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THE UNITED AMERICAN
of government. At present the former is much over
looked, while the latter is chiefly given attention.
The applicant’s mental attitude regarding American
citizenship is a matter of vital concern to the citizens
of America. The most practical way of ascertaining
this is through a pre-examination investigation of the
applicant’s .private life, his general conduct, opinion
and views of American civic and social institutions,
as reflected among those with whom he has been in
contact during the immediately preceding’ years. In
the absense of such intelligence regarding the appli
cants, many undesirable aliens, with an intellectual
mind, are admitted into the common bond of citizenship.
Under the present chaotic conditions, as relating
to Naturalization rules and proceedings,with the Bureau
of Naturalization extremely handicapped for lack of
adequate finances, the system now in vogue can
probably be little improved upon, unless civic organiza
tions could be persuaded to finance a private investi
gation of every citizenship applicant, according
to some workable plan satisfactory to the Depart
ment. The foreign born who are protesting against
such investigations are subjecting themselves to
suspicion, and they reveal a deplorable state of
mind regarding the sacred precincts in citizenship,
whether they are naturalized or hope to be. The man
who is afraid of an investigation of his conduct and
speech, as a basis for recommendation or rejection of
his application for citizenship, is guilty of thinking less
of American citizenship than of his membership in a
lodge. No lodge accepts an application for member
ship from anyone without a report from “the investiga
tion committee.” Surely Uncle Sam. is entitled to as
much protection as any lodge or fraternity. But that
is just it. A man. who knows that his conduct is such
as to make it impossible for him to expect favorable
action at the hands of a fraternity of clean law-abiding
citizens, demands that he be given a citizenship certifi
cate whenever he feels like asking for it, no matter
though his moral conduct and personal opinion of Amer
ica is such as to constitute almost open repudiation of
the principles in citizenship.
The litigant before the American bar must possess
one qualification to be heard—he must come into court
“with clean hands.” How much more important that
one who is asking participation in the greatest and
most sacred institution in America shall come into
court “with clean hands.”
The man who is clean, who came to America to
find a greater opportunity than the old homeland
could offer, can have no objection to a high standard
of moral requirements and to America’s insistence that
those who expect to be granted the privilege of citizen
ship should be in sympathy with the American in
stitutions in government. He should entertain no
mental reservation nor preference for foreign
governments and their machinery of operation.
America can only be what we make of it. It is a
flexible form of government, which more readily than
any other known form, reacts favorably or unfavorably
in the interest of the whole on the strength of indi
vidual influence, in speech and in action, but above all
else in the exercise of the individual franchise.
The investigation of every applicant for citizenship
constitutes a safety measure of no small importance
OCTOBER 1925
in its relation to the future of our country. Millions
of aliens are standing on the threshold of the Ameri
can Naturalization court. There is much good, of
inestimable value, in this unnaturalized army of
eligible aliens who have come here in a lawful way,
but there is likewise an inestimable quantity of evil. In
other words, there are enough misguided, uninformed
illiterate aliens in this army of people to make the
American institutions unsafe, if they are admitted to
citizenship without any other training than that
which they, in most places, obtain to pass a naturali
zation test, where careless examiners and indifferent
judges are bungling the job,
Technicalities, now frequently applied, hindering
substantial and worthy aliens who due to public
indifference have ' been negligent in the matter of
acquiring citizenship, should be speedily done away
with. Many such people of splendid conduct — home
owners, tax payers, fathers and mothers of fine
American families — should not be punished unduly for
their negligence through which they are found to be
aliens, after having resided in America from five to
forty or fifty years.
The recent decision from the Department of Labor,
revoking a precedent of twenty years’ standing, by
which such people could obtain Nunc Pro Tunc
certificates, showing legitimate arrival — the first es
sential in an alien’s proceeding to obtain citizenship—
is creating a hardship that is unfortunate for many
worthy aliens who have been residents of America for
more than half of their lifetime. The matter of guard
ing well the certificate of arrival, showing name of
steamer, date and port of landing, etc., is even today a
matter sadly neglected by the great bulk of the immi
grants. In the earlier immigration days few thought
of keeping that precious little slip of paper. As the
years have fled, the memory of many has become
dimmed and the name of the steamer (of which the
passenger list would show the names of America-bound
immigrants), the date and even the exact year have
been forgotten. The name t>f the port of arrival is prob
ably the only thing clear in the mind from that event
so full of confusion and incoherent sounds of a language
strange and foreign to the non-English speaking immi
grant. It is not likely that the Department of Labor
abruptly changed a ruling of such a long standing for
the purpose of causing injury to worthy aliens, but it
is more likely that present immigration regulations,
under the quota law, when almost as many aliens
smuggle themselves into this country as are legally,
admitted, required that well established precedents be
modified and even discontinued. Nevertheless the
ruling should have specified some allowances respect
ing aliens who had become permanent residents
of America long before the world war and before any
thought had been given to plans of restricting immi
gration. The Department of Labor has undoubtedly
become acquainted with any number of specific
instances where the stated circumstances are at issue.
After due investigation of the facts it is reasonably
certain that the Secretary of Labor, who is himself of
foreign birth, will find means by which those aliens may
seek citizenship, without making the road to its attain
ment too difficult for them to tread.
The proposal to create a registration system