Chairman. I think the provisions under section 5 are very harsh and mandatory. whereby you compel every resident virtually to become a citizen of the United States unless within six months after the passage of this act he takes an oath that he does not wish to be so included. I think you go very far in your arbitrary legislation. in the provision which I here seek to strike out. in providing that these persons who for some reason or other may not now desire to become citizens of the United States shall not have the privilege forever after of becoming naturalized. You are driving them virtually under the cover of citizenship in the provisions of section 5. and you are enforcing it still more by saying. "If you do not accept citizenship now. you may never be privileged to have it." That certainly is not consistent with the ideas of citizenship which rests upon the volition of the individual. Never before in the history of our Government have we passed any such restrictive prohibition as that.
Keywords matched
naturalized