(d) The President of the United States may, in his discretion, upon investigation and report by the Department of Justice fully establishing the loyalty of any alien enemy not included in the foregoing exemption, except such alien enemy from the classification of alien enemy, and thereupon such alien shall have the privilege of applying for naturalization.

That is substantially existing law, and it looks as though they are looking ahead and trying to take care of these people in the future. They may, and doubtless will, amend that in any way they see fit. Mr. REES. That is really a restatement of the present law? Mr. SHOEMAKER. That is correct, generally.

Mr. REES. All right.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Section 326 (a):

The Commissioner, or, in his absence, a Deputy Commissioner, shall have charge of the administration of the naturalizatioin laws, under the immediate direction of the Secretary of Labor, to whom the Commissioner shall report directly upon all naturalization matters annually and as otherwise required. Mr. REES. That is substantially the existing law?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Yes. Shall I go ahead?

Mr. REES. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHOEMAKER (reading):

(b) The Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary, shall make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this chapter, and is authorized to prescribe the scope and nature of the examination of petitioners for naturalization as to their admissibility to citizenship for the purpose of making appropriate recommendations to the naturalization courts. Such examination shall be limited to inquiry concerning the applicant's residence, good moral character, understanding of and attachment to the fundamental principles of the Constitution of the United States, and other qualifications to become a naturalized citizen as required by law, and shall be uniform throughout the United States.

That is an extension of existing law and varies considerably.
Mr. REES. That last sentence is?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Well, even the other clause "and is authorized to prescribe the scope and nature of the examination of petitioners for naturalization as to their admissibility"—that is new.

Mr. REES. Oh, yes.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. That is placing that authorization upon the Commissioner with the approval of the Secretary.

Mr. REES. Will you tell me just briefly why that is so?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Well, as you know, I was not present at these hearings when this legislation was considered, but I think I can give you the reason, and that reason is this. The courts are always concerned with an individual's personal thoughts as to the principles of the Constitution. The law does not say anything about his knowledge of elementary civics, and the judgment of an applicant's admissibility to citizenship is generally governed by his knowledge of civics and to some extent history and the business of the Government in general. The courts will not frequently do the questioning themselves. They rely upon an examiner, and the examiner uses his own discretion as to what kind of questions he will ask. He may ask questions that run to elementary civics and some may ask questions which go to the principles. Those are the things that I think the committee was trying to cover to see that someone had the authority to lay down the scope of the examination which would be conducted when persons sought citizenship through the process of naturalization.

Mr. REES, I wonder if the criticism as to the kind of examination that has come to your attention is leveled at the way the courts have handled it or whether it was the way the examiners have handled it?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. I should say that it was leveled more particularly at the way in which the examiner has done it, rather than the way in which the judges, themselves, have done it. The courts frequently accept the questions which are propounded to the applicant and his witnesses by the examiner, and if they do not measure up perhaps we are more to blame than the courts.

Mr. REES. I had assumed that the examination was conducted under the supervision of the Department of Labor and that the questions asked were prescribed in a general way by the Department.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. We do. We have tried through the years to have our examiners bring out questions like this. Suppose, for instance, the Congress should pass a law saying that you should have a certain kind of religion; could they do that? And the applicants say "No." What stops them? The Constitution guarantees you the right of religious liberty.

Mr. REES. I see.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. And they will ask, "Do you own any property?" Yes. Can Congress take that property away from you and give it to some other man? No, but he does not know why, and it was those things that we have tried to get our examiners to ask, in order to bring out the individual's attachment to the principles of the Constitution, instead of a mere knowledge of elementary civics, both National and State. Shall I go ahead?

Mr. REES. Yes.

Mr. SHOEMAKER (reading):

(c) The Commissioner is authorized to promote instruction and training in citizenship responsibilities of applicants for naturalization, including the sending of names of candidates for naturalization to the public schools, preparing and distributing monthly an immigration and naturalization bulletin, and securing the aid of and cooperating with official State and National organizations, including those concerned with vocational education.

