Speech #500010811

Out of 34.500 voters. 34.499 of them concede the right of this man to his seat upon this floor. Then we are brought face to face with the proposition whether or not he is entitled tohold the scat that he has been elected to by 2.500 majority over his competitor. The majority of the committee say that. as he is unable to show by the records of the court in which he was naturalized that he is a naturalized citizen. he is therefore barred of the right of proving it. The minority of your committee say that if he is a naturalized citizen it is a fact. and he has the right to prove that fact. The majority of the committee quote authorities on their side to show that certain courts have held that naturalization can only be proved by the record of it. The minority of the committee quote authorities equally strong to show that where the record fails to exhibit the fact it may be proved by parol evidence. Then we are brought here with one side contending that these authorities show one thing. the other side contending that they show another. and we come back then to the great fundamental principles that govern this body. It is an old and wellsettled principle in law that no court can construe an act of the legislative branch of the Government as well as the power that makes it. In nearly every State of this Union at every session of the Legislature it is called upon to pass acts to construe this or that act of the Legislature. We are then called upon in this casenot conceding the position taken by the majoritywe are called upon in this case to decide what the act of Congress providing for naturalization means. I for one would rather hold with the judge that decided the Coleman case. that whenever the man who seeks his naturalization has done all the law compels him to do he becomes a citizen of the United States. that the mere act of omission of the clerk shall not deprive him of his naturalization. And that is in accordance with our ideas of republican institutions. it is in accordance with our ideas of the right of men to be naturalized. I would rather hold with the supreme court of California. where they passed upon the question of the right of a citizen to vote. they say that wherever the act says the voter shall do certain things it is mandatory. but where it says the clerk shall do certain things it is directory. and if the clerk fails to perform his duty that failure of his shall not deprive the man of his right to vote and his right to citizenship. The honorable gentleman from Virginia the other day said that he honored Captain White for his military record.