Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1859-07-01
l am Sir your obedient servant
LEWIS Gas

4 GIL III 49,
LEWIS CASS.
In a subsequent letter to Mr. Hofner, a
| German naturalized citizen of Cincinnati. the
Secretary explains at some length the first let
! ter. but does not recede from the position
| therein assumed. Most of the European con-
~tincntal powers require three to six years mill
tary service Of every male born within their
limits. and if they leave the country before
this service las been rendered, they are
| according to this decision, liable to be seized
and required to render it if they afterward re-
turn, notwithstanding their naturalization and
citizenship in this country. They can enjoy
all the rights of citizens and are entitled TO
the protection Of government if they are inter
fered with, while they remain in the United
States, but if they leave the country on bust
ness or for pleasure, and visit the land Of their
nativity, they possess, as American citizens,
no rights which Louis Napoleon of France,
| Francis Joseph of Austria, Frederick VIII
liam of Prussia, Or any of the numerous small
0tIiildil itptCHtdINc dA1 Jun ~ 1NH1CNN
they find themselves in this respect, by the ru-
ling Of our Democratic Administration, in a
situation somewhat similar to that in which
blacks are placed by the bred Scott decision.
Some Of the Democratic papers attempt to
allav the excitement that bids fair to seriously
damage their cause among the foreign popu-
Iation, by submitting explanations for Gen.
Cass, declaring he referred only to those who
deserted from the ranks W lille in actual service,
&c.,-but this is all faldera1. His language
will bear no such construction, and had he 50
meant he would doubtless have SAID IT. lie
meant to say AID docs say that the obligation
to render military service which a~.tHcheS to
birth on foreign soil, cal only be cancelN1 by
performing the service-that naturalization in
this country does not carry with it exemption
from such claim-that a person can be at
the same time a citizen of the United States
and a subject of some European sovereign.
Again, they attempt to justify the decision
of Cass by declaring that such has been the
established policy and custom of our govern
ment under all Administrations. This is a mis-
take. The opposite of this has always been
the practice of our Government. When the
British attempted to impress our citizens into
their naval service because they happened to
be natives Of that country and its rulers de-
MED the power of a subject to expatriate HIM
zig go, o-;+oI - oro, - uor op1 comnnllp6
that naughty power to relinquish the claim
When Daniel Webter was Secretary of State
under a former Administration it will be re-
membercd that the attempt OF the Austrians
to seize Martin kosta, who was not a natur-
allied citizen, but had only declared his inten-
ton to become SO, led to the gallant act Of
Capt. Ingraham in efecting his rescue, which
act was justified by our Government, and the
affair drew forth from Mr.. Webster the famous
Hulseman letter, in which the right now con-
coded by Cass to foreign governments was en-
phatically denied and the Austrians were com
PEELED to relinquish their untenable claim
And again, during the Fillmore Administra-
ton, when Edward Everett was Secretary of
State, the French government seized a natl raj /
lied citizen, who was actually a regularly
drawn conscript at the time he left France
but the matter was taken in hand by our gov
ment, which claimed him as a citizen by virtue
of his naturalization and effected his release.
The position assumed by Hon. JOHN NJ.
Boris in the subjoincd extract from a letter
written i'll reply to one addressed him by a
number of Germans in New York, is the one
that our Government should, if ii does not now
occupy, ard is one that the sentiment of the
country will approve:
My views on this question may be thus
summed up: When one plants himself under
the wing Of the American EgIe, which he is
pledged and sworn to support and defend
when he enrolls his name upon the ample folds
of the Stars and Stripes of this American
Union, he is free TO go wherever the winds and
waves may carry him. The eye of the Eagle
watches every step that flag waves proudly
over his head whether upon land or upon wa
in a palace or dungeon and the power
dares to interfere with his personal liberty
he is engaged in lawful enterprise, and
not offending against the criminal or penal
code of that power, disonors that Eagle and
disgraces that Flag. to which appeals for his
if it does not afford him prompt
relief and redress