Where either or both of the original subscribing witnesses to a petition for naturalization, or those giving evidence by deposition in support thereof, shall be found to be incompetent or not qualified to establish the proof of residence, good moral character, or other evidence required by law, the petitioner may substitute other qualified and competent witnesses at, or prior to, the final hearing. The hearing of the petition may be continued for this purpose and the names of the substituted witnesses may be ordered publicly posted, in the discretion of the court, if such posting shall be deemed necessary. Any petition for naturalization may be amended to correct manifest errors appearing therein and made in good faith. DEPOSITIONS OF WITNESSES Mr. Raymond F. Crist, then Deputy Commissioner of Naturalization, in testimony before the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, prior to the enactment of the Act of May 9, 1918, stated that the Naturalization Service was habitually represented at the taking of the depositions by which a petitioner is permitted to prove his residence in states other than that in which the petition is filed. This must have been a slip of the tongue, for it is very far from being in accordance with the facts. Such a course would be a physical impossibility, especially in the present and past short-handed condition of the field service. As a rule the notaries public who attest these depositions are designated by the several chief examiners; but many of them are in small places, to which examiners never go. In point of fact, in most cases, the depositions are not viséd in any way whatever, so far as the naturalization machinery is concerned, or examined at all until the judge reaches the particular case. They go direct from the notary to the court in which the petition is to be heard, in a sealed envelope which is not expected to be opened until the day of the hearing--unless the court has, by specific order, authorized the naturalization officer to open and examine them. A very considerable number of them--one person familiar with the practice estimated the percentage as high as 75 per cent--are defective in some particular; the same authority thought at least 40 per cent of them would be so defective as to render them, under strict construction, inadmissible as evidence. For example, they will fail to assert that the deposing person has known the petitioner during the required period of time; or will not say, categorically, that the affiant is himself a citizen of the United States. As a rule, it is not until the affidavits are examined in open court by the judge or examiner that their insufficiency is disclosed, for the first time, to the petitioner. He may not be admitted until the papers have gone back for correction, or a new set prepared. That sometimes means a delay of six months, a year, or even longer--a very serious matter to a petitioner upon