Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1859-07-30
K AND FILLING.

tq"y VI Two, says contemporary O1 I'LL
New Orleans Bee, that our view of tn,
inconsistency Of the several positions ia
ken by the Administration ia referenc,
to the rights Of naturalized citizens re
turning to the country Of their birth, wa:
rather one-sided and unjust. The impu
tation is undeserved. Nothing can be
easier than to demonstrate the changes
OF principle exhibited in the several
manifestoes issued by the State Depart.
ment within less :. than. two MONTHS
These documents speak for themselves.
All that is necessary is to extract from
each OF them the particular passage
enunciatory Of the doctrine advanced,
and let the country itself reconcile them,
If it can. Thus, for example, Mr.. Cass,
in the earliest of the three letters-the
one. addressed to Mr.. L. CIerc, under
date June l1th, 1859 expresses the
theory Of our Government in language
which no one will fail to pronounce clear
aud unequivocal. He says:
II have to state that it is understood
that the French Government claims NIL
itary service from all natives Of France
who may be found within its iucisd;c-
ton. Your naturalization in this coun-
try will NOT exempt you from that claim.
should you voluntarily repair thilher."
This is the quintessence Of the LIE
C|erc letter. Il lays down in broad and
explicit terms the supremacy Of the mu-
nicipal law Of other countries within the
limits Of their territorial jurisdiction.-
According to Mr.. Cass, a nsturaIized
Frencbmen is bound to render a military
to France, II he goes back to bis
land. There is no qualification
this stringent canon of International
law, and under it Mr.. LIE CIerc could
have no possible alternative between re-
naming ia America and being drafted
as a conscript in France. AS il, how
ever, ~ clinch the matter, and settle it
concausively and i%rrevocab|y, three days
the venerable Secretary Of
State indicted another epistle addressed
to Mr.. Hofer, a Prussisn by birth, but
naturaIized in America. To bis inqui-
ries NJ. Cass returned an answer of
which the annexed passage contains the
pith and marrow:
The position o; the United States as
communicated to our Minister at Berlin
or the information of the Pru<sian Gov
is that native born Prussians,
1aturaIized in tie United States and re-
o'the country Of their birth, are
1ot liable to any duties or penalties,
'1cept such as were existing at the period
u their emigration
This is a reafirma,ion Of the views
embraced in the LIE CIerc letter, and
would seem t. leave no loop to hang a
loubto on with respect to the principles and
policy Of the administration. But wheth-
# the excitement among the adopted
which followed the PRONUNCIATION
# these missives alarmed the timid and
ender conscience Of the President, or
a reconsideration of the grounds
n which these opinions were based in-
material modification, if not a
ompIete surrender Of them, it is all to-
'etler certain that some three weeks
subsequently, to the appearance of the
1oter letter a fresh dissertation on the
la;ms and prerogatives n~atural;zed Cit
seIs was put forth in the shape of a
to the American minister at Berlin,
, which the doctrine laid down is as
=
The moment a foreigner becomes nat
rallied, bis allegiance to his native
ountry is severed forever. He expert
noes a new political birth. A broad
impas2able line separates him from
is native country. He is no more re-
for any<aing he may say or do,
fter sc"ming his new character, than if
q had been born 10 the United States.
Now, we are not arguing as to the
Of either Of these positions,
simply %endeavoring from the re-
'rd to establish the marvellous change
hich a few weeks has wrought 10 the
oclarations If tho Gnvorn,ror& ~