PREFACE. In the preparation of this book, no special claim is made to originality, for it is, to a large extent, a compilation of national and state laws affecting citizenship and the right of voting in the United States, and of such questions relating thereto as have, from time to time, been passed upon by the Courts. Public sentiment in the United States is drifting rapidly in the direction of "restricted foreign immigration." At the same time, upon it, is not But there is an conviction, that the nature of the restrictions now placed as generally understood as it should be. impression, amounting almost to a further restrictions are needed to defend the ballot boxthe palladium of our liberties-as it is open, in many quarters, to direct assault by the unnaturalized foreigner, who has no sympathy with our institutions or interest in our national welfare. Perhaps a perusal of these pages will show the weak points in our political system. effort has been made to treat the subject in a manner and in a form that will make it acceptable and instructive to the American student, and interesting and useful to those of foreign birth who are desirous of obtaining the privilege of American citizenship and the right of the elective franchise. TALIESIN EVANS. OAKLAND, CAL., March 1, 1892. An AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. The ordinary definition of citizenship is "the state of being vested with the rights and privileges of a citizen." Such a definition is, however, vague and uncertain at best. It involves the determination of what constitutes a citizen, and what are the rights and privileges which a citizen enjoys to the exclusion of the person who is not a citizen. A citizen, in the popular meaning of the word, is a member of the community to which he belongs. Citizens are the people who compose the community, and who, in their associated capacity, have established or submitted themselves to the dominion of a government for the promotion of their general welfare, and for the protection of their individual as well as their collective rights (1). Citizenship, therefore, implies membership in a nation. As a member of the body politic, a citizen, whether native or naturalized, is a person who owes allegiance to the government, who must submit to taxation for its support and give it service in case of necessity, and who is entitled, in return, to "liberty of person and conscience, to the right of acquiring and possessing property, of marriage and the social relations, of suit and defense, and to security in person, estate and reputation (2)." Citizenship, in this broad and general (1) 92 U. S. Rep. 542. (2) í Litt. (K.), 323. sense, draws no line as to sex, age, race. color or condition, providing the person claiming it has been born within the territorial boundaries of the nation, and is under its jurisdiction, or has been naturalized in conformity with its laws, or has acquired it through the operation of a treaty, or by means of a special act of Congress, or by means of any other regular and lawful method, and has not, through the commission of any unlawful act, or any other cause, forfeited what he may have acquired by either of the processes described. The political interpretation of citizenship in the United States implies the right to vote at all elections held for the filling of public offices or for the determination of measures affecting the public welfare, and a qualification to fill such offices as may be in the gift of the people or attainable by appointment. American citizenship is divided, however, into two separate and distinct classifications-Federal and Stateeach of which may be entirely independent of the other. I. FEDERAL CITIZENSHIP. A person may be a citizen of the United States without enjoying State citizenship and the special rights and privleges which State citizenship confers. Prior to the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, no mode existed of obtaining citizenship of the United States, except by first becoming a citizen of some State. It had been long con tended, and had been held by many learned authorities, and had never been judicially decided to the contrary, that there was no such thing as a citizen of the United States, except as that condition arose from citizenship of some State. The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution set that controversy at rest, for it defines and declares who shall be citizens of the United States, namely: "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." Congress was empowered by the amendment "to enforce by appropriate legislation" its provisions; and it did so, by enacting that "all persons born in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be citizens of the United States (1)." The constitutional qualification, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," was intended to exclude the children of foreign representatives, who, if born in the United States, are recognized as being born within "obedience and allegiance of the country which the parents officially represent." But whatever special rights and privileges it may be in the power of a State to confer upon its citizens, there are certain constitutional rights which all Federal citizens enjoy in common (2), whether they are citizens of States As to these common rights, the Federal Constitution establishes an equality between all persons, although it may be unable to confer equality as to other (1) Rev. Stats. U. S., Sec. 1992. or not. (2) 3 Hughes, 13. |