Oh. yes. Congress having the power to pass a uniform naturalization law. there is no doubt about that. The Comptroller of the Currency so construed the law that there was no way of obtaining a larger clerical force in the large cities. those being the only places where the fees were taken in in excess of $6.000 a year. so we passed an amendment in the last session remedying that by permitting the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to base his estimate for clerical assistance upon the amount of work that was being done in a court. That remedied the city situation. When we got to the Senate. the Senators representing States in which there was not only city territory. but rural territory as well. had this condition. that the clerks of the courts all through the country in the rural courts said their fees had been decreased and that they would not naturalize at all unless the fees were increased. There is no way. of course. that we can force any court In the country. except the federal courts. to naturalize. Therefore the Senate insisted both in and out of conference that the fees should be increased to what they practically had been prior to the passage of the law. It is not large--a total of $10. spread over three years. for American citizenship. It is a smaller price than the naturalization fee of any other country. so far as I am advised. That amendment was inserted in the Senate. and the House conferees were unable to obtain any concession except that the new rate should not go into effect until the 1st of July. 1909. The rate is not unfair. Particularly it is not unfair in country districts. where the clerk is compelled really to act as the attorney for the applicant. The Senate has agreed to the provision of the House remedying conditions in cities. and the House conferees have agreed to that portion of the bill adopted by the Senate which is asked for by the clerks of the courts and by applicants for naturalization in the country districts.
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