Speech #430045342

Because Ie bird resided in the country of his birth continuously for two years. for whieh reason he is to be regarded as having become domiciled there and to have forfeited his claim to American protetion. This will not do. A native of Austria (supposing another possible case) eoces to the United Stbates and in due tite is naturalized according to law. After an absence of many years from his childhoods home ho returns as an American citizen. Remaining there for two years he falls under the operation of this proposed new law of Congress. and may by its operation and by the mere will of the American Secretary of State be deprived of his citizenship. But the treaty between the United States andAustria (or Hungary) specially provides that return to and residence in his original country by a naturalized citizen shall not of itself work a renunciation of his acquired citizenship. As a consequence the man is thrown into grave doubts as to his true national character. which. like Mahomets ecotin in the air. may lie kept dangling betwenAAmerica andAustria. neither claiming and both rejecting him. No native citizen can possibly be exposed to any such difficulties. doubts. and entanglements. although under the bill now pending even he may often be unreasonbly vexed ant haraossed. Why not place or rather leave the naturalized citizen upon the same footing as originally intended. as lucidly expressed by Cass and Black. tardily adopted by England. and authoritatively contirmed by act of Congress in 18681 Why change it now in 18747 Has any new light dawned upon our Federal Legislature--the great Sanhedrim of thirtyseven Statesthat makes it desirable to enter now upon sich a retrograde movement I I believe [ can discern far across the Atlantic the true source of this intended reactionary legislation. The Bancroft treaty with fle North German Confederation. concluded in 1868. does now apply to all the states comprisedwithiu the limits of the newly constituted German Empire. including Alsace and the annexed portion of Lorraine. A native of any part of that cotntry. being naturalized here. is by the terms of that treaty reincorporated ausong tice subjects of the Emperor after a residene anywhere in Gerloany. though hundreds of miles nwy from the place of his birth. for even a day over two years. He miaybe iantiveof Bavaria. and if after his naturalization in the United States he enters into business relations at Hamburg or Bremen. a residence of two years in either of these cities far remoto from the country of his nativity. or elsewhere within the empire. makes him a subject of the emperor. of hoi hr sever icas a subject before. and divests him of the character of an American citizen without his consent and possibly against his will. And it need occasion no surprise were it to appear that this very bill has been suggested in the interest of that policy which seeks by every means to render emigration front Germany to tie United States and the naturalization pf native Germans as American citizens less desirable and popular in the country under its sway. The treaty on this subject of expatriation concluded with the North German Union and nowetended over the whole empire seems to have had principally that end in view on tile part of one of the contracting parties. hie late postal convention between the two countries subserved a similar purpose . byinficetially imposing higher iasilrates on American newspapers and periedicals. printed in the German hinguage and circulating in Germany. than upon those published in English. In all these seasures the object was the sameto prevent the spread of knowledge on American affairs among the resident population of Germany.