Speech #500010461

We are passing upon a statute passed by Congress and approved by the President. I ask gentlemen whether they will accept the interpretation of that statute from the judicial branch of this Government or whether they will go down into a State court and let the decision of such a court overrule the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States? I undertake to say that the Supreme Court of the United States has absolutely. positively. and without possible question. decided that the certificate of naturalization. whether there remain a record or not. is conclusive proof of such naturalization. not to be attacked collaterally at any time or place. That being true. it ought to be an end of the discussion so far as the law is concerned. and there is no need to invoke the plenary powers of the House on this question of eligibility to prevent this great wrong. seemingly attempted in this contest. There is a principle of law that universal acceptance is persuasive of what the law is. From 1795 when this naturalization law first went into force. down to the present day it has been the almost universal custom of all courts to issue to the applicant for naturalization a certificate of naturalization. under the seal of the court. as his commission of citizenship. reciting the facts that proof of residence. good character and disposition was made. that the oath of renunciation and allegiance was taken. Now. I call attention to the fact that you may hunt the statutes through from beginning to end and you will find no syllable or letter authorizing the issue of that certificate. unless the certificate is a duplicate record of the proceeding. It is not a certified copy of the record. Nowhere in any court does it purport to be a certified copy. But it does purport to be an original certificate under the seal of the court. accepted everywhere as original. primary proof of naturalization. not because it certifies a copy of a record. but because the court has issued- it as the record of a fact. Passports have been grqnted for ninety years past upon the production of such certificates. The protection of the United States has been invoked time out of mind in the protection of foreignborn citizens. on their presentingj ust such a certificate. The American people would spring to arms in the twinkling ox an eye if a foreign Governmentshould. willfully and intentionally. lay violent hands upon an American citizen possessing such a certificate. But early in the present century this question came up in the Supreme Court. - A court in Virginia had decided a certificate not good naturalization. The case to which I refer is in 6 Cranch. In the court of Suffolk there is a minute of the judge upon his court docket. which says that William Currie-