Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip. (Portland, Or.) 1923-1927 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1923)
JUNE, 1923 THE WESTERN AMERICAN CUMBERSOME NATURAL IZATION METHODS (Continued from Page 8) In one sense of the word, we have as many naturalization laws as naturaliza tion judges and there are said to be about two thousand of these. All courts are in perfect accord with the principles of a law but the application of it to particu lar cases is so divergent that between the extremes of liberality and rigor of interpretation, there is, in fact, no guid ing principle at all. The injustices of such a practice is readily apparent; con- fering benefits upon some and working hardships upon others of equal merit can do nothing more than to complicate ex cessive complication's and in general amplify a chaos which is already unbe coming a generous democratic people. Permit me to illustrate by example. There are two naturalization courts in Cleveland; the Federal Court for the North Eastern District of Ohio,, and the Common Pleas Court. One possesses certain advantages over the other for the petitioner. The jurisdiction of the Common Pleas Court is limited to the boundaries of the county whereas that of the United States District Court ex tends over a series of counties in North ern Ohio. It is obvious therefore, how difficult and expensive may be the pro gress for a petitioner who has filed in the United States Court when his witness has moved to Toledo and therefore must be brought back for the final hear ing, when compared with a similar situ ation, had he filed in the Common Pleas Court, which permits a substitution. Very soon after the Armistice the Common Pleas Court ruled, that all aliens who were classified as Bulgarians, Turks, Austrians, Germans, Hungarians, iiiiiiliiiiillllllllllltlllllllllllllllllllilllliillllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll'2 An Electric Range installed in your home at terms to suit your convenience Northwestern Electric Co. 15 etc., otherwise known as alien enemies, but who later by the re-districting of Europe, became residents of such new political units, as Czechoslavakia, Jugo slavia, Roumania, Poland, etc., were sub jects of the latter nations and therefore were no longer considered alien enemies and were subject to immediate natural ization without Presidential exemptions. In the United States District Court, on the other hand, a German, Austrian, or Hungarian, under the old classification though he were racially and politically a Pole, Czech, or Serb was still considered a German, Austrian, or Hungarian and was not eligible for naturalization, be cause technically we were still at war, peace having not yet been formally de clared. This is an example of the uni form naturalization law at work as ap plied in Cleveland and this condition ob tained from November 11, 1918, down to a time previous to July 2, 1921, when the Treaty of Peace was concluded with the Central Powers. In cases of the naturalization of the heads of families whose wives are living in foreign countries, we find further conflicting interpretations of our uniform law. The United States District Court at Cleveland, notwithstanding the Independ ent Citizenship granted to women by an act of Congress September 22, 1922, the husband is usually denied citizenship un less his wife and children are also resi dents of America. The ruling seems to be in this court that it is not only neces sary for the wife but for the whole family to be residents of this country. In one case a man who had a stepson living in Europe was denied citizenship although his wife and his natural chil dren were all residing in America. In the Cleveland Common Pleas Court a man whose wife is residing in the old country will be admitted if he can show ■iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiimiihinrin Choice of Limited Trains TO Spokane and the East VIA s 3 Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry. The “North Coast Limited” leaves Portland in the morn ing and the “Oriental Limited” leaves Portland in the evening for Spokane, Montana Points, St. Paul, Chicago and The East. The former east of Spokane moves via the Northern Pacific Ry., and the latter via the Great Northern Ry. to St. Paul, thence the Burlington Route. Both are all steel trains, giving every inducement for comfort and pleasure. CONSOLIDATED TICKET OFFICE Third and Washington Streets UNION PASSENGER STATION Light—Power—Heat 3 2 Washington at Tenth xiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiimiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiB niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid S'OllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIQ; uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiimiiiiiiiiiiniiiiihiL Atwater 4000 3 2 3 3 MILK, CREAM, BUTTER, EGGS, 3 COTTAGE CHEESE 3 Portland-Damascus Milk Co. Cornell & Brook Sts, Portland Ore. RASMUSSEN & Paints, Oils, Varnishes, Glass, Sash, Doors High Grade Lubricating Oils Brushes, Etc. 2 3 3 1 3 I Northeast Corner Second and Taylor Streets Portland, Oregon ñiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiii|iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiii>iiiiitiiiiniiiiiiu«Hf Place Your Orders With The Western American Advertisers—and Tell Them Why PHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltf