Civil Service Commission in regard to examining and reporting upon the validity of certificates of naturalization. Increased pressure of work and the small number of examiners resulted in the cancellation of this privilege for the Steamboat-Inspection Service during the succeeding year except in cases of suspected fraud and deception.

Clerks of Court. The condition with regard to clerks of court remained unsatisfactory. These clerks were, in effect, if not technically, the active field employees of the Division and had direct contact with the alien. They constituted the original source of all documents concerned with naturalization, but the provision which allowed them one-half of all fees collected, up to a maximum of $6000 per annum, and nothing thereafter," caused dissatisfaction.

In courts where a large volume of business was transacted, this restriction meant a financial loss on each alien receiving service after the $6000 had been reached. At that time a few clerks refused to give further service." To remedy this situation, Congress, for the fiscal year 1910, authorized $25,000 for extra clerks out of the funds appropriated for examiners (36 Stat. L., 118, 126), thus reducing the amount available for the naturalization examining work. For technical reasons, which need not be gone into here, this authorization was available during only a portion of the year mentioned" and required annual readjustment, though the act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. L., 829) attempted to relieve the situation by authorizing continuation of allowances for clerical assistance at the end of a fiscal year until it was apparent that fees would be insufficient to justify continuance. In subsequent years similar amounts were authorized out of funds appropriated for salaries and expenses of examiners, thus reducing the amount available for this branch of the work.

During the next few years conditions remained unchanged, the annual pleas for an increased number of examiners and assistants to clerks of court and the right of appeal on naturalization decisions from courts of original jurisdiction being denied.

18 That is, the excess must be returned to the Treasury (34 Stat. L., 596, 600). Allotment of additional funds by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor came from the department appropriation.

19

20

This applied to other than United States courts.

'The Division at this time reiterated the recommendation for the abolition of the declaration of intention, as a means of labor saving, claiming that an ambiguous attempt to abolish it had been made in the above act.

Bureau of Naturalization Created. In 1913 came the dividing of the Department of Commerce and Labor into two executive departments and the establishment of the Bureau of Naturalization in the new Department of Labor. On March 4, 1913, “An act to create a Department of Labor" (37 Stat. L., 736) was approved, the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization being transferred to the new department and divided into the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization.

The act provided that,

The Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization is hereby divided into two bureaus, to be known hereafter as the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Naturalization, and the titles Chief Division of Naturalization and Assistant Chief shall be Commissioner of Naturalization and Deputy Commissioner of Naturalization. The Commissioner of Naturalization or, in his absence, the Deputy Commissioner of Naturalization, shall be the administrative officer in charge of the Bureau of Naturalization and of the administration of the naturalization laws under the immediate direction of the Secretary of Labor, to whom he shall report directly upon all naturalization matters annually and as otherwise required, and the appointments of these two officers shall be made in the same manner as appointments to competitive classified civilservice positions.

The organization of the new Bureau during its first year was as follows:

21

Nine of these clerks were provided on July 1, 1913. In addition there were 2483 clerks of court functioning throughout the United States.

The World War. The results of the World War now began to make themselves felt in the way of cessation of immigration, though the volume of naturalization did not reflect the condition.

Nevertheless new conditions were arising and the problem of naturalization was undergoing a marked change. The drain of man power in Europe, the entrance of the United States into the war, and restrictive legislation against the feared and predicted post-war flood of immigration, all aided successively in bringing about a state of affairs without parallel in the history of the government.

The acute sense of nationalism aroused by the war turned the thoughts of the country toward the adequate training of new citizens in the "principles of Americanism." This movement stimulated acute interest and assumed huge volume during the years of American participation in the war and immediately thereafter. Citizenship Training. As early as 1907 attention had been given to the importance of preparing candidates for admission to citizenship by individuals, schools, and associations, but unscrupulous practices had crept in and, with inadequate central supervision, exploitation of the alien was frequent. Hence the movement gained little headway at this time.

The Secretary of Labor in 1914" took up this question and, after conferences with school authorities, approved a plan of coöperation between the Bureau of Naturalization and the schools, providing for educating citizenship candidates.

