The evening times., 1899-08-15
NATURALIZATION.
Treaties Between the United States
and Other Nations.

Ireaties between the United States
and Other Nations.
The controversy now in progress with
Italy over the lynching affair in Louisiana
promising to HlrH upon the question
whether the victims have duly transferred
their allegiance from Italy to the United
States, it is of interest to review the TN
derstandings between the United States
and various foreign powers on the gen.
eral subject. Treaties regulating the
rights of naturaiized immigrants have
been concluded with Austria, Baden, Ba-
yaria, Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador, Great
Britain, Hesse- -Darmstadt, the North Ger
man Union. Sweden and Norway, and
Wurtemburg The treaties with Austria
and the states now included in the Ger
man Empire provide that their citizens or
subjects who have become naturalized In
the United States, and reside here 'un-
interruptedly" for five years, shall be held
and treated as citizens of the United
States. The treaty with Sweden and Nor
way provides for similar treatment of inn
migrants who have resided here for a
continuous period of at least five years,
and during such residence have become
naturaliZed citizens of the United States.
All the other treaties recognize citizen
ship whenever acquired under our laws.
We require five years residence preiimi-
nary to naturalization except in five
cases, and in these consists the difference
between the terms OF the two sets OF
treaties. Our exceptions are O soldiers
honorably discharged from our army, who
are permitted to naturalize without any
previous declaration of intention or more
than one years residence here; t2) sea-
men who have served three years on an
American merchant vessel after declara-
tion of intention; 90 the minor children
of naturalized ,persons, if dwelling here;
(4 the children of citizens, though born
out Of the country; (5) the wives of citi-
zens and of immigrants who have declar-
ed their intention.
The treaties generally provide that "the
declaration of the intention to become a
citizen of one or the other country has not
for either party the effect of naturaliza-
tion." Besides this, our laws forbid the is
sue of passports to persons woh are not
full citizens. Some of the treaties provide
that if the citizen or subject of the other
power after naturalization here, renews
his residence in the country OF his original
allegiance, without the intent to return TO
the United States, he shall be held to have
renounced his naturalization here. Renun-
citation Is assumed in the case Oh even na-
tive-born citizens who leave the country
obviously with no intention TO return.
As to the countries with which We have
no naturalization treaties, all information
must be gathered from their works OF ]u-
rsprudence, their statute books, etc. In
France, Italy, Russia, and Turkey it is held
that a citizen or subject cannot eXpatriate
himself without obtaining the consent of
his government In Switzerland there is q
modified assumption of perpetual citizen
ship, which takes the form rather OF pre-
serving to Swiss citizen and TO his de-
scendants certain rights and privileges
there, than of preserving to the government
its right to make demands upon him; in
deed, it has been held in Switzerland that
naturalization in the United States, when
preceded by an accepted remuneration OF
Swiss allegiance, dissolves such allegiance.