The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip., February 01, 1925, Page 17, Image 17

FEBRUARY, 1925
THE UNITED AMERICAN
bringing along, it is said, twenty dollars for each of
the five applicants, and handing it to the official, he is
further said to have pledged that his friends, upon
receiving their “papers,” would pay him the balance.
The price was to be one hundred dollars from each. Be­
lieving the examiner to be a man of honor, as he under­
stood it, the go-between took no notice that the govern­
ment official was not alone, but that a stranger was
with him in the place of the appointment.
What in the news item was called “a dramatic”
scene ensued. The man offering the money was taken
along into court where the examiner laid bare the
details of “the plot” and three of the applicants who
were on hand admitted to the judge that they had en­
trusted their friend to give the examiner some money
to “make things easy” for them. The two others ad­
mitted talking to their friend about it, but being a little
wary, they denied having given him any money. The
friend who had offered the money admitted his part
and told of the arrangement made with the govern­
ment official the day before. The examiner is alleged
to have admitted that he had feigned; willingness to
arrange the matter for one hundred dollars for each
and had suggested the morning meeting so that he
could have a witness present, and march the go-be­
tween to court to face the judge and to bring the
awaiting applicants upon the scene.
Andrew Kiljis, the go-between, was promptly
placed under arrest on charges of bribery under the
Federal statute. Vincent Rusinovich, Joseph Burich
and Nicala Gruich, the three applicants who admitted
being parties to the trade, were told by the judge that
their applications were dismissed with prejudice for
five years. The applications of Matteo J. Stanovich
and Juray J. Butovich, who admitted having talked
to Kiljis about it, but denied having given him any
money for the examiner, were held up pending further
investigation.
•
•
«
Some days later the matter was heard by the
Federal grand jury in Portland and indictments were
returned against the applicants and their friend,
the go-between. Each of them will now have to stand
trial on a charge of felony, which, upon conviction, is
punishable with both fine and imprisonment. An alien
who has been sentenced to a term in prison automati­
cally forfeits the right to remain in this country and,
upon his release from prison, he becomes subject to
deportation. These are the anything but bright
prospects facing the misguided people of the little
fishing hamlet.
♦
*
♦
Maybe the alien fishermen at Clifton are a wicked'
lot. Maybe Mr. Thomas, the deputy examiner from
Seattle, is a sincere honest citizen and official who sits
at the gate of the naturalization court as a jealous
guardian who deserves the praise of the nation for this
diligence and zeal to prevent anyone with an impure
thought from entering the high and lofty plane of
citizenship. We don’t know.
As citizens possessing equal rights with Mr.
Thomas, we have the right to analize his actions and
review the results.
Perhaps Mr. Thomas is one of those punctilious
officials in the service of Uncle Sam who are incor-
Page Seventeen
ruptible, discriminating and exacting to the extent
that they know only the letter of the law and little
or nothing about that unwritten code of this land that
has given us renown as a people that are just, yet
merciful, and disposed to put a fellow-being right,
where we can, who shows unmistakable evidence of
ignorance of the law in a far greater measure than a
wanton intent to commit a crime.
♦
*
*
Fairness should be the basic principle for all our
dealings with the immigrant people. When an alien
appears to have a wrong idea the way to introduce
an Americanizing influence into his life would be to
put him right, show him where the American distinc­
tion lies between right and wrong.
The American official of community, state and
nation, assumes an implied obligation when he takes
the oath of office, to give guidance to the alien people
who, having been legally admitted, are entitled to
protection, information and advice. The American
official who fails to perceive it his duty to his country
to render such assistance as he can to those strangers
within our gates, giving them a fair idea of America
and her institutions at every opportunity, without
being unduly severe, is a misfit in office whether he
be the policeman on the beat, the judge on the bench
or the president of our nation.
*
*
*
Had the deputy from the Seattle naturalization
office had that broader grasp of the duties of his office
he would have used the opportunity to the fullest
extent to show those simple people with a foreign view­
point and an unfortunate early training, that an Amer-
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