As you will note, that is substantially existing law. We do not publish a bulletin, however. We have never been able to get around to it. We do in the form of circular letters and instructions to the field, but not in the actual form of a bulletin.

Mr. REES. All right.

Mr. SHOEMAKER (continuing):

(d) The Commissioner shall prescribe and furnish such forms as may be required to give effect to the provisions of this chapter, and only such forms as may be so provided shall be legal. All certificates of naturalization and of citizenship shall be printed on safety paper and shall be consecutively numbered in separate series.

That is a repeat of existing law and regulation.
Mr. REES. Yes.

Mr. SHOEMAKER (reading):

(e) Members of the Service may be designated by the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to administer oaths and to take depositions without charge in matters relating to the administration of the naturalization and citizenship laws. In cases where there is a likelihood of unusual delay or of hardship, the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner may, in his discretion, authorize such depositions to be taken before a Postmaster without charge, or before a Notary Public or other person authorized to administer oaths for general purposes.

That last sentence is a change from existing law and was designed to take care of cases where there were delays because our men were not traveling in the locality where the deponents lived, and I think it is a very good feature to add to the new act.

(f). A certificate of naturalization or of citizenship issued by the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner under the authority of this chapter shall have the same effect in all courts, tribunals, and public offices of the United States, at home and abroad, of the District of Columbia, and of each State, Territory, and insular possession of the United States, as a certificate of naturalization or of citizenship issued by a court having naturalization jurisdiction.

That is practically identical with existing law.

(g) Certifications and certified copies of all papers, documents, certificates, and records required or authorized to be issued, used, filed, recorded, or kept under any and all provisions of this chapter shall be admitted in evidence equally with the originals in any and all cases and proceedings under this Act and in all cases and proceedings in which the originals thereof might be admissible as evidence.

Substantially a repeat of the present law.

The officers in charge of property owned or leased by the Government are authorized, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor, to provide quarters, without payment of rent, in any building occupied by the Service, for a photographic studio operated by welfare organizations without profit and solely for the benefit of aliens seeking naturalization. Such studio shall be under the supervision of the Commissioner.

You will notice that it is an enlargement of section 9 in the opposite column, where we do have a studio in New York. We found out that many of the petitioners were being mulcted of fees in connection. with pictures and copies of papers, and for that purpose we established an office with the authority of Congress, in our own suite up there and that has worked out most admirably in saving the applicants from being preyed upon by these people.

Mr. REES. Is there a fee charged for that?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Very nominal. I think it is 25 cents or 24 cents, where formerly they were being charged $2, $3, and $4.

Mr. REES. Does that carry itself?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. That does carry itself; yes, sir; and we are always trying to reduce that, provided it can carry itself.

Mr. REES. I think that is a very good idea. I have noticed those concerns that are camped around these places, all up and down the street, and, as you say, charge all the way from $1 to $5 for photographs.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. I think it would be an excellent thing if it could be adopted throughout the country. It would save many of these fellows from being preyed upon.

Mr. REES. Yes; that is true. What is the next?

Mr. SHOEMAKER (reading):

SEC. 327 (a) The Commissioner shall cause to be made, for use in complying with the requirements of this chapter, a registry of each person arriving in the United States after the effective date of this chapter, of the name, age, occupation, personal description (including height, complexion, color of hair and eyes), the date and place of birth, nationality, the last residence, the intended place of residence in the United States, the date and place of arrival of said person, and the name of vessel or other means of transportation upon which said person arrived.

That is practically carrying out the old existing statute enacted in 1906. (Continuing reading):

(b) Registry of aliens at ports of entry required by subsection (a) of this section may be made as to any alien not ineligible to citizenship in whose case there is no record of admission for permanent residence, if such alien shall make a satisfactory showing to the Commissioner, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary, that such alien(1) Entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924 ;

(2) Has resided in the United States continuously since such entry;

(3) Is a person of good moral character; and

(4) Is not subject to deportation.

