The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1918-09-06
entities him

tlOn. Inc Dlndlng character OF the
initial declaration is not generally
understood. 1t constitutes, in Act,
an oath of allegiance which, in it..
self should suffice to change the
legal status of the man taking it. Ad-
ministered to a Swede, for instance,
it runs in this way:
Il hereby declare, on oath, that l
absolutely and entirely renounce and
abjure all allegiance and fidelity to
any foreign prince, potentate, state,
Or sovereignty, and particularly to
Gustavus V. the king Of Sweden, of
whom l have heretofore been a sub
ject; that ! will support and defend
the constitution and laws of the Uni
ted States of America against zall
enemies, foreign and domestic; and
that I will bear true faith an dele
glance to the same"
Right of Suffrage Given Aliens
Nor is 1t enough TO reckon with the
wording of this formula. It's practi,
cal effects in the past must also be
tbken INFO consideration. In most
Of our states all the rights of citizen
ship except that Of voting at public
elections have been bestowed on
every man subscribing to this deciar-
alton Of intentions. Until cutie re-
Gently most of the western states
gave him even the right TO vote on
the same simple condition There
are still six states where q man hav-
ing only his first papers is as much
a citizen as one fully naturalize0 as
long as ne stays within the state,
States like Minnesota, which have
only recently changed their suffrage
laws, are full Of men who nave lived
there q lifetime and enjoyed every
right Of citizenship without having
become fully naturalized
Under such circumstances It seem
cd only Just to those who framed our
original measures of military prepar-
edness that men VINO mad readily
forsworn foreign allegiance in order
10 obtain the principal rights of citi-
zenship might also be expected TO
accept the duties incumbent on every
one having become an integral part
of the nation In orther words, men
having obtained their first papers
were made subject to military service
under the draft law
From those Immediately concerned
few protests we're heard. But again
the swedes formed an exception.
And ] fear that in some cases al
least, they were encouraged, if not
actually egged on. from abroad. The
issue thus raised was taken mp with
considerable determination by the
Swedish government, which. il must
be admitted, made out an excellent
case on the basis Of the Old treaties
between Sweden and the United
States. The legal correctness Of its
contentious was granted al Washing
ton, and a while ago The draft law
was amended by congress in a-.n17-
ner designed TO meet an protests.
Amendr2ss6t to Draft Law
U1S6T the law as amended, liability
+tH|~-Ya;1i4a~v eon,soo c+;lI F,11a -, 49,,
of military age who have filed their
declaration to become American citi-
zens, but such liability can be escap
ed by withdrawal of the declaration
In other words a Swede of twenty
five, say, who has previously obtained
his first papers, need only report to
the proper authorities that he wishes
to return to his original status as al
Swedish citizen. He is then automat-
ically placed outside the provisions
of the draft law
But if he avails himself of this priv.
ilege, record of his case is taken
and filed for future reference, SO that
if he should ever again try to obtain
American citizenship, it may be used
against him. Under an additional
provision of the draft law no man
who has escaped it by a withdrawal
of his original declaration of inten.
ton can ever become an American
There can be no question about the
business of this provision. The man
whose oath has proved so little worth
in the past cannot be expected toI
prove more faithful in the future. |
And a man who is not willing to
stand by his country in it's hour of
need cannot hope for any considera-
ton when the crisis is past.
Here and there a voice of protest |
has been raised among the naturaliz. |
ed Swedes OF the United States 1t |