The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1919-11-13

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT. I
, country and keep those jobs intact.
The, demobilized soldier and sailor
NOW ask:
what can be done about these
"first paper" aliens?
) "How did there happen to be such
a law which permitted these dis
J loyalists to funk"
"What efforts are these traitors
making to remain in the land they
disowned?"
What is Congress doing about
it?"
These questions will be answered
! in this article; but here and now it
should be said: This particular
breed of Stacker can be and should
be deported.
! When the United States entered
the world war there were three
groups Of aliens among us. They
were the friendly alien, the alien
enemy and neutral alien.
The draft law required all to re-
gister, but subjected to military SER
vice only those friendly and neutral
aliens who had taken out "first
papers" All aliens who had not
taken out such papers were practical
ly exempted by being placed in
Class V the lowest deferred classif-
cation.
This effort to induct the declarant
alien met with opposition. Foreign
embassies here soon began asking
exemption for this and that alien
on the ground that America, regard
less of her law, could not put into
military service even First paper"
man without treaties to that effect.
When neutral governments began
applying pressure for the exemption
of aliens, Congress countered with
the CONSUMPTION amendment of July
8, 1918 as follows:
Provided that citizen or subject
of a country neutral in the present
war who has declared his intention
to become a citizen of the United |
States shall be relieved from liabili-
ty to military service upon his max
ing a declaration, in accordance
with such regulations as the Presi-
dent may prescribe, withdrawing his
intention to become a citizen of the
United States, which shall operate
and be held to cancel his declara-
ton of intention to become an
American citizen and he shall for
ever be debarred from becoming a
citizen of the United States.
This amendment provided loop
hole for those not yet in service.
He was widened, admitting those
already indicted, when the War De-
partment passed General Order No.
90, 1918. II
In both cases the following affi-
davit was required before exemption
was granted
| hereby withdraw my intention
to become a citizen of the United
States, which withdrawal | under
stand shall forever debar me from
becoming a citizen and l do
hereby claim relief from liability
to military service in accordance
with the law =.
The Bureau of Naturalization re-
ceived LAO such affidavits from
draft boards and army camps. Blu
reau affidavits still are to be found
among the papers and records of
local boards. The total number of
aliens who thus renowned their
is estimated at 1000.
The 1000 slackers who renounc-
ed citizenship, but not their jobs,
were from various states and repre-
scented various countries.
The 100000 aliens who virtually
volunteered through the draft, and
the thousands of neutrals who re-
fused to surrender their citizen
ship papers for mess of pottage,
made all the more glazing the Of
tense of the 1000 who scrapped
their Americanism in panic or cum
ming to stay safely in America.
The plea that they knew not
what they were doing when they