The history of our country shows that there were three kinds of people here when the Constitution and the first set of laws enacted thereunder were formed. white people. nativeborn. and of different European nationalities. Africans. who were mostly held as slaves. and the aborigines or Indians. Now. the best denotation of the theory of our Government as to who should and who should not become a part of the bodypolitic is the naturalization laws. These laws extended an invitation to all who could take the benefit of them to come to the United States and make it their home. By parity of reason they did not welcome those whom they excluded from such privileges. The laws passed in 1802. 1804. 1816 and 1824 are still in force and unchanged. excepting as I shall ihercaftbr point out. and under them none but free white persons could become citizens of the United States. In 1870. after the fifteenth amendmcnt to the Constitution had been ratified. they were extended to "aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent." This just atonement for the crime of human slavery was a fitting sequel to the preservation of our national unity. Now. sir. at no time from the beginning of our Government to the present could a Mongolian become a citizen of the United States. When the traditions we speak of were supposed to be active principles the Constitution and laws I have spoken of were formed. and the courts have decided that the laws enacted in pursuance of that Constitution do not admit the Mongolian to citizenship. The fact is that the opponents of this measure have deduced most of their conclusions from the beautifil aureole which envelops our Goddess of Liberty. and seem unwilling to heed her oraeleswhich are plainly enough written in the Constitution and the laws. Now. what is the other aspect of this controversy?
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naturalization Mongolian