The Alaska daily empire., 1915-06-14


 There is nothing to say about the supremacy of the Allies upon the sen -it is absolute The submarine war. fare has not hurt one boat transport ing troops from England to France, and passenger traffic between Paris and London is as usual. The number of merchant boats that have been sunk by the submarines is small com pared to those that were not hurt < AMERICANS lN WAR LOSE CITIZENSHIP s
 Brooklyn Eaglel
 How many expatriated Americans are fighting in the armies of Europe the government here has no means of knowing. but 1t is believed that the number is considerable. The status of these former Americans, after the war is over. in case they return to the United Statesn win be matter concerning the immigration authori- ties. and the handling of it may prove to be an extensive problem. There is little doubt that many of the Americans now in the ranks Of the fighting forces abroad are not even aware Of the fact that they have ex- plated themselves and can no longer call themselves citizens of the Unit ed States.
 By the act Of March 2 1907 Com gress legislated "that any American citizen shan be deemed to have ex- patriated himself when he has been naturalized in any foreign state in conformity with its laws. or when he has taken an oath of allegiance to any foreign state
 Enlistment in any European army, 1t is said by officials here, involves the taking of an oath to support the .Soverign and state to which the army belongs Such an oath would auto matically sever the citizenship Of an American. whether he be native born or naturaiized Whether the oath Of enlistment as a soldier in a foreign army would make such m American 8 citizen or subject of the country to which he goes. or whether he would be required to comply with the nat uralization laws. is not known here In ease it was not sufficient to con stitute foreign citizenship. then the American soldier Of fortune would be man without a country.
 Cable dispatches from time to time have reported the death or wounding of Americans fighting in the Europ. can trenches. Most of the men have been with the British forces, a few with the French. it is known that a great many Americans went across the Canadian border and joined the expeditionary forces which were rais- ed there and later shipped abroad Of these a large proportion were native born citizens of the United States. Having taken a military oath, they are no longer such although 1t is without doubt the intention of prac- tically an of them Go return to this country after the war is over if they are fortunate enough to be survivors.
 Naturalized Americans who have returned to their native lands in or der to enter military service probably run into thousands; They also are expatriated and would have to be na- turalized an over again should they return to the United States. The expauiated provisions of the act Of 1907 which apply to naturalized citi- zens are different from those relating to native born Americans. If natur- alized citizen returns to this country whence he came and resides there for two years, or # inc resides for five years in any other foreign state. the law declares that the presumption is he has ceased to be an American citi- zen. This presumption, however, may be overcome upon presentation of sat isfactory evidence to the government that the person had no intention of abandoning his American citizenship.
 There is another provision in the act of 1907 which would so into eff feet should this country become in yolved in the European conflict, and which would undoubtedly result in complications over the status of thou sands of citizens after the close of the war. This declares: No American citizen shall be allowed to expairiate ! himself when the country is at war.
 Just what the effect of this proyis ion would be on the citizenship ol i the United States who might enlist abroad # America went to war has not been determined. It is takon fol granted that if this country should be come a party to the conflict many I Americans anxious to get into tho fray would seek foreign enlistment as ths only means of realizing their desire inasmuch as it is utterly unlikely thai ! the unileu oldteS WOuiu aeAu aN eN l pedidonary force at least for lon, time to come. Whether the taking or a foreign military oath would, ir such cases, net as an expatriation i' Inot clear
 One provision of the act declarei such aD oath to constitute expatria ton. while the other says no Ameri can may expatriate himself while l this country is at war The govern ment would scarcely be in a position to prevent It's citizens from ioininl foreign armies # they chose to d' so What is undeniabiy an sat O l repatriation now probably wouia no ] be in case the United States weT 9 var. and though the act of 1907 p