Mr. Chairman. on that proposition the criticism of the gentleman from Illinois in respect to the extravagance of this service may be just. but I do not agree with him that the responsibility for that extravagance is chargeable to the Department of Commerce and Labor. In a certain sense it is true that the examiners heretofore employed were taken from the other branches of the public service. and to some extent they are subject to orders from the Department of Commerce and Labor. but this service at the present time and ever since the service was inaugurated two years ago has been under the direct supervision of the Department of Justice. and the appropriation for that service has been made for that department. During all that time. too. there has been a controversy carried on in the Committee on Appropriations. and sometimes on the floor of the House. as to which one of these two departments is charged with the duty of administering our naturalization laws. Now. after two years experience. the Department of Justice acquiesced in the desire of the Department of Commerce and Labor. and also in the desire of the Committee on Appropriations. to transfer the entire jurisdiction and control in the matter of the administration of our naturalization laws to the Department of Commerce and Labor. and for that purpose we have dropped the appropriation heretofore made for this purpose under the control of the Department of Justice and have transferred that appropriation to the Department of Commerce and Labor. and we have also dropped entirely the employment of special attorneys. or assistant United States district attorneys. for the enforcement of this law and provide only for the employment of examiners.
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naturalization