The daily progressive-miner., 1917-06-01
FISHERMEN SHOULD BE
 AMERICAN CITIZENS

In the future American citizenship will probably be established as a fund amental qualification for those engag- i ing in the fishing industry in the Unit ed States. The Government is awak- ening to the importance of the fisher ies in guarding and defending the na- 1 ton as we'll as in sustaining the peo- l pie, and the time has passed when a function of such significance can be i left to alien hands. Former efforts to make citizenship requisite to partic- ipation in certain activities have sell dom concerned themselves with the fisheries; and yet there are peculiar reasons why this perhaps more than any other field should be kept eXclus- lively in the hands of citizens.
 In the past the United States has sllowed-invted-p from all parts of the world to come here. to enjoy the many advantages and profit by the op- portunities of residence under it's lib eral government. on basis of practi- cal equality with it's own citizens. It has rather prided itself upon offering a home and extending it's hospitality to strangers from every land. Aliens have been free to come and go, to en- gage in any business practically with out requirement. or restriction of any sort; and the point has now been reached where the labor and in some cases the management of certain in- dustries is largely in the hands of for eigners.
 In time of peace this seemed of lit tie consequence: there was little ques- ton of loyalty, and all attention was given to getting the work done the in dustries developed Even in the form CT wars of this nation the employment of aliens has been of little significance. Conditions existing in the present war show that the United States must here after give closer scrutiny to the activ- ities of aliens within it's borders. The insane devotion to their native land of many citizens of enemy countries, the treacheries of which some have been found guilty, show that a complacent neglect of such matters is fraught with peril to the life of the nation.
 The field offered by the Pacific Coast fisheries has been especially attract i've to certain classes of aliens, and a little inquiry into the situation shows that foreigners actually constitute majority of the fishermen of this dis trict, whose field of operations extends from the Mexican border practically to the Arctic Circle, and includes the Hawaiian Islands as well as the main. land These men, by the nature of their work, gain a more intimate fam iliarity with the coast line, currents and tides, rocks shoals and landmarks than men of any other calling They have free and easy access both to ports and to isolated landing places along the shores; and the audiences of their movements in following fish, the number and small size of their boats, make it peculiarly difficult to keep a dose watch on their activities The possibilities for treachery, for commit ting depredations or for assisting an enemy with supplies and information, in the indiscriminate possession of such knowledge and freedom by aliens nay well give rise to anxiety.
 There is also to be considered the Junction of the fisheries as a source of men for the Navy. The conditions of the industry from this viewpoint is