| Show SOT NOT ALLOWED IN NEW YORK IT is widel widely Y held that in the great west and especially in the rocky mountain i region a greater liberality in respect r e to social anti and religious matters is favored by public opinion than exists in the older states and that this condition enters eaters into the spirit of legislation and the decisions of courts but that a greater reverence for the constitutional safe safeguards guardi of religious liberty exists in new york state than prevails in certain portions of the western part of the republic C was I 1 strikingly proven by an incident which occurred in new york city a few days ago A man mail named mcdonald who had all the legal qualifications of a voter attempted to register he decided to affirm instead of swearing and one of tac inspectors ordered him to raise his right hand when making the affirmation this mcdonald refused to do the registration officers then asked him if he believed in god mcdonald replied that they had no right to put such a question to him whereupon they refused to register him mcdonald applied to judge Bar barrett of the supreme court for a writ of man mandate dateo requiring the inspector to register him on a hearing of the matter judge barrett rendered a decision strictly in line with the constitution and the genius of american institutions he ruled that a person in taking an affirmation fir under the laws of new york could not be required to raise the right halid there being no statutory provision to that effect he fie emphatically declared that registration officers had bad no right to apply a religious test and diat their the rela relators tors beliet belief to in the existence of a deity was an impertinence imputing tw e to t 0 w which b no citizen to a the abs abreace e e ol of a any n y 0 sus us clelon of hla his should be 11 protection against the application of religious relli oud testa teats la is a fundamental f oate gate guard ot of the liberty liberta ot of every american citizen remove that safeguard from the union and it ceases to be a aar arse country judge barrett ol of new yort york realizes this and it to 18 that more of his school 1 of jurists are not found on the bench in the territories nevada to Is the fortunate possessor of such euch a court but bat some of her bet ne neighboring coisson wealth fl cannot be so congratulated |
