Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-08-25
more TROUBLE and
No F[ES IN RETURN
Clerk of Courts Lounsberry
Points Out Features Of New
Naturalization Laws
THE PROVISIONS ARE STRICT
Applicants Must Fill Out Question
Blanks in Own Hsndwritins-Fees
Increased and the Money Goes to
tho Government, Which Passes on
Papers Of All New Citizens.

/ Some important changes will be-
/! come effective in the naturalization
laws on September |, in compliance
with an act of the last congress. Clerk
Of the Courts Lounsberry has been
studying the new law during his spare
moments the past two months, and he
4 finds many changes and restrictions
| that will be of interest not only to
| those who desire to become citizens
| Of the United States, but to the pres
ent voters as we'll.
The new law is designed to keep out
undesirable citizens and to prevent il
4 legal voting in cities where the for
| eign born alien population is large.
| Hereafter it will cost more money
than heretofore to get under the pros
lection of the Stars and Stripes and
exercise the rights of citizenship in a
| free country Additional burdens and
/ responsibilities are placed on both the
clerk of the district court and the pre-
siding judge in the granting Of natur-
alization papers. Heretofore the clerk
could make out the papers in hap
hazard fashion and the judge passed
on the candidate rur citizenship after
asking Kew formal questions. Now
all the questions ard papers are to
| be made out on blanks furnished by
the bureau of immigration and natur-
4 alization and every question must be
properly answered. No other blanks
viii be accepted, a point on which
Clerk Lounsberry has received direct
| instructions from the department, In
reply to query written by him. This
query was made after several printing
house agents who had gained possess
sion of the questions made an effort
to sell to the clerk all the required
blanks.
Heretofore the fees charged for
naturalization have been turned into
the county treasury. Hereafter all
lreports must be made to the bureau of
naturalization of the department of
| commerce and labor. and all fees must
be turned over to the government. All
the clerk and the county get out OF
the transaction is a whole lot of work.
Previously the fees have been only
Is cents for issuing the papers 25
cents when the first We're issued and
the balance when the final papers
| were made out After September the
| fees will be $5--$1 for the first and
81 for the final. No naturalzed citi-
zen will be permitted to vote unless
his papers are received at least thirty
days prior to election. Heretofore
| papers could be issued up to and on
the day Of the election
Applicants for papers must be able
to read and write the English Lam
guage. This was the old law, but It
was not always observed. Now these
qualifications for citizenship can not
be avoided, for the applicant must fill
out blanks and answer numerous
questions in his own handwriting. The
new law will cause moro or less confu-
sion until it is thoroughly understood
by the clerks of courts, as Mr.. Louns-
berry says the more he studies it the
more stringent he finds it. It is a
step. however, towards better citizen
shin and cleaner politics.