Speech #600128536

I can not believe that gentlemen who oppose the amendment of the Senate .understand the situation. This is not an amendment the sole purpose of which is to increase the salary of the clerks of the courts. It has two purposesone to facilitate the administration of the naturalization laws and the other is in the interest of the applicant himself. The gentlemen who have discussed the matter do not understand the amount of work that must be done by the clerk in administering the present naturalization law. The fees now charged are not sufficient to induce the clerks to do the work. and as a result many state courts have refused to take jurisdiction in naturalization cases. and so the naturalization of aliens at this time is conducted largely by the United States courts. The result of this is to clog the calendars of the United States courts. The applicant must therefore come not once with two witnesses to be naturalized. oftentimes making a long trip to the United States court for that purpose. but he must come two. three. and sometimes four times to the court before his case can be heard. Instead of its costing him an additional $5. in many cases it costs him $10. $15. $20. or even more in loss of time and expenses. I know that this is the case in all of the large cities. and I have no doubt that it is general all over the country. The purpose of this amendment is to increase the pay of the clerks sufficient to make it an inducement to the clerks of the state courts to do the work. and thus make it easy for the applicant for naturalization to secure a certificate of naturalization. while now it is difficult. Now. if we increase the cost of naturalization. as the Senate amendment proposes. we shall still have the cheapest naturalization in the world. There is no nation in the world which naturalizes a citizen for the cost of $10. In the cheapest country the cost is at least $30 or $40. Gentlemen should remember that only one half the fees collected are retained by the clerk. the other half goes to the Bureau of Naturalization to pay the expenses of administering the law. I understand that the bureau is now greatly hampered for funds.