Show CHICAGO NATURALiZATiONS There have been many complaints of the loose mannerin some of the courts in this country of admitting aliens to citizenship It is thought by 1 some people that the naturalization I laws need to be made more trict and exclusive But the real trouble is the failure to enforce them according to the spirit and meaning thereof It is a disgrace any court which grinds aliens through its mill just to fill a party measure a process often seen in some parts of the country just before an election But it seems that Chicago has been putting aliens through by a lightning process One of the circuit court judges of that rapid city is reported by the Chicago Tribune to have passed upon S60 applications for citizenship four hours the average aver-age time devoted to teach being but seventeen seconds The Tribune then goes on to say The law requires that It shall be shown to the satisfaction of the judge that the applicant has lived in the f U < < i i iit Jt i L United States five years and In Illinois one year The judge is required also to be satisfied that during that time the applicant has behaved as a man of good moral character is attached to the Constitution of the United States and welldisposed to the good order and happiness of the same He must be an easily satisfied judge who can be convinced after an examination lasting seventeen seconds thatan individual is attached to the principles of the Constitution Con-stitution of the United States a document docu-ment which he probably never read and whose principles he might not comprehend if he did A judge who can dp that must be a mind reader of the first class Some judges and clerks are more rqpid in their action than others It takes a longer time to satisfy an over careful court than a quick witted one that the applicant has complied with all the requirements of the law The amount of time consumed in the process pro-cess is not so much a matter of moment mo-ment as is the matter of fact as to the statutory qualifications of the alien seeking to be admitted to the sacred rights of citizenship So long as time enough is taken to bring out the proofs which the naturalization laws require speed is not objectionable especially when there is a large number of applicants appli-cants But seventeen seconds seems electrical in its brevity and rapidity and an examination in such a time must necessarily be inadequate When political exigencies influence the courts of the land it is a bad sign It indicates that the judiciary is made part of the political machine and a means of effecting partisan ends That is a prostitution of the judicial power and is a mark of a downward tendency It shows that the welfare of the nation is made subordinate to party requirements require-ments and that what is intended for a safeguard is treated as a pretense Ballot reform purity of elections the punishment of fraud and corruption at the polls are demanded all over the country The convictions in New York are signs of the times The Mayor of Lewiston Mane in his recent inaugural inaugu-ral address said If a party cannot secure an election without prostituting the public service and the public treasury to the basest of partisan uses such a party had better bet-ter surrender its franchise and go out of existence The people can stand a great deal of abuse and fraud have stood it in city state and county but this year if you lay your ear to the ground you will hear the grand solemn sol-emn seldomheard voice of the American Amer-ican people calling loudly for reform in municipal government and for the punishment of dishonest public servants ser-vants That is correct And it is just as necessary that the naturalization of aliens shall be conducted as the laws require so that only duly qualified persons shall be admitted to citizenship citizen-ship as that fraudulent practices at tl1e polls shall be stopped or the guilty persons shall be punished for their crimes Every person of foreign birth who is a bona fide resident in this country should be encouraged to become be-come a citizen but bogus naturalizations naturaliza-tions are to bevdenounced and exposed and the chief responsibility for such offenses rests upon the courts that aid in the wrong Chicago naturalization will be recognized as equal in rapidity to Chicago divorce |