"The object of this provision [§ 2167] is to enable a person who has resided in the United States five years, but who, from the fact. of being a minor, has not been competent to make a declaration, to make his declaration at the expiration of such five years, and be at once naturalized, provided that, at the time of his application, he is of full age. In such case his declaration is to be made at the time of his admission' to citizenship, which is to be construed as meaning simultaneously with his naturalization. "It is thus intended to offer the franchise of naturalization to all persons who, on arriving at full age, have resided in the United States five years before that period. And even were the question doubtful, it is, as you are well aware, a familiar rule that in the construction of grants of franchises, that construction is to be adopted which is most favorable to the persons for whose benefit the franchise is to be granted-in dubio mitius." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. von Alvensleben, German min., Mar. 15, See also Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Mr. Hengelmüller, Aust.-Hung. min., It should be observed that the certificate of a person duly admitted to A person naturalized under § 2167 is within the provisions of the treaty with Austria-Hungary. (Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Mr. Hengelmüller, Dec. 5, 1895, MS. Notes to Aust. Leg. IX. 238.) An alien, 21 years old or upward, who enlists in the "armies of the United States," regular or volunteer, and is thereafter Service in Army. honorably discharged, may, after one year's residence in the United States, become a citizen without a previous declaration of intention. The word "armies " (In re Bailey, 2 Sawyer Rev. Stats. § 2166; act of July 17, 1862, 12 Stat. 597. C. C. 200; In re Chamavas, 21 N. Y. S. 104. 7 Robertson (N. Y.) 635.) Contra, In re Stewart, For a case under § 2166, see Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. The mere facts of enlistment and discharge do not confer citizenship, but only enable the individual to apply to a competent court for naturalization. Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Strieby, March 31, 1868, 78 MS. Dom. An alien, 21 years old or upwards, who has enlisted in the United States Navy or Marine Corps, and has thereafter served five consecutive years in the Navy or one enlistment in the Marine Corps, may be admitted to citizenship without a previous declaration of intention. Service in Navy or Act of July 26, 1894, 28 Stats. 123, 124. "Sec. 100. That for the purposes of naturalization under the laws of the United States residence in the Hawaiian waii. Special case in Ha- Islands prior to the taking effect of this act shall be deemed equivalent to residence in the United States and in the Territory of Hawaii, and the requirement of a previous declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce former allegiance shall not apply to persons who have resided in said islands at least five years prior to the taking effect of this act; but all other provisions of the laws of the United States relating to naturalization shall, so far as applicable, apply to persons in the said islands." Act of Congress of April 30, 1900, 31 Stat. 161. (3) DOES NOT CONFER CITIZENSHIP, $ 387. The declaration of intention to become a citizen does not confer Judicial decisions. citizenship. Minneapolis v. Reum, 56 Fed. Rep. 576, 6 C. C. A. 31; In re Moses, 83 Fed. Nor make a person a citizen within the meaning of the Indian depreda- The declaration may be made only in a court competent to naturalize; but It must be made in the clerk's office or in open court. (In re Langtry, 31 It cannot be made before a court having no clerk or prothonotary. (Ex As to the declaration of intention and the location of mining claims, see The proper evidence of the declaration of intention is the certificate of The declaration of intention by the parent does not make citizens of his children in case he dies before completing his naturalization. On the contrary, sec. 2168, R. S., provides for the regular admission to citizenship of the widow and children of such a person. Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Kasson, min. at Berlin, Jan. 15, 1885, For. Rel. 1885, 394, 395. "Passports are only granted to citizens of the United States, and as Mr. Hoesli has not yet complied with the requisiExecutive action. tions of the naturalization laws of the United States his request can not be acceded to. No reason is perceived, however, why a consul of Switzerland should not give him a passport to his own country, as his certificate only shows his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, and in that event to renounce his allegiance to Switzerland, which has not yet been done." Mr. Upshur, Sec. of State, to Mr. Triechel, Nov. 16, 1843, 33 MS. Dom. A foreigner who has merely declared his intention to become an American citizen, without having carried that intention into effect, is not an American citizen. Mr. Buchanan, Sec. of State, to Mr. Campbell, consul at Havana, July 26, 1848, 10 MS. Desp. to Consuls, 473. Dominie Madini, an Austrian subject by birth, after having taken part in the Lombard revolution in 1848, came to the United States and made a declaration of intention to become a citizen. "In the year 1852, and before he had been long enough in this country to be entitled to naturalization, he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland, where he has since resided, for the alleged purpose of collecting his fortune, which