The Nome nugget., 1940-09-18


 keep records straight and to identify them. Names may be changed, faces changed or even lifted; signatures may be forged but no two sets of fingerprints have ever matched. In the last war every man who served in the Army, the Navy and the Ma rine Corps was fingerprinted Thousands of people are volun- tarily fingerprinted every year. All Federal Civil Service work res, all postal savings depositors and many others are fngerprint- ed as a matter of course. There is no disgrace to it. and no alien should have the slightest com junction in submitting to it.
 Let me stress another point. The alien need not fear that the information he gives will be us- ed by the Government to harass him or will be available to oth- CTS to annoy him or discriminate against him in any way. The law provides that the records shall be kept secret and confidential. Nobody may examine them ex- cept with the express permission of the Attorney General of the United States. All may rest as- sured that Attorney General Ro- bert H. Jackson will see to it that these records will not be- come available except to those entitled to the information for legitimate needs of national de- fense and for other proper gov- ernmental purposes.
 Another point which should be brought home to every alien is that registration is absolutely free No official fee of any kind is involved and no money need be paid by the alien to anyone. If doubt exists as to whether an individual comes within the pro- visions of the law, as, for ex- ample, whether or not he is a citizen, which is often com plex and difficult legal question, he shoud play safe and register. If he has any doubt as to how to answer some of the questions, he should play safe and register. to the nearest office of the Im- migration and Naturalization Ser vice and make inquiry. He will be furnished with all the help which it is possible to give him, and he cannot pay anything for this advice. Already there have been some complaints regarding persons who are attempting to take advantage of aliens and who pretend that they can "fix things" to avoid registration, or make things easier in answering the questions, or eliminate some of them, They offer this spurious advice in return for fee. The alien should beware of the "reg istration racketeer."
 Before I close may I direct word especially to those of you who ARE CITIZENS of the Unit ed States? You can be of great assistance in carrying out this phase of the Defense Program. Many of you have friends, rela- tives, or nejghbors who are not citizens. You can help your coun try by helping them understand the purpose of the Registration Act and how its provisions will be carried out. You can tell them where to go to register and when to go. You can be of particular assistance to those who are not familiar with our language, and who may have difficulty in read ing and understanding the ques- tions, and above all, you can point out to your alien friends or acquaintances the necessity for them to register and can urge them to do so as soon as they can after the period of registration opens on August 27th. so that there will not be large last minute rush when the period ends on December 26th.
 Above all, you can make clear to VOLT alien friends that rao;c-