Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-09-14


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Evening. SEP rBMBER "A. 1921.
NATURALIZATION DAY.
"Wednesday, September %, will be observed as
naturalization day in Grand Forks. The occasion
will be the session of court at which applicants for
that privilege are to be admitted to American citi-
xenship The suggestion which led to arrangements
for somewhat formal exercises in connection with
naturalization proceedings was offered some time
ago by Judge Cole, who pointed out that the recep.
ton OF q suitable person into the community OF
American citizens was an event important enough
to call for some appropriate and dignihed recogni-
ton. In accordance with the suggestion sometime
prior to the last naturalization in Grand Forks, Geo.
A. Bangs was made chairman of a committee to ar
range a suitable program for the occasion. The
plan was worked out successfully. The candidates
for citizenship were impressively instructed by the
court, and by the presence of other citizens, by suit
able addresses, and by other appropriate numbers
on the program there was created an atmosphere
entirely in keeping with the occasion. Mr.. Bangs
and his committee are now arranging a program for
the approaching naturalization, and he has invited
the aid of individuals and organizations in the work.
American citizenship has been taken entirely
too much for granted. We have treated it too
casually. It has been taken as a matter of course
that whoever presented himself should be admitted,
practically without question. The nation was
young. Its territory was immense. 1t needed peo-
pie. And people Of all sorts and conditions were
welcomed for the material wealth which they might
bring or the labor they could perform.
We have departed somewhat from the free and
easy methods of the past. 1t is not quite as easy to
become a citizen as it once was. Laws have been
enacted requiring a somewhat more careful inspec-
ton of the candidate for admission, and these laws
are being fairly we'll observed. But it is in keeping
with the spirit of the act that admission to citizen
ship would be accompanied by something more than
the mere filling out OF a form and the making of an
affidavit. The new citizen enters into new rela-
tons with those who already are citizens. He as
sumes certain obligations toward them, and they
on their part, in accepting him, assume certain OBJ
legations toward him. This mutually of obligation
can be expressed at no more fitting time than at the
moment of the candidates admission. He should
be made to feel that he is entering into the society
of those with whom he is to i live and work in peace
and harmony, and who are to receive him as one of
themselves in all that pertains to his relations to-
ward the state. Naturalization should be observed
in this spirit wherever it takes place.
In this connection The Herald desires to renew
the suggestion which it has already made, that for
NAL recognition of the entrance of the Individual
into the full privileges of citizenship should not be
confined to the imported alien. The native born
as well should pass through the form of admission
before he is permitted to participate in the govern
ment of the country.
Before the individual can be considered a reg
ular workman in many of the mechanical trades,
and before he can practice in any Of the professions,
he must pass through a form of apprenticeship and
give evidence of character and ability. His final
admission is regarded as an event of some import
ance. He receives a privilege which he prizes, and
he prizes it the more because, at a suitable time, its
Importance has been impressed on him.
The right to participate in the government of
the country through the exercise of the ballot and
the holding Of public office is not inherent. Every
individual is guaranteed the equal protection of the
laws. But the constitution does not guarantee to
every Individual the right to vote. That is a priv
ilege upon the exercise Of which any reasonable
conditions may be imposed. For instance, the con-
%stitution of North Dakota provides that the legis-
lature may prescribe an educational qualification for
the exercise of the franchise. One or two states,
we believe, still retain the once familiar property
qualification. Some states require that only those
may vote who have paid their taxes. There are
qualifications of many kinds for voting. Why is it
not reasonable to require that before being permit
ted to vote the individual shall furnish satisfactory
evidence Of good moral character and of reasonable
intelligence? And, if this were done, in a manner
appropriately digni6ed, would not the right to vote
be somewhat more highly priced than It is? And
would not the tendency be to raise, somewhat, our
s standards of citizenship?