Protection Abroad to Naturalized Citizens.
—The Revised Statutes of the United States declare that "all naturalized citizens of the United States while in foreign countries are entitled to and shall receive from this Gov ernment the same protection of persons and property which is accorded to native-born The Right of The right to vote comes from the State, and is a State gift. Naturalization is a Federal right and is a gift of the Union, not of any one State. In nine States (Arkansas, Indiana, Kansasissouri, O Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Oregon and Wisconsin) aliens who have declared their in tention to become citizens are allowed to vote equally with naturalized or native-born citizens. By an act of Congress passed in 1906, 90 days must elaspe before naturalization and the exer cise of the right to vote. This law was de signed to prevent the wholesale naturalization of foreigners in the large cities for the pur pose of making voters of them for the forth coming election. The Federal naturalization laws apply to the whole Union alike, and pro vide that no alien may be naturalized until after five years' residence except in the case of aliens who have served in the army and been honor ably discharged, in which case one year's resi dence suffices. Even after five years' residence and due naturalization he is not entitled to vote unless the laws of the State confer the privilege upon him, and he may vote in several States six months after landing, if he has de clared his intention, under United States law, to become a citizen.
In Other France a foreigner who has obtained permission to become domi ciled in France is entitled to letters of declara tion of naturalization after three years' resi dence. Also, by the French Naturalization Act, 1889, a foreigner who has resided in France for 10 years may at once be naturalized without preliminary ceremony. In Germany naturaliza tion can be conferred only by the higher ad ministrative authorities; the applicant must show that he is at liberty, under the laws of his native country, to change his nationality, or, if he is a minor, that his father or guardian has given him the requisite permission, that he is leading a respectable life, that he is domi ciled in Germany, and that he has the means of livelihood. In all countries a married woman
is held to be a citizen of the state of which her husband is for the time being a subject, and the naturalization of a father carries with it that of his children in minority. In countries where military service is compulsory naturalization in fraud of this either is pro hibited or renders the offender liable to im prisonment, if he returns, and forfeiture of all property subsequently acquired in his native country. In Great Britain five years' residence is necessary, except where the applicant is in the service of the Crown the certificate is granted by one of the secretaries of state. But the British government, unlike that of the United States, will not protect a naturalized subject within his state of origin unless he has ceased to be a citizen or subject thereof in pursuance of its laws or of a treaty stipula tion. Thus a Russian or Turkish subject natu ralized in Great Britain will not be accorded the protection of the British government upon return to his native state if the consent of his government to naturalization in a foreign country was not obtained. Certain privileges of British nationality may be acquired by the issue to an alien of letters of denization granted by the Crown; and for this no previous resi dence is required.
Naturalization by Citizen ship has often been conferred on large bodies of inhabitants by the annexation of territory as a result of cession or conquest. It was in this way that the inhabitants of Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Alaska and Hawaii became citizens of the United States. For other modes of acquiring citizenship, also modes by which citizenship may be lost. See CITIZENSHIP IN 1HE UNITED STATES. See also ALLEGIANCE; ALIENS ; NATIONALITY.
See the authorities cited in the article on CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES.