Ricans and Filipinos. The source from which the great bulk of our native citizenship is obtained, viz: children born in the United States of parents who are citizens, is not mentioned, perhaps because of the fact that the citizenship of such persons is obvious. Under the subdivision of Alien Inhabitants, the subject is considered under the branches: A, of Parents Who May Become Citizens; B, of Parents Who May Not Become Citizens, and C, Election of Citizenship, and there is quite a full discussion of the imperfectly understood doctrine of election. It may be observed that it appears to be well settled under our law that citizenship is conferred by the mere fact of birth in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the parents and whether the parents, if aliens, may or may not themselves become citizens by naturalization.

The citizenship of children born abroad is discussed in the memorandum under the heads of: American Parents Permanently Residing Abroad; A, Of Native Americans; B, Of Naturalized Americans; Of Americans Temporarily Residing Abroad; A, Of Native Americans, B, Of Naturalized Americans; and C, Election of Citizenship.

There is a full consideration of naturalization, under the following heads: Naturalization in Accordance with General Laws, Naturalization by Naturalization of Parent, Naturalization by Virtue of Marriage Relationship, Collective Naturalization (by admission of a new state into the Union by treaty, and by conquest). This memorandum in relation to naturalization constitutes an exhaustive digest of the judicial decisions on the subject and shows an immense amount of research.

The subject of expatriation is quite fully treated from a legal standpoint, and the memorandum is followed by the text of the laws of the United States on the subject of citizenship, from the beginning of our government, by a discussion of exterritoriality, extracts from treaties. with countries in which the United States exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction, consular court regulation, and a table of cases cited in the appendix.

Appendix II consists of a short memorandum on citizenship of states of the Union, with the pertinent statutes of different states as an exhibit.

Appendix III embodies the laws of foreign countries in relation to citizenship, expatriation and protection.

Throughout the memorandum, with one or two slight exceptions, there are no quotations from the opinions of secretaries of state, a fruitful source of authorities on most of the subjects considered. It is presumed that the reason for this was the desire of the members of the board to base their recommendations exculsively upon judicial decisions.

The authorities here referred to may be found collected and classified in John Bassett Moore's monumental work, the International Law Digest. The recommendations made by the board, in brief, were that laws be enacted declaring:

1. That an American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of her husband. Upon termination of the marital relation, she may revert to her American citizenship, if abroad, by registering within one year as an American citizen at an American consulate or by returning to reside in the United States; if she is in the United States, by continuing to reside therein. (This was substantially the law of citizenship of married women, as declared and administered by the department of state, at the date of the preparation of the memorandum, but as there were decisions of our courts both for and against the view that the marriage of an American woman to a foreigner conferred on her the nationality of her husband; and as the proposition that upon the termination of the marriage relation, her American nationality reverted, did not square with the proposition that when a citizen becomes an alien, he can recover his rights as a citizen, only by going through the forms which our laws prescribe for the naturalization of aliens; it was very desirable that the question should be definitely solved by statute.) The act of March 2, 1907, substantially enacts into law this recommendation.

2. That a foreign woman who acquires American citizenship by marriage to an American, shall be assumed to retain the same after termination of the marital relation, if she continues to reside in the United States, unless she makes formal renunciation of such citizenship before a court having jurisdiction to naturalize aliens; and if she proceeds abroad she may continue her American citizenship by registering, within one year, as an American citizen, before the most convenient American consulate. (While the practice of the department of state had been to regard as a citizen of the United States, after the termination of the marriage, an alien woman married to a citizen, there was no mode of renunciation of citizenship prescribed, and it was difficult to determine at what period she ceased to be entitled to protection as a citizen of the United States in the event of her proceeding abroad and taking up her residence there upon widowhood. A good result is accomplished by the enactment of the law ($4 of act of March 2, 1907) which follows the wording of the recommendation of the board, except that for the last clause is substituted the following:

or if she resides abroad she may retain her citizenship by registering as such before a United States consul within one year after the termination of such marital relation.

3. That a non-resident child born without the United States of alien and non-resident parents shall be deemed a citizen of the United States by virtue of the naturalization of the parent; provided, however, that such naturalization takes place during the minority of such child, and provided, further, that the citizenship of such minor child shall date from the entry of such minor into the United States permanently to reside therein. The phrase "dwelling in the United States" in §2172 of the Revised Statutes, has been so variously construed by the courts and secretaries of state, that legislation was essential to determine the intent of the framers of the law. The substantial recommendation of the board is embodied in §5 of the act of March 2, 1907, which reads as follows:

That a child born without the United States of alien parents shall be deemed a citizen of the United States by virtue of the naturalization of or resumption of American citizenship by the parent: provided, that such naturalization or resumption takes place during the minority of such child; and provided, further, that the citizenship of such minor child shall begin at the time such minor child begins to reside permanently in the United States.

4. That an American citizen may be assumed to have expatriated himself: (1) When he obtains naturalization in a foreign state. (2) When he engages in the service of a foreign state and such service involves the taking of an oath of allegiance to such state. (3) When he becomes domiciled in a foreign state, and such domicile shall be assumed when he has resided in a foreign state for five years without intent to return to the United States; but an American citizen residing in a foreign state may overcome the presumption of expatriation by competent evidence produced to a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States under such rules and regulations as the president shall prescribe. That any person who shall have accomplished expatriation in the manner above set forth shall, in order to reacquire American citizenship, be required to comply with the laws applicable to the naturalization of aliens. And the exercise of the right of an American citizen to expatriate himself shall only be permitted or recognized in time of peace. act of March 2, 1907, §2, while using briefer phraseology, comprehends the essential features of the board's recommendation. Its language is: Any American citizen shall be deemed to have expatriated 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. When any naturalized citizen shall have resided for two years in the foreign state from which he came, or for five years in any other foreign state it shall be presumed that he has ceased to be an American citizen and the place of his general abode shall be deemed to be his place of residence during said years: Provided, however, that such presumption may be overcome on the presentation of satisfactory evidence to a diplomatic or

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consular officer of the United States, under such rules and regulations as the department of state shall prescribe: and provided also, that no American citizen shall be allowed to expatriate himself when this country is at war.

5. That every male child being an American citizen resident abroad who desires to enjoy the protection of this government be required upon reaching the age of eighteen years to record at the most convenient American consulate his intention to become a resident and remain a citizen of the United States, and to take the oath of allegiance upon attaining his majority; and that an American citizen residing continuously outside of the United States for more than one year be required to register in a similar manner, at least once each year, his name and place of residence, date and place of birth, nationality of parents, occupation, and last place of residence in the United States, and to give solemn assurance of his continued allegiance to the United States and of his intention to return thereto. Section 6 of the act of March 2, 1907, passed in pursuance of this recommendation, provides:

That all children born outside the limits of the United States who are citizens thereof in accordance with the provisions of §1993 of the Revised Statutes of the United States and who continue to reside outside the United States shall, in order to receive the protection of this government, be required upon reaching the age of eighteen years to record at an American consulate their intention to become residents and remain citizens of the United States and shall be further required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States upon attaining their majority.

It will be noticed that the application of this provision of the law is confined to children born outside the United States, thus showing that congress intended to differentiate, in this respect, between those born. abroad and those born in the United States.

6. That the secretary of state be authorized, under such rules and regulations as the president shall prescribe, to extend the protection of this government and to issue qualified passports to those who, have made the declaration of intention to become citizens of the United States in accordance with the requirements of the act approved June 29, 1906, and who go abroad for brief sojourn, such protection and passports not to be effective in the country of the origin of the declarants and not to be granted to those who have resided in the United States for a period of less than three years. This recommendation was enacted into law ($1, act of March 2, 1907), in this language:

The secretary of state shall be authorized in his discretion, to issue passports to persons not citizens of the United States as follows: Where any person has made a declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States as provided by law and has resided in the United States for three years, a passport may be issued

to him entitling him to the protection of the government in any foreign country: provided, that such passport shall not be valid for more than six months and shall not be renewed, and that such passport shall not entitle the holder to the protection of this government in the country of which he was a citizen prior to making such declaration of intention.

This provision, qualified and limited, as it is, may serve a useful purpose. The only question that could properly be raised with reference to it, is as to the right of this government to intervene to protect, in a country not of declarant's origin, one who is not a citizen of the United States.

The recommendation of the board that the secretary of state be authorized to issue certificates of nativity to natural-born citizens of the United States, temporarily resident abroad, or who intend temporarily to reside abroad for legitimate purposes, setting forth the place of their origin, date of birth, and place of permanent residence in the United States, which was designed to meet an actual local requirement for purposes of identification, failed of enacment into law.

The further recommendations that, in order to prevent abuse of American passports in foreign countries, it be ordered that in future all passports shall be issued only by the department of state, to be valid for two years, and subject to a single extension for a like additional period by diplomatic and certain consular officers of the United States; and that the diplomatic officers of the United States be instructed to open negotiations with the governments to which they are accredited, extending and perfecting the treaty relations of the United States with respect to the rights of Americans, in order to secure to our citizens rights and privileges in accordance with the recommendations of the board; will, it is understood, be carried into effect by executive action.

The report of this board, remarkable both on account of its comprehensiveness and the fact that so many of its recommendations were so soon written into law, is highly creditable alike to the able gentlemen who were responsible for its preparation, and to the department under which they serve.