Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-03-23
THE QUESTION OF CITIZENSHIP.
Rr,tI,b Commept, upon tho Congressional
Proceedings In Regard Thereto.

he United States should take the initi-
,tive in adding a new chapter on this
subject to international law. The Amer
can nation, like ancient Rome, is main
y composed Of emigrants, but, unlike
,ncient Rome, it remains on terms OF
equality and friendship with European
nouarchies whose subjects these emf
grants, or their ancestors, oncc were.
The report presented by the Committee
which framed the bill for the protection
Of naturalized American citizens shows
how vast q proportion Of the population
is foreign born or Of foreign descent.
These figures are quite sufficient to JUS
tify the action of Congress in respond
ing to President Johnson's invitation.
We observe with pleasure that General
Banks Committee does not propose to
determine international rights by mu-
legislation alone, bnt only tn
pass a statutory declaration Of those
which may guide its " govern
in negotiation. At the same time
it is material to corrccta misconception
on which its report appears to have been
partially founded.
Il is not true, so far MS We nre aware,
that naturlized citizens Of the United
States, being present in Great Britain
without the commission Of any ofIense,
have been arrested, tried, convicted,
sentenced and punished us criminals
upon the ground that they were the
natural born subjects of the Crown, that
their allegiance was perpetual and indie
feasible except by its consent, and that
they were subject, therefore, to its laws
and liable to punishment, not only for
ofrenses committed within its jurisdic-
ton, but for words spoken and acts per-
in tho United States" AS no
instance Of such proceedings is here
specified, we can not refute the assertion
in detail, but it is easy to explain how
it has gained currency in the United
States. In the first place, the common
law theory Of perpetual allegiance un-
doubleday warrants the conviction Of q
natural-born subject for offenses COM
mitted abroad, though it may not have
been enforced against my Fenian pris-
oner. In the next place, an unequivocal
indication Of n reasonable intsnt on
Irish soil or. in Irish water, however
slight, coupled with overwhelming proof
Of reasonable conspiraey.in America,
may be quito sufficient to convict any
one, whether n British subject or IN
American citizen, Of treason-felony
within the United Kingdom.
The plot against tho life of President
Lincoln, as one Of u American cotem-
poraries' suggested, might have been
concerted in Italy, yet it Booth had
been arrested in America, ever before
completing his design, all that had
passed in Italy might have been re-
ceived in evidence against him. Again,
the refusal of a mixed jury, claimed by
one or two Of the prisoners tried before
the Dubliq Commission, has been plans
IDLY, though most enormously interpre-
ted rs if it subjected them to punish
ment for acts of treason committed in
America. Now, the concession OF n
mixed jury is, at most, III indulgence
sanctioned by the comfy Of nations, or
rather by the exceptional liberality Of
our municipal law toward foreigners.
Even if the propositions Of General
Banks Committee were embodied in on
Act of Parliament tomorrow, it would
not follow inevitably that it could DO
demanded rs n right by the United
States Government on behalf of its nat
uralized citizens. AS it is, tho refusal
cannot DO treated as n grievance, though
it may serve rs an illustration Of the
consequences resulting from the exist
ing rule against voluntary expatriation.
Having protested against the language
of tho report on this point, We hasten
to add that it is otherwise characterized
by fairness and moderation. Apart
from the style, which may provoke n
smile from m English reader, it ex-
poses forclbly the absurdity Of adher-
ing to a feudal notion of allegiance, and
assigns the practical reason for aban-
doning it, with duo reservations. Though
Great Britain receives no share Of the
~ilattery profusely lavished on Prussia.
the report is not drawn up in q spirit Of
hostility toward. this country, and the
speech of General Banks, in introduce
ing it to the House of Representatives,
was con~ciliatory in its tone. One pas
sage in it, indeed, proves that he was
fully conscious Of the difficulties sur
rounding legislation on n subject which
can only be settled by International
agreement: "He might be asked why
the bill did not declare tho right of ex-
patriatiou as q. right Of American citi-
zens. The answer wal perfectly clear.
A legislative Act at this day by the
Congress of the United States recog-
nizing the right Of expatriation would
be interpreted by European Govern
ments as a declaration dating from this
time, and would e~fectually cut off all
privileges and claims Of naturalized cit
liens up to this time"
In other words, no single nation is
competent to confer privileges on its
citizens residing abroad by RETROSPECT
tive legislation, and it Is equally certain
that it cannot do so even prospectively,
except with the consent Of foreign Gov
ernments. 1t must always be remem
bered that, after all, the question is
upon what conditions Governments will
admit persons coming from abroad into
their own territories. Neither Great
Britain nor Prussia assumes for q mo.
ment to exercise any control over nat
e~migrants so long as they re-
main in America. The controversy re.
speeding their position only arises when
they return Of their own accord to their
shores, aud it manifcstly rests
with their former sovereign to decide,
in the first instance, what that position
is to be. There is, properly speaking,
no conflict Of rights, but only of inter-
ests, between the country OF their birth
and the country Of their adoption. Such
conflicts Of interest, however, often
turn out to be moro apparent than real,
and the criminal right Of treating re-
turned Fenians Al British subjects would
be dearly purchased BY The duty Of protec-
thes as such all orer the rorid.
The BoY's REvENGE.-In 1910 n. COL
onel in tho Austrian army caused n
young countess to be publicly whipped