Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-02-07
AS ONE WOMAN SEES 1T
The Citizenship We Do Not Always
Altogether Appreciate at Its True
Worth Suggests a Reading OF
Some Of Our Laws
BY SARAH ID. LOWRIE

somethlng proDaDly DO not 9Stonish the by
ISLANDERS any more than they do us.
once came out of q political science
meeting at the Bellevue Stratford several
years ago to find one of the casual invited
guests selling printed photographs in the
lobby of the ballroom. The photographs
were portraits OF man who had been con
victed and imprisoned on the charge Of
treason.
He may or may not have been guilty
What suddenly swept over me was anger al
the sellers use, without permission of her
hosts, Of their meeting to work in her propa-
ganda for any public cause not directly au-
thorized by them as their cause. 1t was
smart, II you like, but unscrupulous. It
was what woman once did at an after
noon at home" Of hostess / know. In the
course OF conversation with the other guests
she distributed to each her business card as
an agent for business firm of the city,
saying q few words TO each fellow guest In
turn about the obvious advantages Of deal
ing through her.
I WAS reading the oath OF allegiance re.
l. quired of new citizen of the United
States last night and il occurred to me that
1t would be well IL each citizen on coming
of age, whether he is native born or alien,
should take such an oath before appointed
witnesses in order to register to his own
mind as we'll as to his limited public the fact
that he understands the obligations as we'll
as the privileges Of being included In the
great membership Of citizens.
In the case Of the woman who sold photo
graphs in the lobby Of the political science
conference and in the cnse of the woman
who gave out business cards at an afternoon
tea, ignorance Of the obligations of guest
could not be pleaded they were both ignor-
ing the fundamentals of the usages Of hos.
pitality with a thick skinncdness born OF
Cgotism; but many citizens who misuse their
citizenship do it from ignorance or, at any
rate, from q lack of sense of proportion as
NhA., .t,hNp s,,1s, dual Ia n
rights as citizens.
VNHERE are persons who believe that they
l. are free to ignore to fout the laws
of the community in which they find them.
selves just as a group Of college students feel
they are free to break up dull play. There
are certain types Of boy or girl at q certain
stage of youthful effervescence who find
themselves irresistibly drawn to making
noise at the back of church during service,
especially evening service. That, think, is
a lack of sense of proportion which is often
due to inexperience; one hears 1t spoken OF
as--irresponsibiity. 1t can be cured, ex-
cept in psychopathic cases, by dose of re
sponsibility.
A DOSE Of responsibility in citizenship is
~ very curative OF certain forms Of law
lcSSncSs, just MS becoming employers gem
orally turns radical employees into liberal
minded ones.
luRlnR tne course Oh preparation w
izcnship demanded Of an alien as the min
imum required Of a native born citizen be-
fore he becomes n voter, one has quite
enough to stabilize him both as regards his
privileges and his obligations.
The oath Of allegiance which is the final
test Of the alien who becomes a citizen, is
thus described by the law covering citizen
ship:
citizenship. declar" on oath IN open court
that he will support the constitution OF the
United States and that he absolutely and en-
tirely renounces and abjures all allegiance
and fidelity to any foreign prince. potcntate,
state or sovereignty and particularly by
name to the state or sovereignty OF which ne
was before citizen or subject that he Will
support and defend the constitution and laws
Of the United States against all enemies.
foreign and domestic, and bear true taith
and allegiance to the same.
The preliminary steps toward naturaliza-
ton, /. C., acquiring citizenship ov aiens
nrc:
First The Declaration Of Intention:
such declaration of intention shall set
forth the name. age, occupation, persohai
description, place Of birth, last foreign resi-
denCe and allegiance and the date OF arrival.
mo witnesses are required to first papers.
at is necessary that alien write his name
in English to first papers.
Second Petition of Naturalization
"Not less than two years nor more than
Years after an AMEN mas Hluuc suCu
declaration Of intention he shall make and
file in duplicate petition in writing. signed
by tho anplcant in his own handwriting ana
duly verified by Mt least two credible wit
ncSscs who are citizens of the United states
and who shall state in their attdavits that
,hry hnya Dersonaly known the applicant to
| he resident of the state for the period OF
one wear, and of the United states for a
ncriod of at least five years continuously ,
and Of the territory, state or the District OF
iny hn Al lotn M
| ding mis- netton. and that they have per-
sonHi knowledge that the petitioner is per-
| son Of good moral character and that he is
| in every way qualified in their opinion to be
! admitted citizen of the United States
| Third. Hearings Before the Nnturalza-
! ton Court: -, ,
| '"The second or fnrl papers must be filed
| with tho clerk of any court in the district in
| which such alien resides ut the time he makes
his application. ano, ,0ooua l., 9,
"A petition for naturalization must be or
| fla ot least ninety days prior to any hearing
The two original witnesses must be used
at the time Of the final hearing.
| ',It is best that the witnesses used shoulC
nor he in any way related to the petitioner
md that they have known the petitioner fol
| y Doriod of at least five years, etc, and tha
they have been properly natCralized, since :
dcfcct in their own citizenship will Yitiat'
thc nctition on which they Gre witnesses.
The restrictions restraining the courts
from granting certificates of citizenship ar
as follows:
1T shall not be lawful to make a decIarn
tion of intention before the clerk OF any cour
IN election day or during the period of thirt
J,. days preceding the day of holding any elec
ton. And no certificates OF naturalization
shall be issued by any court thirty days pre-
cnJing the holding OF any general cleCto
Within Within its territorial jurisdi'tion.
no person who dsbelieyes in or who
| .,osod to organized government OF who
"i,mpoInber of or afila ated with Gny organiza
ZION entertaining and teaching such belief
opposition t" GFsSTse& feeHss nG Tnt
n;tn or nropriety of the unlawful asSaultin
e,.i or killing OF any officer or officers, either
specific ndiyidgsls or Of oreTS iii StaGs5 generally
t'.v t'.Nvahhnized government because of his or the
ofScial character or who is polYgamis
uhou be naturalized or be made a { .tizcn
Those are the laws Of the country regard
, ;,a ctizenship. IL the citizens do not lii