Evening star., 1931-06-04
Public, Like Supreme Court,
Divided ON Citizenship Oath

People Of the country are divided
on the question of the naturalization
OF Prof. Douglas c. Macintosh of the
Yale Divinity School and of Miss Marie
A. Bland, Canadian war nurse, both
OF whom objected to pledging them
selves to bear arms. BY a bare ma
jority, with Chief Justice Hughes on
the minority side and in harmony
with the so-called liberal" group in
the court, the decision was against the
two applicants. The question is largely
academic, because the woman would
be unlikely to be drafted and the age
OF the man, it is believed, takes him
out OF the soldier class. Minority sup
port comes from those who welcome
thoughtful additions to the citizen
ship, while upholderS of the court ma
Jority see no reason for privileged citi-
zenship, especially by naturalization.
1t is noted that the position of the
Chief Justice IS that Congress did not
require the pledge that has been en-
forced by Government officials.
Considering the practical effect Of
the views held by these two persons
who have failed to gain citizenship,
the Houston Chronicle states: Pre-
Sumably the man or woman who re-
fuses to bear arms in any event is
quite willing for State or Nation to
perish while he or she remains true to
some preconceived principle. Just
why, then, such a person should seek
or claim to stand on an equal footing
as a unit Of the Nation with persons
who will respond when they are called
on to defend the Nation is not very
clear. Nevertheless, the tribe of those
who hold to such view is small, and
its members, as we well know, have
rendered great service to humanity, and
therefore to the Nation in which they
happen to reside. Those two facts
make it practicable for us to allow
them to go their way unmolested,
although they are given a distinctly
privileged position in the national life"
1.-THE controversy aside, It may be
wondered how any man knows whether
or not he would respond to the duty
Of bearing arms" suggests the Oak
land Tribune, pointing out that "the
records will show many who were loud
and valiant in their assertions of
patriotism to have shirked when the
bugle sounded, while others who could
not imagine themselves carrying arms
were among the first to enlist"
The Altoona Mirror declares, while
we are hoping there never will be an
other war, we are probably sensible
enough to realize that our country and
its institutions must be defended" 3"
The Jersey City Journal advises: well,
DR.. Macintosh, the country is sorry to
lose you. You would have been a good
citizen. And, Miss Bland, the country
is sorry to lose you. You, too, would
have. been good citizen. But this is
country where the law is the law"
"It is an established American pol
ipU QPP0rdinO fn tho phiIado1nhio
Evening Bulletin, ito respect the right
Of conscientious objection in those with
whom it is religious conviction, at
tested by membership in a denomina-
ton which has always frowned on war.
For those outside the pale Of citizen
ship who seek admission the Nation
might naturally be inclined to be more
stringent. They cannot claim the van
tage point of citizenship by birthright. /"
The logic in the fixing of qualif1ca-
tions for citizenship is recognized by