In my veins courses Irish blood. I am proud of it. and thereis not money enough in the universe to purchase one drop of it. My grandfather was a fullblooded Irishman. and was almost present at the laying of the cornerstone of this Republic. and yet he was required to comply with the naturalization laws of the country. If one who was almost present at the birth of the Constitution was required to go into a court of record and there to renounce all allegiance to any foreign prince. potentate. state. or sovereign. and swear fidelityto that Constitution and then to exhibit record evidence of that fact in order to enjoy benefits under it. in an humble way. it is no hardship to require a man. more than a hundred years later. to go through the same proceeding in a court of record. and to submit record evidence of that fact in order to holdit high and dignified position upon the floor of the House of Representatives of the United States. and to sit in the councils of the nation and among its lawgivers. Our naturalization laws are liberal enough. Theyareplain and simple and easily understood. No man need err in their construction or application. To hold with the minority of the committee would be in effect to wipe from the statutebook every vestige of these laws. Is this House prepared to do this? Is it prepared to break down all the laws of evidence and destroy all the safeguards which the naturalizationlaws throw around the suljcct? Fornce I am not. As high as the privilege of a member of this House to a seat on this floor may be. and as much as we may regret the necessity of unseating a gentleman chosen by the people to represent them. it is far better that he should lose his seat than that great fundamental principles should be disregarded and scattered to the wind.
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