At the time of our last Presidential election. we had in the United States. according to the census. 67.000.000 people over 21 years of age who were citizens. Now. some 46.000.000. or a trifle less. actually voted. a discrepancy of 21.000.000 who were not performing their duties and responsibilities as citizens. That is a matter of regret. that is a matter of education. to cure that situation. and I think we have exactly the same situation with regard to some of our alien population. and it is a matter of time and education to adjust them. not a kind of compulsory naturalization. which. it seems to me. would do far more harm than good. Certainly the alien problem. if any exists. cannot be solved by new alien and sedition laws. The problem has always been settled by the eventual assimilation of these aliens into our own American way of life. That is how and why. our Nation has thrived. The problem cannot be solved by the force and violence of alien and sedition laws. The alien and sedition laws fairly bristled with hatred of Irish and French immigrants. who were beginning to mak themselves felt in American politics. Just as today. the new alien and sedition laws are aimed at certain classes and races coming from lands of persecution. Even the Federalist.
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naturalization immigrants