If a voter could be obliged to bring proof albinde of leading to such flagrant violations of universally recognized fands- to sustain such a certificate. and the judges of election could be obliged to liear meital priueiples of equality and justice. should at once be stricken evidence pro and con. the value of the boon of citizenship which we confer upen from the statutebook and consigned to oblivion. A law that con foreigners whocome to ourshores would be greatlylessenod. Besides. in many i0. furnish the pretext for the wholesale arrest and imprisonment of calites where the number of naturalized voters is very large this mode of proceed. ing vould be iipossible. since a few cases would comute the whole of tie day of inoffensive citizens. uot one of whom is afterward convied of any election. cnd many would remain unheard. (Commonwealth no. Lee 1 Brew sier. offense. must condemn itself in the opinion of every unprejudiced 273. lb. wc. Sheritt. ibid.. 183. lb. vs. Lenry. ibid.. 1270.) mind. When this plain statement of a selfevident. logical conclusion is PILAYiN Tl[E 3mscIuInr WrU Tile SACRED zIuiHs OF iATLiALIZED CITIZENS. compared with the remarkable spectacle afforded by the doings of It is a matter of utter indifference whether the East or the West. an election officer in New York charged with the execution of a law the North or the South has furnished the scene for such disgraceful entitled. as if iu mockery of justice. "An act to enforce the right of acts. The naturalized citizen must be safe and must feel protected - citizens of the Ulited States to vote." and who. in enforcing this. very law. drags thousands of naturalized citizens. legal voters. away from the poils and subjects them to imprisonment. leg.l proceedings. and many other annoyances. merely upon the strength of an assumption that the documentary evidence of their citizenship. produced by them in due form. stight be contestable. one cannot fail to become impressed with the conviction that either the law itself which sanctions such proceedings is unjust and oppressive. or that its execution is intrusted to improper hands. or that both are at fault. A COMON SErSe DECISION nY A UNITED STATES cOURT. A.
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naturalized