he has some prospect of being able to do, and then he designs to return and reside in the United States. It is admitted that Madini has not been in the United States for some years. The intention he may entertain, and which it is understood he has declared, to return to the United States may be changed at pleasure, and besides, such an intention, however sincere, is too remote and uncertain to found upon it any obligation for protection. By Madini's departure from the United States before he was naturalized, becoming domiciled in another country and entering into business there, he relinquished all the advantages, whatever they might be, which he had gained by his temporary residence in the United States and placed himself in relation to this Government on a footing with those foreigners who have never been within its territory." Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Fay, No. 37, March 22, 1856, MS. Inst. See, also, Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Clay, min. to Peru, Dec. 28, 1854, MS. Inst. Peru, XV. 150. H. Doc. 551-vol 3- -22 66 The mere declaration of intention to become a citizen does not absolve the party from the allegiance which he owes to the Government of the country from which he comes, and leaves him free to apply to any consul of that Government in this country for a permit to return from whence he came.' Mr. Cass, Sec. of State, to Mr. Washburne, March 9, 1857, 46 MS. Dom. See, to the same effect, Mr. Cass, Sec. of State, to Mr. Smith, June 29, "With regard to the other cases which the noble earl [Lord Derby] has brought forward, I have no knowledge of them, or I would have taken pains to inquire into each of them. I certainly do not recollect the case of any person being called on to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, except one in which there was some question with Lord Lyons, and that was the case of a gentleman who had given notice of his intention to become a citizen of the United States. Now, a person wishing to become a citizen of the United States gives notice that at a certain time-within three months he intends to ask leave to become a citizen of the United States. When the time arrives he must not only take an oath of allegiance to the United States, but he must forswear all other allegiance, more especially to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. (Laughter.) This gentleman who was arrested made an appeal to the British Government, and the answer of Mr. Seward to the remonstrance addressed to him was, This gentleman has renounced all allegiance, especially to Her Majesty Queen Victoria.' The matter was further inquired into, and it was found that Mr. Seward was wrong in his fact(hear, hear)—that this gentleman had given notice that he intended to become a citizen of the United States, and to forswear all allegiance to Her Majesty, but he still remained a British subject. He had thus placed himself in a position in which he could not claim the protection of either one government or the other. (Laughter.)" 6 Earl Russell, Foreign Secretary, in the House of Lords, Feb. 10, 1862, Dip. This view evidently is different from that expressed by Mr. Cass, and is "The mere declaration of an intention does not make a person born abroad a citizen. He might change his mind before the arrival of the period for him to take the oath of allegiance, and the law of the United States provides for the interval between the declaration. of intention and the final act of naturalization, in order that the person who proposes to become naturalized should have leisure to deliberate on the importance of the proceeding." Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. de Luna, April 22, 1869, 81 Dom. Let. 7. See, to the same effect, Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Dunbar, April 19, Also, Mr. Baneroft Davis, Assist. Sec. of State, to Mr. Fox, consulat The fact that a person dying abroad has made a declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States affords no basis for action by a consul of the United States in respect of the administration of his estate. Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mrs. Blacklock, Sept. 10, 1878, 124 Dom. Let. 293. Continuing, Mr. Evarts said: “It is only when a citizen dies abroad that the law requires a consul to administer on the estate which he may have left in his district, so far as the local law may allow." "None but citizens can properly claim protection from the Government, and your declaration to become a citizen does not confer upon you that character." (Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Glendenning, June 1, 1878, 123 MS. Dom. Let. 204 ) "A mere declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States does not change the nationality of the party making such declaration; he remains until final naturalization a subject or citizen of his origin (sic). Consequently such declaration of intention would avail you nothing," for purpose of protection in the country of origin. Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Dunne, July 31, 1883, 147 MS. See, also, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, min. to Spain, Certain persons of Russian origin, who had made a declaration of intention in the United States, and who afterwards settled in Palestine, claimed protection as American citizens. It was stated that the Russian consular representative having declared that they had lost their Russian citizenship, the Porte asserted that they must be considered as "Turkish subjects." Mr. Frelinghuysen declined |