Omaha daily bee., 1896-08-23
AMERtcAN cLrLzENSHlp.

American born citizen, although the IN
quirer was born in the old country aud has
never naturalized or declared his in
tention to become an American citizen. Is
that right? DO not the naturalization
laws say plainly that the children Of per-
sons who now are or have been citizens Of
the United States are. though bora out Of
the limits and jurisdiction of the United
States, considered as citizens thereof? And
docs tho law not say further that the chill
dren Of persons vino have been duly nat
uralized. being under the age of 81 years at
the time OF the naturalization OF their pa
rents. Il living IN the United States, be
considered as citizens thereof? Now on the
one hand the law refers TO children Of nat
uralized citizens only and has nothing to
say at all, as far as | know, Of children
born here Of residents who have not been
ndturalized. On the other hand it makes
American citizens of all children of citi-
zcns. even If born abroad. Does it not
stand to reason then that children Of aliens
born in this country shall be considered
citizens no more than children Of our citi-
zcns born abroad are considered citizens of
the country Of their birth? Has this qies-
ton ever been judicially decided? This no
doubt is a very important question to a
good many people who desire to know and
ought to know where they are at. Your
respectfully. A BOHEMIAN.
In this communication we have
opened up the entire subject of Amer
lean citizenship and naturalization.
The whole question today rests upon
the fourteenth amendment to the fed
eral constitution. which defines what
constitutes American citizenship, and
the laws which congress has enacted
under its power 10 provide uniform
rules and regulations for naturalization.
The fourteenth amendment to the con
stitution reads:
Al persons born or naturalized in the
United States and subject to the jurisdic-
ton thereof are citizens OF the United
States and Of the state wherein they reside.
The omlnon %acccptation Of this def
milton is that all persons born in the
United States and subject to the terri
torial jurisdiction of the United States
are native born citizens. Those who
are excluded as not subject to the juris-
diction are children of foreign min
listers. conSuls and diplomatic repre-
Sentatives, who enjoy eXtra-territOrial
rights, and Indians who are still living
in tribal relations and embraced in
treaties with the United States. There
has been some controversy us to the
citizenship of children born in the
United States of parents who are citi-
zenS of foreign countries and while
dicta are to be found in one or
two supreme court decisions that they
are TO be classed with the children of
parents enjoying eXt~erritoriality, the
point has never been directly decided
by the court and the best authority
holds that they are. under the constitu-
ton, native born citizens.
The acquisition of citizenship by
process of naturalization, on the other
hand, rests entirely upon act of con-
greSs. although it does not necessarily
consist of the Usual application and
granting of naturalization papers. As
indicated by the writer of the communi-
cation. the law recognizes as citizens
without formal naturalization children
born abroad of American parents or
where the father is an American citi-
zen during temporary absence from
this country. Again, minor children
of fo~reign-born parents, although born
abroad, become citizens by the natural
iZatiOn Of their father. The wife takes
the citizenship of the husband, so that
an alien woman becomes Il citizen of
the United States by marriage with
an American citizen if she were other
wise capable of naturalization. Still
further, it has been established by the
case of Boyd against Thayer that the
admission of Il state into the union
makes citizens of the United States
out of all residents of the territory who
had been participating in the territorial
government. And in his opinion in
that case Chief Justice Fuller refers
to the acquisition of Texas by treaty
and the immediate endowment of its
with citizenship, whether
they expressed any desire for it or not,
and remarks that congress can at any
time confer citizenship upon collective
bodies of residents, either by general
or by treaty.
/ ne DfOau principle Ut the TOunuallOn
of American citizenship is that of ter
~ritorial jurisdiction. The whole theory
Of naturalization rests upon the idea
Il nan can remove from one cOun-
try to another and renouuce allegiance
to one government for allegiance to an
other. Because the same theory is not
by all countries may lead to
complications, yet the intent of the
of the fourteenth amendment
is plain to establish American citizen
for all persons born in the United
or naturaliZed in the United
and subject to its jurisdiction.
CONVICT LABOR.
The July bulletin Of the Department