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HUH
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January, 1923 1
ance of papers, the charges for which only helped to I
swell the emoluments to the clerk holding the office, I
the value of these papers invariably ceased if I
they ever became lost as the victims of these I
farcial citizenship proceedings in most cases were I
unable to prove that such proceedings had ever taken I
place. Any number of foreign born people who have I
been naturalized somewhere in America under the I
old system and unfortunately have lost the paper at-1
testing that such proceedings had taken place, have I
been unable to prove their claims by any record ini
the county where the naturalization took place. To I
regain this status of citizenship they have been forced I
to go through the formalities of a renaturalization, I
In spite of these shortcomings of the old system I
and the abuses incidentally practiced, it is quite dif-1
ficult to make some people understand just why the
new system and why an alien should pass an exami
nation to prove that he is sufficiently familiar with!
the American institutions and principles in govern
ment to “qualify” for citizenship, after having lived1
for five years in this country and by length of resi-B
dence having become entitled to citizenship.
And today, more than sixteen years since the en-B
actment of the naturalization law, many Americans I
even look upon the rquirements under this law as I
unnecessary “formalities.” This view it may be
safely said is reflecting the general concensus of I
opinion until this day among the foreign born.
THE WESTERN AMERICAN
the admission of an unfit alien but are looked for to
assist the naturalization bureau in securing such in
formation, otherwise difficult to obtain. This public
record in the United States clerk’s office, in Multno
mah county, and in the county clerk’s office in all
other counties of the State of Oregon, should be
carefully scrutinized by all citizens so that as far as
possible no one should be admitted whose character
and past life constitutes a bar.
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*
*
The lack of interest shown by the American people
in the naturalization of aliens in America constitutes
a national crime against posterity only in a measure
checked by the enactment of congress in 1906 of the
first national code of uniform regulation of the na
turalization of aliens throughout the United States
and the establishment of a national Bureau of Na
turalization under the Department of Labor.
While Richard K. Campbell immediately, by ap
pointment, assumed charge of the new and important
bureau at Washington, D. C., as Commissioner of
Naturalization; the . vast detail work in establishing
naturalization districts, qualifying examiners and
setting the bureau machinery in motion, became the
task of Raymond F. Crest, appointed Chief Deputy
Commissioner of Naturalization.
The appropriations for the bureau, one of the new
and novel experiments of the government, were very
limited and did not permit of the establishment of
an office of naturalization examiner in each of the
respective states of the Union. Several states had
to be districted into units in order to make it
possible to extend a semblance of jurisdiction of the
bureau throughout the country.
The northwestern district, comprising Montana,
Northern Idaho, Oregon and Washington was as
signed to John Speed Smith, who immediately after
the establishment of the bureau assumed charge
under the title of chief naturalization examiner for
this district, establishing his headquarters at Seattle.
Naturalization hearings in the courts in Oregon
were, after that, with long intervals, conducted by a
deputy examiner sent from Seattle, until Mr. Smith in
1913 secured from Washington the appointment of
Henry Hazard as naturalization examiner for Oregon
under the supervision of the chief examiner of this
district. The result was that naturalization hearings
could be held with more frequency in the Oregon
courts.
The new naturalization laws and regulations when
put into practice met, at the outset, with a storm of
protest from the aliens and the public at large as well
as from many of the judges and court functionaries
who formerly had handled naturalization in their
own way.
The old method of naturalization was Indeed a
farce, a huge joke with tears back of it. In most of
the courts where citizenship was doled out to anyone
for the asking, a cheaply printed sheet of paper, given
the name of certificate, was handed the new citizen.
In any number of courts no record of such naturali
zation was kept and as the county clerks in many in
stances made no entries of the proceedings and issu-
*
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*
In 1918 Mr. Hazard was called to Washington, D.
C., where he was appointed chief naturalization ex-B
aminer in the Bureau of Naturalization. As his suc
cessor to the post of naturalization examiner for Ore
gon, Mr. Raymond F. Crest, selected Mr. V. W. Tom
linson, a young attorney of this state, who has made
an enviable record as an examiner during the trying
period since the war.
The post war problems that followed the ces
sation of hostilities gave the naturalization bureau I
many added burdens. Shortly after Mr. Tomlinson]
took charge of the examiner’s office the act relating I
to the naturalization of service men was passed. This I
alone, for a time, doubled the work of the office,]
Aliens who had claimed exemption from military
service in the army of Uncle Sam, many of whom had |
had their Declaration of Intention legally cancelled ii |
order to lay claim to their alien citizenship rights, yel |
had chosen to remain in this country, suddenly exper
ienced a change of heart when the war was over and, I
realizing their unfortunate situation as alien slackers, I
rushed to the naturalization offices to file application I
for citizenship anew. These applications and cases I
needed special investigation. The filing office of the I
military questionnaires at Washington, held the I
only source of proof in a large number of these cases I
where the applicant would go on the witness stand
and swear that he had not claimed exemption from
service. Mr. Tomlinson has always made it a rule in
all cases of applicants of service age to request theil
military questionnaire from Washington. This docit
ment has in innumerable cases proved the testimony
of an applicant false by his own writing and signa-