Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-24
Citizens of Two Nations


the statement comedies nothing Of
Italys right TO demand service Of her
sons and that, In the event of war,
even this relaxation Of the Italian laws
would immediately become imperative.
Latvian Regulations.
Latvians must obtain permission from
the minister of the interior to renounce
their Latvian citizenship and this per-
mission cannot be given to male citi-
zens over is years of age. The Neither
lands recognizes American naturaliza-
ton provided the man obtaining 1t Is
not over 10 years old and has his name
removed from the military rolls. Persia
will not tolerate naturalization without
the formal permission Of its govern
ment. Poland, too, denies to its sons
the right to acquire foreign citizenship
without permission from the minister
of war. Soviet Russia considers as q
Russian citizen any Russian who re-
turns to that country. even though ne
may have been natufaltEed elsewhere.
Rumania and Spain, like the Scandt-
navian countries, acqniesce In the
naturalization of their nationals pro"
vided no liability for military service
has accrued before the naturalization
was accomplished. Switzerland is more
particular. In order to transfer his all
legiance elsewhere q Swiss citizen must
fFst reneunce his Swiss allegiance and
his renuneiation must be accepted by
the Swiss authorities.
Turkey allows its citizens 70 acquire
foreign nationality only on two condt-
tons: The applicant must obtain the
consent OF the Turkish government,
which Is granted only to those who
have completed their active military
service; and then the applicant must
remove himself, his goods and ehattels
from Turkey and liquidate all his busi-
ness and property there within the
period of one year. II he complies with
these requirements he may return to
Turkey once for not more than three
months.
Jugoslavia requires the consent Of Its
government to a REIMBURSEMENT OF
Jugoslav citizenship by its nationals.
Unless that consent Is obtained a Jugo-
Slav naturalized in this country and
even his American-born son will not
be recognized as an American citizen
until he has performed military seTv-
ice accruing before or after emigration
to the United States and until he has
fulfilled his obligations to his state, his
community. his parents and other
Jugoslav citizens" They provide for
all contingencies, these JugoSlavS.
1HOuSdnUS hPpC4A AOE kSChCAs
In spite of the efforts of the Ameri-
can authorities to inform naturalized
Americans who apply for passports OF
the difflculties they are likely to meet
on a return to their native lands,
thousands of appeals for relief come to
consular officers every year. No small
part of their time Is devoted to efforts
to Straighten out such cases.
Most of the cases arise because of
dual nationality" Suppose, for ex-
ample, an italian comes to this coun-
try, Is naturalized here and after per-
haps a dozen years of residence returns
TO italy and has a son. Under our law
the son is an American. Under the
italian law he Is an italian. When he
arrives at the age of military service
he Is ordered to report for duty. He
applies to the American consul for re-
lief The request Is made on the ground
that the young man has the right to
elect American or italian nationality
after he arrives at the age of FL.
Some countries readily concede this
right; others decline TO do so. Ameri-
can officials can use their good ofices,"
but are not in a position to insist az .
matter of law upon the acQuieScence OF
the foreign government in the Ameri-
can point of view. In many cases where
the foreign-bo sons of naturaliSed
American citizens have been given
American passports to enable them 10
come to this country they have been
arrested by the local authorities, de-
prived of their passports and turned
over to the army for service.
this procedure and during the last year
has been more inSistent in this regard
than ever before. The statement pre-
viously referred to, exempting visitors
from this country, does not mention
cases of this kind and 1t remains to be
seen whether the Italian authorities viii
follow the example Of the Polish author
tiles and adopt a more lenient attitude
in exempting such American citizens
from military service. The relief Is
readily granted in Poland when the
applicant states his intention Of depart
ing Immediately for the United States,
Other Questions Are Raised.
It has been possible here only to sug-
gest the circumstances under which
American citizenship Is most frequently
called in question.
There are numerous others, especially
in connection with naturalization.
American officials abroad frequently
have to deal with charges that the
naturalization was obtained for fraudu-
lent ends or for the express purpose Of
eYading military service.
In a world in which the Kellogg pact
has been supplemented" in which
armies and navies have been reduced to
police dimensions and in which military
CONSUMPTION shall have gone the way OF
other anachronisms, most Of the quail
fications ON American citizenship enum-
Grated above viii have lost their ma
teriality But until that happy day ar
Yives 1t will be well for the foreign-born
American-and his son as well-to look
carefully into the nature Of the welcome
he is likely to receive on his long-an-
ticipated visit to the Fatherland.