La correspondencia de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 1890-1943, 1903-04-28

pefSOuS, leC us examine one OF LlG
provisions of the treaty under con-
sideration. This is Article TX. which
reads as follows:
Art. 9-epanish subjects natives of the
peninsula. dwelling in the territory whose
sovereignty Spain renounces cedes in the
| present treaty, may remain in said territory
| or leave it, maintaining in one or the other
case all their rights of property, includn
| the right to sell and dispose of said property
or its products: and, moreover they shall
retain the right to exercise their industry.
business or profession, submitting themselves
in all respects to the laws which are applic-
able to other foreigners
In Sc they remain in the territory, they
may preserve their Spanish nationality by
making in registre Office. within year aft
or the interchange of the ratificationS of this
treaty. declaration of their intention to pros
erve said nationality. Failing this declaration
they will be considered as having renounced
said nationality and as having adopted that
OF the territory in which they may reside.
The civil rights and political status of the
native inhabitants of the territories hereby
ceded to the United States shall be determi-
] ned by Congress.
1t will be perceived that this art
lcle OF the treaty assumes to conf
er upon Congress the power to de-
termine the civil rights and the
political status of the native inhab-
itants of the Territories ceded ther-
eby to the United States. This
provision raises the question whet-
her or not the civil rights and the
political status of these people are
determined by the Constitution; and
if they are, whether or not the
treaty can confer upon Congress
power which is not conferred upon
it by that instruments In other
words, Can a treaty enlarge the
limited power which Congress now
has over the subject of citizenships
Previous to the adoption of Article
XIV, of the Amendments of the
Constitution, the subject of citizen
ship was under the complete cont
rol of the several States; and no
person could be citizen of the Uni
ted States who was not a citizen
of some particular State. At that
time the only power which Cong
ress possessed over this subject was
''to establish an uniform rule of
naturalization CLAUSE 4, Section
8, Article L. The first sentence of
the first article just cited reads as
follows:
~All persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and subject to
the Jurisdiction thereof, are citizens
of the United States and of the
State wherein they resides
The last sentence thereof is the
following:
The Congress shall have power
to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
, the provisions of this article.
According to this provisions of
the Constitution a person who is a
citizen of the United States is so
without regard to his citizenship
of a particular State, thereby re-
versing the rule on this subject
existing previous to the adoption of
this amendment; and the only
additional power which Congress
now possesses in regard to it
is to pass such laws as may
be necessary to insure to each
citizen the full enjoyment of the
rights, privileges and immun!ties
of citizenship, but not to increase
or to diminish those right, privile-
ges and immunities. The question
of citizenship being determined by
the Constitution, therefore, Congress
has no other control over it tnan
that which is conferred upon that
body thereby; and consequently no
further authority can be granted
to it by the treaty-making power.
1t will be noticed that according
to this article, <all persons subject
to the jurisdiction of the United
States are citizens of the United
States.S These words suggest the
question whether or not the inha-
bitants Of the islands ceded to this
nation by the treaty under consi-
deration are now subject to its
Jurisdiction? 1t is a welI-established
rule of public law that a nation
by annexing territory becomes en-
TITLED to the allegiance of its people;
and therefore the latter must be-
come subject to the jurisdiction
of the former; for, according to the
American theory of civil govern
ment, there can be no allegiance
where there is no citizenship. To
use the language of Chief Justice
Marshall, VINO delivered the opinion
of the Supreme Court in ihe case
of American Insurance Co. .. Canter.
Peters, 542, xThe relations of the
inhabitants with their former So
vereign are dissolved, and new
relations are created between them
and the government which has
acquired their territory. The same
act which transfers t.eir terri
tory transfers the allegiance
OF those who remain in it.Y Ac1
Continued in tha 8rd naco X