The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1904-12-08

Q curse to our government: and II IL the
anair OF every honest voter. wherever born,
to see that no fraudulent voting IL allowed
that no fraud IN connection with natural
szation is permitted.
Naturalization Laws Need Revision.
There should be . comprehensive revi-
sion OF the naturalization laws. TIE courts
having power to naiuraiize should he
cenniteiy named by national authority; the
testimony upon which naturalization may
oe conferred should be definitely prescribed;
publication OF impending naturalization
Applications should be required in advance
OF their hearing in court; the form and
wording of all certificates issued should be
un.aorm throughout the country. and the
courts should be required to make returns
20 the secretary Of state at stated periods
u an ADMINISTRATIONS conferred.
NOT only are the laws relating to
naturalization now defective, but those
relating to citizenship of the United
states ought also to be made the subject
OF scientific inquiry with a view to prob
able further legislation. By what acts
repatriation may be assumed to have
peen accomplished. how long an Amer
ican citizen may reside abroad and re-
celNe the protection OF our passport,
Whe1ner any degree of protection should
pc extended to one who has made the
zen OF the United States but has not Sc
cured naturalization, are questions of
serious import. involving personal rights
and often producing friction between this
government and foreign governments.
Yet upon these questions our laws are
silent. l recommend that an examine.
ton be made into the subjects of citixen-
ship. expatriation and protection of
Americans abroad. with a view to ap-
propriate legislation.
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
declarations of the supreme court. There
IS no enemy of free government more
dangerous and none so insiGious as the
corruption of the electorate. No one de-
ends or excuses corruption, and it would
seem to follow that none would oppose
vigorous measures to eradicate 1t. I
recommend the enactment of a law d.
rected against bribery and corruption in
federal elections. The details of such
law may be safely left to the wise dis
erection of the congress, but it should go
as far as under the constitution it is pos
sable to go. and should include severe
penalties against him who gives or re-
ceiEes bride intended to influence his
act or opinion as an elector; and pro-
visions for the publication not only OF
the expenditures for nominations and
elections OF all candidates but also Of
all contributions received and expendi-
lures made by political committees.
@ Our Foreign Policy.
I'm treating of our foreign policy and Of
the attitude that this great nation should
assume In the world at large It tseab-.
Soln1ely necessary 10 consider the army
and the navy, and the congress, through
which the thought of the nation finds its
expression. should keep ever WILDLY II,
possible. to treat our foreign policy.
whethef this policy takes shape in the
enort to secure justice for others or
justice for ourselves, save as conditioned
0pen the attitude we are willing to take
toward our army and especially toward
our navy. 1t is not merely unwise, 1t is
contemplate, for a nation, as for an in
dtvidual, to use high-sounding language
to proclaim Its purposes. or to take posi-
tons which are ridiculous if unsupported
by potential force. and then to refuse to
provide this force. II there Is no inten-
ton of providing and of keeping the
force necessary to back up strong at
titude. then it is far better not to assume
such an attitude.
Striving for World Peace.
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 are kinds of
peace which are highly undesirable,
which are in the long run as destructive
as any war. Tyrants and oppressors have
many times made a wilderness ard
called 1t peace. Many times peoples who
were slothful or timid or shortsighted.
who had been enervated by ease or by
luxury. or misled by false teachings,
have shrunk in unmanly fashion from
doing duty that was stern and that need
ed self-sacritice. and have sought to hide
from their own minds their shortcom-
ings, their ignoble motives. by calling
them love of peace. The peace of tyran-
nous terror, the peace of. craven weak
ness. the peace of injustice, all these
should be stunned as we shun UPRIGHT
eous war. The goal to set before US as
nation, the goal which should be set be-
fore all mankind. is the attainment OF
the peace of Justice, Of the peace which
comes when each nation is not merely
safe-guarded in its own rights, but
scrupulously recognizes and performs Its.
duty toward others. Generally peace tells
for Righteousness; but IL therei Is conflict
between the two. then our fealty is due
first to the cause of righteousness I'm
righteous wars are common. and un-
righteous peace is rare: but both should
be stunned. The right of freedom and
the responsibility for the exercise OF that
right cannot be divorced. One of our
great poets has well and finely said that
freedom is not gift that tarries long
in. the hands of towards. Neither does
1t tarry long in the hands of those too
slothful, too dishonest or too unintell-
gent to exercise 1t. The eternal vigilance
which is the price of liberty must be ex-
ercised, sometimes to guard against out
side foes; although Of course far more
often to guard against our own selfish
or thoughtless shortcomings.
Not Ready FOR Disarmament. Il
If these self-evident truths are kept be-
fore us, and only il they are so kept before
us, we shall have clear idea OF what our
foreign policy in its larger aspects should
be. 1t Is our duty to remember that q ma
ton has no more right to do injustice to
another nation, strong or weak. than an
individual has to DO injustice to another
individual; that the same moral law applies
in one case as in the other. But we must
also remember that It is as much the duty
of the nation to guard its own rights and
its own interests as it is thu duty Of the
individual so to do. Within the nation the
individual has now delegated this right
to the state. that is. to the representative
OF all the individuals, and 1t Is a maxim
Of the law that for every wrong there is a
remedy. But In International law we have
not advanced by any means as far as we