The Watertown news. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1917-1919, 1918-01-25
GERMANS MUST REGISTER
IF NOT NATURALIZED
Madison, Wis.
January 81, 1918.
Dear Mr.. Editor:

Al, 1910.
Dear Mr. Editor:
AS you doubtless know from the
press dispatches, the attorney general
has ordered the registration of all ma
tives, citizens, denizens, or subjects
of the German Empire or of the Ger
man Imperial government, being
males of fourteen years of age or over
who are within the United States and
are not naturalized as American citi-
zens. This registration will be made
by the chief of police in all cities of
five thousand population or over and
in all other areas by postmasters. The
registration will begin at 6 a. m. on
February 4, and continue each day be-
tween the hours of a. m. and p.
m. until the close of the day on Feb
ruary 8. All persons affected by the
order are required to report to their
respective registration officer during
the time specified and fill out a ques-
tionnaire, blanks being furnished by
the registration officer. The penalty
for failure to register is severe. Any
person subject to registration who
fails to do so will be subject to arrest
and confinement during the remainder
of the war; and | presume in severe
cases, deportation back to Germany
after the war is over. A searching in
quiry will be made for all those who
avoid or try to evade the regulations
My experience in registering aliens
in the prohibited areas leads me to
know that the number of such persons
in the Western district Of Wisconsin
is very largely under estimated A
large number of people of German
birth who have been voting on their
so-called first papers, for many years
and many of them who have consider
ed themselves citizens of the United
States, are in fact not citizens Some,
for fear Of prosecution because they
have voted, have failed to reveal that
they are not citizens and for that rea-
son have claimed citizenship while
they in fact were alien enemies. There
is no intention on the part of the gov
eminent to disturb any person who
meets these requirements in good
faith. Any German of foreign birth is
not citizen unless he has received
his full second papers. For their own
protection they should be urged to
ly, faithfully and fully
AS this work is important in the
extreme, it is the duty of every Am
erican citizen to assist the registrar
and make known to the chief of DO
lice and postmaster the name of any
person who he has reason to believe
is a German alien enemy, and it
should be the duty Of every good citi-
zen to assist during the time of the
registration in making the work COM
plete in every respect, even though he
does it at a considerable sacrifice to
himself
The registration does not apply to
Austrians but only to German aliens.
There is but one way in which we
can get this work thoroughly done and
that is by giving the entire matter
publicity. In getting this publicity we
must draw upon your patriotism and
upon your desire to keep the neigh
bOrhOOd in which you have influence,
quiet and peaceful. There is no fund
available for advertising this regis
tration. Every person subject to reg
istratiOn is bound to observe it, and
the law pre-supposes that he has no
tice of the registration. l know you
have been called upon to give a great
amount of space for advertising in
various matters which the govern
ment has desired to bring before the
public, and I expect you Will be call
ed on again and again to do likewise.
L appeal to you as a good citizen to
give this matter wide publicity in
every issue of your paper between
now and February 9 and I assure you
that whatever you may do for your
country in this regard will be appre-
ciated
Full instructions will be mailed to
your chief of police or to your post
master within few days and he will
be glad to give you detailed 1nforma-
ton regarding the registration.
Yours very truly,
Frank O'Connor,
United States Marshal.