The Eligibility Crisis in Kittitas County
A local editor denounces a Superior Court judge for granting citizenship to dozens of foreigners who could not speak English.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The abuse of the naturalization laws has been so great in the last few years that President Roosevelt called attention to the subject in his annual message. A special dispatch to this paper from Ellensburg on December 14 stated that forty-six foreigners appeared before the superior court of Kittitas county on Monday last to take out first and last papers for naturalization and the dispatch further says, 'an interpreter was necessary in nearly every case, as they could not understand the English language.' No man who, after five years' residence in this country, cannot speak the language of the country is fit to become an American citizen. The granting of this inestimable privilege to men who cannot speak our language and who do not understand our system of government is an unspeakable wrong to the body politic.
“No man who, after five years' residence in this country, cannot speak the language of the country is fit to become an American citizen.”
This editorial captures the xenophobic rhetoric common in early 20th-century naturalization debates, reflecting the era's aggressive push for assimilation. It serves as a stark artifact of the 'Americanization' movements that defined the period's political discourse.
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