The basis of the plan lay in the information sent to school authorities by the Bureau regarding each declarant of intention and each petitioner for citizenship. On the basis of such information the school endeavored to enroll the alien for classes. A detailed description of the new arrangement contained in the Fiscal Regulations of the Department of Labor, promulgated October 15, 1915, follows:

In its administration of the naturalization law the Bureau obtains the coöperation of the public-school authorities throughout the United States. It furnishes them the names and addresses of the declarants for citizenship and petitioners for naturalization for the purpose of bringing these prospective citizens into contact at the earliest moment with the Americanizing influences of the publicschool system and thereby contributing to the elevation of citizenship standards. By insuring comprehension of the true spirit of our

23

"A plan had been formulated in the Bureau, April 20, 1914.

institutions on the part of aliens admitted to citizenship the Bureau may hope to make their acquisition serve as a strengthening influence upon the moral, social, political, and industrial qualities of those institutions.

Through reports from various public schools where courses in citizenship have been taken by aliens seeking naturalization the Bureau aims to disseminate information throughout the publicschool system. It thereby acts as a clearing house of information on civic instruction. Without relaxing its efforts at excluding unfit aliens from citizenship, it is endeavoring to stimulate preparation. Its ideal in this respect is to promote the attainment by aliens of such qualifications for the citizenship they seek as will better fit them for its duties.

The growth of the Americanization work was rapid, and in spite of the reduction in immigration during the war and increasing and extensive emigration after the armistice, the program of education for citizenship continued to expand and gain importance.” As a result, on April 1, 1919, a Division of Citizenship Training was set up under a director" to aid in the promotion of the education and training of candidates for citizenship by the public schools.

The work continued under such direction until late in 1921, at which time doubt as to the legality of the titles of Division and Director arose, and the Division of Citizenship Training was discontinued." The Director, however, assumed the title "Chief Examiner," and the work continued under the same organization unidentified by name as a divisional unit. There was no change in function or activities.

War Time Legislation. Meanwhile, in 1917, two acts had been passed which affected the work of the Bureau, with others following in 1918.

The sundry civil act of June 12, 1917 (40 Stat. L., 105, 171), made more elastic the funds annually provided since 1910 for assistants to clerks of courts. It declared that the entire allowance to such clerks, both from fees and appropriations, should “be based upon and not exceed the one-half of the gross receipts . . . from

23

The 1920 census showed 13,920,692 foreign born in the United States of whom 6,492,088 had been naturalized, 1,223,490 had taken out “first papers," 805,509 were unreported as to citizenship status, and 5,399,605 were aliens.

24

25

Brought about by the act of May 9, 1918 (40 Stat. L., 542).

The immediate cause was a Comptroller's decision on the wording of the appropriation act under which the Division had been operating.

naturalization fees during the fiscal year. . . preceding, unless the naturalization business . . . during the year shall be in excess of the preceding year, in which event the amount allowed may be increased to an amount equal to one-half the estimated gross receipts . . . during the current fiscal year . . .'

The urgent deficiency act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. L., 345, 346), exempted official mail matter of the Bureau of Naturalization from payment of postage and registry fees.

Participation in the war and generally changing conditions had brought about a situation in the field of naturalization which required legislative action. This was forthcoming when the act of May 9, 1918, was approved (40 Stat. L., 542): "An act to amend the naturalization laws and to repeal certain sections of the Revised Statutes of the United States and other laws relating to naturalization . .

This act, the title of which is indicative of its nature, gave attention among other matters to the naturalization of aliens serving in or honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States. For such aliens it provided immediate naturalization and eliminated declaration of intention, certification of arrival, proof of residence, and fee."

The act also provided for the validation of certain certificates of naturalization which court decisions had threatened to nullify. Prior to the act of June 29, 1906, no limitation existed on the vitality of a declaration of intention, but in that act a limitation of seven years was set. Though in general the courts had construed this to be inapplicable to declarations existing when the law was passed the Supreme Court of the United States in 1918" held otherwise and all such declarations were thereby declared to have been invalidated by the act of 1906.

In order to validate all certificates of naturalization theretofore granted and that might be granted upon such invalid declarations up to December 31, 1918, the following section was included in the act of May 9, 1918 (Section 3):

26

The amendment affected the following_law: 34 Stat. L., 596, and the repeal: 34 Stat. L., 596; R. S. 2171; 40 Stat. L., 340; R. S. 2166, 2174; 28 Stat. L., 124; 38 Stat. L., 395.

27

Extensive advantage of this opportunity was taken. During the years 1918-22, inclusive, 271,404 aliens in the military service were naturalized in this way.

28

245 U. S., 392.