(c) For the purposes of the immigration laws and naturalization laws, an alien, in respect of whom a record of registry has been made as authorized by this section, shall be deemed to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence as of the date of such alien's entry.

That is existing law again.

(A short recess was taken because of a roll call on the floor of the House.)

Mr. REES. Section 328, isn't it?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Yes, sir. Shall I go

Mr. REES. Yes, please.

Mr. SHOEMAKER (reading):

ahead?

The certificate of arrival required by this chapter may be issued upon application to the Commissioner in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner with the approval of the Secretary, upon the making of a record of registry as authorized by section 327 of this chapter.

That is done now under existing law.

Mr. REES. All right [reading]:

.

No declaration of intention shall be made by any person who arrived in the United States after June 29, 1906, until such person's lawful entry for permanent residence shall have been established, and a certificate showing the date, place, and manner of arrival in the United States shall have been issued. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to cause to be issued such certificate.

That follows existing law.

Mr. REES. It states it in different language, doesn't it?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Slightly different.

Mr. REES. All right. Photographs. I do not think there is any necessity for you reading that—

Two photographs of the applicant shall be furnished

I think there is a little change there from existing law, but it does not matter. I do not think there is any question about that.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. It is a requirement for the photographs and I think follows substantially the existing law.

Mr. REES. Section 330, concerning the declaration of intention, sets out the formal declaration of intention. Is that the present form which is used or not?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. This varies from existing law to this extent that the declarant under existing law must live within the jurisdiction of the court where he files his declaration of intention. This permits him to file a declaration of intention without regard to where he may live at the time.

Mr. REES. Just as in the case of an application for naturalization?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. No. That is restricted to where the applicant resides.

Mr. REES. Oh; I beg your pardon.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. But this is just a pro forma matter.
Mr. REES. The form, however, is the same.

That is what I mean.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. I would like to go over that rather hurriedly, if

I may.

Mr. FLOURNOY. There is a little more in it, I think.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Yes, sir. There is considerably more. Under the former declaration of intention which was provided by the act of 1906 there was no provision made for a reference to the wife or children or to when they were married, nor was there any reference to absence from the United States, nor any reference to photographs. That was all changed. That was changed largely by administrative practice and now is receiving the sanction of law if the code be enacted, but it does vary and it is much more complete and comprehensive than under existing statutes, and I think the additions there are very good. Do you want me to point those out, Congressman? Mr. REES. NO; I do not think so. It just gives a little more detail concerning the declarant and his family.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. And gives it in a better form, which in later years, will enable the Government to check up on him.

Mr. REES. All right. The declaration of intention under our present law has to be filed before the clerk of a court of record? Mr. SHOEMAKER. That is correct.

Mr. REES. There was a time when even that was not required, but that has been changed since 1906.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. Under the old law they did in some cases go to the home of the individual. In the case of Lillian Russell they did that very thing.

Mr. REES. I think you changed one requirement here, though, and you might find the section. Under the present law the declarant must file his petition within a period of seven years.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. That is correct; yes, sir.

Mr. REES. Haven't you eliminated that 7 years requirement? Maybe we will find that later.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. There is a requirement that there is a limit of 7 years on the validity of a declaration.

Mr. REES. Then you eliminate that in this?

Mr. SHOEMAKER. There is no reference to it there.

Mr. FLOURNOY. That would come with the petition, would it not? Mr. REES. Let that question stand for a moment, then, because I would like to raise it later.

Mr. SHOEMAKER. I think that is a very good question to raise. I am glad you did raise it.

Mr. REES. Section 331 is the next.

Mr. SHOEMAKER (reading):

An applicant for naturalization shall, not less than two years after such declaration of intention has been made, make and file in the office of the clerk of a naturalization court, in duplicate, a sworn petition in writing, signed by the applicant in the applicant's own hand writing, if physically able to write, and duly verified by witnesses, which petition shall contain the following averments by such applicant.

Mr. REES. How is that form different from the present law?