The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-12-26


rnlizaiiOn in America rs to place him i'm the
position Of q foreigner on his return TO his
native country. This rule, founded alike on rea-
son and necessity, is well Understood, and
has been so tmphatically asserted by American
jurists, that 1t will hardly be questioned by Mr..
johnson or Congress. The object of the Presi-
dent being, as we presume, TO revise those doc.
trines common to the jurisprudence OF. both
countries, which have hitherto governed the
rights and liabilities Of naturalized citizens, we
may expect that our own Government eIIi1 VIII be
establishing new basis for legislation on the
subject.
The logical consequences of these doctrines
are well Illustrated by our correspondent His
toricus." The msXims of common law, memo
poteSt eIueTe pdIT1Gnl-jtS Ori9tnts memo mutare
poest-qul otlurdt Tegnu1n, sed non Tegem-may
be traced back to an essentially feudal ConCep-
tion OF personal allegiance. As interpreted and
extended by statutes, they go the length of In
cluding among "natural-born subjects of the
crown to all intents and purposes whatsoever
not only all persons born in the United King
dom, but even the chldren and grandchildren
Of such persons, though themselves born
abroad. Assuming that allegiance for ''all pur-
posesn must involve all the Obligations of allie
glance, it would doubtless follow that French
man whose grandfather might have been acct
dentally born in England would be liable to
prosecution for treason If taken in arms against
England. That a natural-born subject cannot
bear arms against his parent state in the event
Of war has, indeed, been positively laid down
in famous case, and what appears to
OF statutes passed in the last century was actu-
ally affirmed by Lord Bacon in the reign of
James i, 1t Is, however, much easier TO reduce
dd dbsur1Un this principle OF indefensible allie
glance than to show that 1.-THE principle of uni
versal law is exactly the reYerse.n Even mum.
cipal law must always be constructed with strict
reference 10 the subject OF decision, and If there
is such thing as proposition of universal la ",
it can only be stated with extreme qualification.
Cicero may disclaim, on behalf of the Roman
Commonwealth, any right to retain the unwill-
ing allegiance OF subjects, and passages may be
quoted to the same effect from modern publIcists.
We cannot, however, conclude that Roman
citizen who should have cast off the ciUldS and
taken service under some enemy of Rome,
would have been held exempt by Roman Judges
from the penalties OF treason; nor are we
aware that any great publicist has maintained
ito borrow Wheaton's language) that "a natural
born subject of one country can throw OFT his
primitive allegance' so as TO cease to be respOn-
sible for criminal acts against his native coun-
try. 1t so happened that when Mr.. Wheaton
himself was resident at Berlin he refused the
protection OF his Government to q Prussian
naturalIzed in America, who had been required
TO perform military duty in his native country.
Having returned" he said, ito the country of
your birth, your native domicile and national
character revert $50 long as you remain in the
Prussian dominions), and you are bound in all
respects to obey the laws exactly as If you had
never emigrated." 1t may be said, of course,
that be was bound to act according to American
law, which here comedies with our own, bat the
fact of this coincidence having been preserved
Is in itself an evidence of some value
nation created and recruited by emigration
would hardly have acqulesced SO long
and so patiently in the English theory OF allegi
ance, had an alternative theory of higher autho-
rlty and far more favorable to American interests
been known to the great eXpositors OF the law
The United States protested, indeed, and with
good reason, against the veXatious right of visi-
tation and searched claimed by this country, for
there their territorial sovereignty was impugned
But il rem aims to be shown that on that or any
other occasion they have insisted, in diploma
TIC negotiation, on the absolute defeasibility of
citzsL ship.
The important question, however, is one of
policy rather than of law and we freely admit
that, on grounds of policy, not TO say Of common
sense, the argument for revision is irresistible.
There are certainly hundreds of thousands, and
probably millions, of citizens of the United
States whom our law regards as British ubiects
10 all intents and purposes whatsoever No
statesman can justify such an anomaly, which,
it must be remembered, has two aspects. If all
these Irish emigrants owe full allegiance to her
Majesty, it may also be doubted at least, whether
they are not entitled to our protection gainst
cOnscriptOn, yet it would have been utterly lm.
possible for our Minister at Washington to grant
! them such protection during the late Amesican
! war. In short our present theory is quite un-
tenable when any practical strain comes to be
| put upon it, and its maintenance may at any
moment become the source of very serious en-
barrassment. We see, then, no good
reason why the British Government should
decline any friendly overtures that may
be made by the United States with view
to its amendment. Whether we can adopt the
principle ne qOlis in cioHGte nGnedt inuitus
without some reservation is matter that will
! require to be considered The act OF eXpatria.
tion should at all events be deliberate and well
attested, and our correspondent himself con.
templates provision against fraudulent ex
patriaton made for the express purpose of in
juriDg the native State.n For ofenses com
mitted within the United Kingdom foreigners
are already amenable to British Jurisdiction BY
virtue of what lawyers call temporary allie
glance. They can be prosecuted, therefore
under the treason felony act for crimes com
mitted in Ireland, without reference to theil
nationality, and this is, after all, the chief safe
guard against Fenian designs. For security
against raids organized in America, we mus
rely mainly upon the good faith of the United
States Government, and this makes it the NOR
expedient that we should meet them on thi
point in spirit of Cancellation.