Evening star., 1921-05-05

| tria in 1865. When under the age of
twenty-one he left and went to Bra
gil. In 1892 he came to New York city
| for the purpose of joining his parents.
made application for citizenship. but
died shortly thereafter. The mother
OF Mr.. Fischer lived the remainder of
her life in New York.
| Emil s. Fischer remained in the
United States from October. 1892 until
March. 1894. when he went to China.
IN 1899 he returned to New York. He
remained in New York until the end
or 1898 November 4. 1903. he took out
ms hrst papers to become an Amer
lean citizen in the district court of the
United States for the southern dis
trict Of New York. Within month
hereafter he left to go to Russia and
siberia but returned here early in
19o4' and in 1906 proceeded to China.
ne again returned to the United
states IN 1910. Leaving here. he came
back in 1912 and then went to China
once more. In 1915 the Chinese gov
eminent commissioned him as an ad-
wiser and foreign secretary to the
Chlnese government and sent him to
the san Francisco exposition. He re-
mall IN the United States until De-
cember %. 1915. when he sailed again
and arrived in Shanghai in January.
1917. He returned to the United
states March ., 1920.
During his entire residence in
China and in this country he has re-
garded himself as practically an
American citizen and each time he
has stated and given New York city
as his home: AS appears from the
testimony taken before the commit
tee. he has always rendered invalua-
Bile assistance to our government from
the time that he arrived in China up
to and including when the 18th United
States Infantry required help over
there.
Valuable Service to L. =.
The report from the House commit
tee shows that Mr.. Fischer has rem
dered very valuable services to the
United States and to American in
There is no question about the 10y
atty. patriotism. and devotion of Mr..
FISCHER to our institutions as dem
onstrated by him both here in Ameri-
ca and in China. 1t has been truly said
| Moral character is the foundation of
good citizenship" In addition thereto
loyalty and devotion to our repub-
lie. both in it's hour of need and in
times of peace are two elements to
De considered in comforting citizen
ship. Mr.. Fischer has demonstrated
that he possesses all of these.
On account of his being in China, it
has become impossible for him to
avail himself of the law, which re-
Quires that he must be a continuous
resident of the United States for five
years preceding his admission as a
cltizen. For more than seventeen years
he has endeavored to become an
American citizen. May II, 1920. he
again applied for his first papers be-
lore the district court of the United
States for the southern district of
New York.
All of his interests and sympathies
nave been and are centered in our
CIVILIZATION. He is exceedingly anx-
1ous TO be full naturalized citi-
zen of the United States He is also
in the position that he can not be
married. as the young lady that he
is engaged to is an American citizen
and declines to marry him until he
becomes such. He has always ex-
clusIveIy represented American firms
abroad in China, and he is to go
abroad again to represent the North
China Commercial Company, a cor
poration organized under the laws of
the state of New York and all Of
whose directors and stockholders are
American citizens.
The position in foreign trade which
we have acquired will be lost to us
unless we can send abroad men who
thoroughly understand the people of
the country to which they are going,
including their languages and Gus
toms. The danger of losing that trade
is now well recognized. There are
only a very few men in America at
the present time, if any, who possess
the knowledge of Chinese conditions
customs. and language as Mr.. Fischer
does.
Through no fault of his own. but
on account of the early death Of his
father, he has not been able to ac-
quire American citizenship without
giving up the work which he has been
doing in China, although he has spent
more than the required five years in
this country, but not in succession.
The only possible relief which can
lo cxi.. h G hu 4 SpeGi.l nt of