Speech #450021447

The next voter is John Peterson. He voted for the contestant. Peterson was naturalized the day before the election in San Francisco. and he took along with him a man by the name of Hanna as his witness. Hanna testified before the district court of California that he had known Peterson in California in 1857. That was true. and upon his evidence and upon the testimony of the person claimig his naturalization papers the district court issued papers to him in regular form. There is no question as to the regularity of the papers or the jurisdiction of the court or as to the competency of the evidence upon which this naturalization paper was issued. But the sitting member calls this voter and takes his deposition in the case. and he testifies that when he was in California in 1857 he was there only temporarily and returned again to his mother country. and did not come back until within five years previous to the time of his naturalization papers being issued. which evidence. if given at the time the papers were issued. would have induced the court to refuse to issue them. But as this witness must have sworn before the court to facts differing from those which he testified to in the record. and as the evidence adduced before the court was sufficient for the court to act upon. and which it did act upon in giving him his naturalization papers. the committee were of the opinion those papers could not be attacked collaterally. and especially so by a witness who was required to perjure himself in order to attack his own naturalization. On a casual examination of this case I was of the opinion the papers could be attacked collaterally. but after examining the eases cited in the authorities. I can find no case where naturalization papers have been attacked in a collateral proceeding. where it appeared that the court had jurisdiction and all the proceedings before it were regular. There is bnt one other voter then in question. and that is Thomas H. Mothvin. and as this voter is held by a majority of the committee to be a legal voter and also there is doubt as to the person for whom he voted.