The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-02
PREDICTS ITS ADOPTION

Representative Japanese predict that the pending bill will be adopted by the Diet, though it may meet with opposition in
 the conservative House of Peers. They
 explain that although the existing Jap
 anese law provides for repatriation, one
 clause of the law renders repatriation practically imperative because it obliges
 male Japanese residents abroad to serve their time in the Japanese army. Thus
 Japan in no way released its legal hold
 on male Japanese living in foreign lands.
 This clause especially affected California
 and Hawaii on account of the large num-
 Der of Japanese residents in those places.
 The amendment offered in the Diet is
 believed to be way out of the difficulty ! and Is regarded as a compromise meas
 ure framed in such a way as not to ex- cite direct opposition from Japanese army circles. The amendment gives the parents
 of Japanese children born in the United States the right to expatriate their chill
 dren, and if this amendment is accepted
 1t means that the clause relating to com
 pulsory military service will not be oper-
 ative. It indicates that the Japanese gov
 ernment indorses the right of American born Japanese to become citizens of the
 American republic without any legal ob- | ligations to their home land. The step is
 regarded here as contribution of Japan
 to the settlement of questions involving
 citizenship and race between the two countries.
 The new measure provides that when
 Japanese woman by becoming the wife . of foreigner has acquired her husbands
 nationality, she loses her Japanese na- | |tionality.
 The bill provides that in case a Japan
 ese subject, who has acquired foreign na- fionality by reason of birth in foreign
 country, has domicile in that country,
 he may expatriate himself with the per- iufn affairs The application for the permis- sion shall be made by the legal repre- sentatives in case the person expatriat- | ing himself is younger than 15 years of age. If the person in question is minor above 15 years of age, adjudged incom- petent, the application can only be made with the consent of a legal represen- tative or guardian. A stepfather. step-
 mother or legal mother or guardian nay not make the application or give con :. ' sent without the consent of the family council.
 A supplementary provision declares that the date of the operation of this
 law shall be determined by imperial ordi- nance safs
 HOUSE IS FAVORABLE The fact that committee of the House of Representatives has ratified bill which is of the same purport as that offered the government has created the | Impression that the House will adopt the governments bill.
 The Japanese press is pointing out the international importance of the measure and expresses the opinion that it's adop- tion will have favorable effect on the position of Japanese in America. he oD- jection raised by those Americans ex- erting themselves in the interest of Jap arese in the United States that their efforts were made difficult because Japan retained it's nationality over Japanese there is held by writers to have baor reasonable and natural
 Discussing the bill, the Japan Times said: America is finding to her cost what dangerous thing is double or dual nationality, as is seen in the conduct of some German-Americans since the out- break of the war in Europe. In the lat ter instance, the fault may be said to be partly due to the neglect or indiffer- ence with which the United States has. for years, allowed the agents of the Ger man government to cultivate among the German-Americans their allegiance and devotion to the fatherland. None the less. the United States has seen enough of the evils and dangers of dual na- tionality. America may therefore be expected to be only the more sensitive and exacting in the future with regard to the question of nationality of her citizens of foreign origin"
 The newspaper hopes that the House of Peers will speedily pass the bill and send it to the Mouse. where it believes there is every prospect of its being quickly ratified. Certainly" writes the editor, mo one desires for the country the loss of it's people. But it is a great dishonor to the empire to be placed in a position to force any of its people to act falsely toward foreign country and unfairly to take advantage of the ambiguity of | a law Nor will there be much real use in compelling anyone to retain Japaro~1 nationality when that person sincerely wishes to become a citizen of another country Tor this. reason we hope ths, bending measure will be adopteu'