitution. it is in the power OF
the Congress ito establish a uniform rule OF
naturaliz tion," 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. Ihe
Federal statutes permit naturalization by any
court Of record in the United States having
common-law jurisdiction and seal and clerk,
except the Police Court OF the District OF Co
lumbia and nearly all these courts exercise
this important function. 1t results that where
many courts Of such varying grades nave
Jurisdiction. there Is lack OF uniformity IN
tLo tnI to rtrO NJ
Some courts strict and others lax. An
alien who may secure naturalization In one
place might be denied It in another, and the
intent of the constitutional provision Is In
fact defeated Furthermore, the certificates Of
natura ization issued by the courts differ wide
ly in wording and appearance. and when they
are brought nts in foreign countries, are
frequently subject to suspicion.
There should be a comprehensive revision OF
the naturalization laws. The courts having
power to naturalize should be definitely named
by National authority; the testimony upon
which naturalization
Naturalization Laws may be Inferred
c,,...,, ID. p.-.,a.s should be definitely pre-.
should he Revised. scribed; publication OF
impending naturaliza-
tion application should be required In advance
Of their hearing in court the form and word
ing of all certificates issued should be uniform
throughout the country, and the courts should
be required to make returns to the Secretary of
State at stated periods Of all naturalzat tions
conferred.
Not only are the laws relatlng TO naturdllZd-
ton now defective, but those relating to citi-
zenship of the United States ought also to be
made the subject of scientific inquiry with
view to probable fur
v. Couo.rr,nr ther legislation. By
Citizenship. NAV be assumed to
have been accom-
plished, how long an American may
reside abroad and receive the protection Of
passport. wether any degree of protection
should be extended to one who has made the
declaration of intention to become citizen OF
the United States but has not secured natu-
ra!zation are questions of serious import. in
voving personal rights and often producing
friction between this Government and foreign
governments. Yet upon these questions our
laws ara silent. 1 recommend that exam
ination be made into the subjects Of citizen
ship, expatriation and protection of Americans
abroad, with a view to appropriate leglsla
ton.
The power of the Government to protect the
integrity of the elections of it's own officials
is inherent, and has been recognized and
affirmed by repeated declarations Of the Su-
preme Court There is no enemy of free gov
ernment more dangerous and none so insidious
as the corruption of the electorate. No one
defends excuses cor
p-o.ao+;o, ~ ruption, and it would
seem to follow that
EiectAohs' would oppose Wig
methods to Grad
icate it, I recommend the enactment of a
law directed 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 go, and
should include penalties against him
who gives or receives bribe intended to In.
iuence his act or opinion as an elector; ano
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
No subject is better worthy the attention
of the Congress than that portion of the
report of the Attorney General dealing with
the long delays and the great obstruction
to justice experienced
Da,ovs In Criminal in the cases of Beav-
erS, Green and Gay
Irosccu'iohs' nor and Benson. Were
these isolated and
special cases cases, l should not call your
attention to them; but the difficulties en-
countered regards these men who have
been indicted for criminal practices are not
exceptional; they precisely similar in
kind to what occurs again and again in
the 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 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 who has money. In Grim
inal the writ of the United States
should run throughout its borders. The
wheels of justice should not be clogged
lneE nave DetH ClOSBed III the cases ABOVE
mentioned, where it 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
bringing to Justice those criminals whose
criminality. instead of being against
person in the Republic is against all persons
in the Republic, because it is against the
Republic itself. Under any circumstance
and from the very nature of the case it is
often exceedingly difficult to secure proper
punishment of those who have been guilty
of wrongdoing against the Government. BY
the time the offender be brought into
court the popular wrath against him has
subsidized; 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 interests of the
innocent man are amply safeguarded; but
the interests of the Government, that is the
interests of honest administration. that is
the interests Of the people, not recog-
nized they should be. No subject better
warrants the attention of the Congress. In
deed, subject better warrants the atten-
ton of the bench and the bar throughout the
United States.
Alaska, like all our territorial acquisitions,
has proved resourceful beyond the expecta-
tions of those who made the purchase 1t
has become the home of many hardy in
dustrious, and thrifty
Alaska. American C / { z ms. |