Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-06-20
INTERESTING FIGHT LEO BY
MILWAUKEE REFoRMER.
AMERICANlZE, THEN VOTE
Started the Agitation When the Idea
Was Unpopular-Twenty Years of
Effort Seems TO Have Brought
Fruit-History Given in Booklet
of "reminiscences.

zenship as those OF Mr.. Frederick w |
Won Cotzhausen of Milwaukee. When
the idea was unpopular he worked The
more persistently; as the results of
his agitation became apparent, he
sought to drive the matter home and
secure the enactment of suitable legis-
lation. In a recently published book
let, Historic "reminiscences and Re
, Elections, Mr.. Won Cotzhausen gives
the history of the struggle for higher
qualifications to citizenship which
makes good reading TO every person
interested in patriotic movements.
AS early as December, 1866, he
wrote a letter that was published in
the Illinois Staatszeitung, as follows:
IF the United States admits for
eigners to citizenship only after resi-
dence "a this country of five years,
while individual states can confer up
on the foreigner the right to vote
teven for federal officers after a So
| journ of but one year, it does not fol
low from this that they are stupid who
discover in this an incongruity, but
! ounces, who imagine they can demon
strate their own wisdom when they
prove that the stupidity that they are
defending is rooted in existing laws.
The very right of the matter is that
no man should have anything to say
about the management Of federal.
state, district or local affairs who is
not a citizen of the United States.
The citizens of the United States
should rule this land, and not bloody
mob of Polacks, Slavonians. Bohemi-
ans, or even Germans, who have just
| taken a smell of America, but in re-
spect to our public affairs are as ignor
ant as a stick of wood. For other
wise the much lauded self-governmentI
| becomes a bloody mockery. How can
we expect that those green immi'
grants can have any conn., ehension,
| based upon their own Investigation,
of the condition of our public affairs,
if they are not possess ID even of the
rudiments of the lanf uage in which
the public official business is trans
acted? How can we regard those
j twolegged beings otherwise than as
raw. stupid, voting cattle, who allow
/ themselves to be I'D thither by every
vagabond
Not that the German prominents of
Milwaukee who are opposed to such
nonsense are Silly" but silly are
those Germans who cannot, or will
not, comprehend that it would be to
| the advantage of the German-Ameri.
cans themselves to place the right Of
! American citizenship and the right to
vote (granted by individual state leg
islation) upon a basis of equality.
The main question is and remains
Who shall rule in this land? The
native born and assimilated citizens
of the country whose home is Amer
lea, or fellows who still standing in
Europe with both legs, have not the
slightest idea of the duties and rights
connected with American citizenship
fellows who are not yet by any
means Americans, but are Polacks,
Bohemians. or even German loafers
and revolutionists? In America they
| Tute WIZ nave Tie llShI Vi Ouhi GhcsCs
But no man should have the right Of
suffrage who is not citizen of the
United States If the existing laws
are framed stupidity enough to permit
individual states to grant this right
of suffrage to people who are not citi
zens of the United States, and are not
adapted to becoming such, then such
existing laws ought to be amended
| And German-American journals should
! be the last 10 smile with derision up
on a movement to amend such stupid
laws"
Nor did he stop at this agitation,
| but continued with the fight, largely
among his own people, until the work
brought fruit H. the legislature of
1905. when the first tangible results
were achieved. In the language Of
Mr.. von Cotzhausen this tentative sue
cess places the issue in a favorable
| cor dition.
Since then times have changed,
and in Wisconcin public sentiment is
rire for the proposition. At the legis-
| lative session of 1905, Assemblyman
Fl. Z. Ekern took up the subject and
a Joint resolution passed the assem-
! bly, to amend the state constitution.
| It contemplates that all rights Of suff-
| rage on ground of first papers shall
| cease by Dec. !, 1912 and that papers
issued after Dec. !, 1908, shall not be
recognized at all for such purpose
This is known as joint resolution No
lis. When it came before the senate
it was defeated at first, but reconsid.
Grafton was moved by Senator julius
E. Roehr, who in discussing the mat
ter strongly urged that the time had
come in this country when the period
Of preparation for citizenship should
be extended. Statistics were quoted,
showing conclusively that recent i'm
migration brought to our communities
large nun bers Of people whose quail !
fications for citizenship were of a !
nature, that demanded greater exac-
tons than nad hitherto been insisted |
upon. 1t was contended that the
great percentage Of illiteracy, total
ignorance of our institutions and form |
of government was a menace not only
to existing conditions, but to a sane
and rational development Of state and
national aroeraec II vac y1ofn4ad r,,tf /