So the naturalization mills are kept running night and day preceding a
national or municipal election. Describing this process, ex-United
States Senator Chandler says that in New York during a single month just
before election about seven thousand naturalization papers were issued,
nearly all by one judge, who examined each applicant and witnesses to
his satisfaction, and signed his orders at the rate of two per minute,
and as many as 618 in one day. Many classes of frauds were committed.
Witnesses were professional perjurers, each swearing in hundreds of
cases, testifying to a five years' residence when they had first met the
applicants only a few hours before. During the past year some of these
professional perjurers and political manipulators were tried and sent to
the penitentiary; but the frauds will go on. Here is an illustration:
[Sidenote: Making Citizens]
"Patrick Hefferman, of a given street in New York, was twenty-one years
old September 2, 1891, and came to this country August 1, 1888. He was
naturalized October 20, 1891. On that day he was introduced by Thomas
Keeler to a stranger, who went with him to court and signed a paper;
they both went before the judge, who asked the stranger something.
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