Evening star., 1934-02-24
T IRISH INDEPENDENT. Dublin
Last week an English County
Court Judge said he did not know

Last week an English County
Court Judge said he did not know
L whether an Irishman was an
alien or not. Up to the present,
at any rate, there is no room for
doubt on this point. An Irishnan.
whether born north or south of the
border. is not an alien in any part
Of the British Empire. The whole
basis upon which this question has
been discussed time and again at
the imperial conference is that all
citizens of the dominions of Great
Britain have a common status.
So far as Northern Ireland Is con-
cerned, the position is clear. The
government of Ireland act puts all
such matters as naturalization and
alienage outside the power of the
Northern Parliament. which must
take its law on these subjects from
Westminster. A citizen Of Northern
Ireland, If one may use the term, is
in English law on the same footing
as q Lancashire man or an Aberdeen
man.
In the Saorstat the position Is as
confused as it could be. The treaty
and the constitution, read together,
leave it uncertain whether the peo-
pie of the six counties are not en-
titled to the benefits of Saorstat
citizenship: while the case of persons
born within the six counties who
came to live in the twenty-six coun-
ties Is still more doubtful. To make
matters worse, the present govern
ment, in the control of manufacture
act, introduced a new term, namely,
"a national Of Saorstat Eireann," OF
which 1t gave alternative definitions.
One definition added considerably to
the ambiguity that previously ex-
listed, and the other Is such that for
the purposes of the act Russian
or any other foreigner who has been
living here for seven years Is "a
national Of Saorstat Eireann. This
Is the more extraordinary because by
an astounding anomaly no Irish child
born within the past II years Is a
citizen of the Saorstat as the law
stands.
The confusions and anomalies are
due to two facts. The first is that
the constitution deflned-ambigu-
ously, as we have stated-the first
new state at its inception, but did
not provide for the future acquEi.
ton or termination of citizenship:
and this defect has never since been
remedied by legislation. The second
fact is that we still appear to be
governed by the British nationality
and status Of aliens act; though
even this is open to argument. The
sooner the question is cleared up the
better. While unwanted legislation
Is being turned out at breakneck
speed the long promised bill to deal
with these questions had not yet
come to light. AS those who COM
pile registers never query a residents
nationality, 1t Is obvious that the
registers contain the names of many
aliens who have no right to the
franchise.
Growing Tendency
To Censor News Scored.
The North China Herald, Shang-
hai.-There is a growing tendency
among governments, especially those
who can least afford to do it, to in
terfere with the operations of foreign
newspaper correspondents within their
borders. This is chiefly due to the
desire Of the governments concerned
to see that only news favorabl3 to
themselves shall be sent abroad.
The latest recruit to the ranks is
Austria, where the correspondents
have now addressed q reasonable
protest against the numerous cases
Of police action against journalists
of whose messages the authorities dis
approved.