209 



ALIEN. 



ALIEN. 



210 



for recovering the penalty. ('Blackst. Comm./ Mr. Kerr's ed., v. i. 

 pp. 254, 308, 367, et seq.) 



The same classes of persons who are aliens according to the law of 

 England, are aliens according to that of Scotland, and the statute law 

 on the subject extends to that part of the empire. When an alien 

 resident in Scotland wishes to acquire the privileges of a British 

 subject, the same forms which, as above described, are applicable to 

 England, are gone through with the same effect. They are consistent 

 with the constitutional doctrine of the separate kingdom of Scotland, 

 in which, anterior to the Union, it appears that letters of denization 

 could give a portion, but an Act of Parliament only could communicate 

 the whole of the privileges of a born subject of the crown. The insti- 

 tutional writers maintain that an alien cannot hold any kind of 

 heritable property in Scotland, but in the books there are only two 

 cases on the subject, and in one the general question was evaded ; in 

 the other an alien was found not to have a sufficient title to pursue a 

 reduction of a conveyance of an estate. If the rule that aliens cannot 

 hold heritage were strictly interpreted, it would affect property which 

 all classes of persons are in the practice of holding in Scotland without 

 molestation, but hi the general case it would be difficult to find a form 

 in which an alien's title could be brought in question. It is questioned 

 whether an alien in Scotland who holds the statutory qualification may 

 vote for a member of the House of Commons. The" sheriffs, who are 

 judges in the registration courts, have given conflicting judgments on 

 this point. 



The following are the laws as to aliens in France and the United 

 States of North America, two countries with which Englishmen are 

 more closely connected than any other : 



A child born in France, of foreign parents, may, within one year 

 after he has attained the age of twenty-one, claim to be a Frenchman ; 

 if he is not then resident in France, he must declare his intention to 

 reside there, and he must fix his residence there within one year after 

 such declaration. An alien enjoys in France the same civil rights as 

 those which Frenchmen enjoy in the country to which the alien 

 belongs ; but he enjoys the right of succession in France, although this 

 right may not be granted to French citizens in his own country. An 

 alien is allowed by the king's permission (rjrdwmance du rat) to establish 

 his domicile in France ; and so long as he continues to reside there, he 

 enjoys all civil but not political rights ; but this enjoyment ceases 

 immediately the domicile is lost. After an uninterrupted residence 

 during ten years, by permission of the king an alien may become 

 naturalised. (' Code Civil,' liv. 1, tit. i. s. 9.) A foreigner can buy 

 and hold land in France without obtaining any permission from the 

 crown or legislature. 



rjinn the recognition of the independence of the United States of 

 North America by the treaty of Paris, 1783, the natural-born subjects 

 of the king of England who adhered to the United States became aliens 

 in England ; and it was decided that they became incapable of inheriting 

 lands in England. It had been previously decided in America that 

 natives of Great Britain were aliens there, and incapable of inheriting 

 lands in the United States. Kent defines an alien to be "a person 

 born out of the jurisdiction of the United States ; " but this definition 

 is not sufficiently strict, f r the son of an alien, which son is born in 

 the United States, is also an alien. 



Congress has several times altered the law respecting naturalisation, 

 but chiefly as to the period of previous residence. In 1 790, only two 

 years' residence was required ; in 1795 the term was prolonged to five 

 years; and in 1798, to fourteen years. In 1802, the period of five 

 years was again adopted, and no alteration in this respect has taken 

 place. The benefits of naturalisation have always been confined to 

 " free white persons ; " persons of mixed blood are excluded, as well as 

 the African and other pure races, whether black or copper-coloured. 

 At what jK>int a person of mixed blood could claim naturalisation is 

 doubtful. By an old law of Virginia, which was not repealed up to a 

 recent period, a person with one-fourth of negro blood is deemed a 

 mulatto. An alien in the United States cannot have full and secure 

 < i lent of freehold of land ; and if he does, the inheritance escheats. 

 He can neither vote at elections nor hold public offices. Two years at 

 least before he can obtain the privileges of a natural-born citizen he 

 must appear in one of certain courts, or before certain officers, and 

 declare on oath hix intention to become a citizen of the United States, 

 and to renounce his allegiance to his own state or prince. When the 

 two years have expired, and if the country to which the alien belongs 

 is at peace with the United States, he is next required to prove to the 

 court, by his oath as well as otherwise, that he has resided five years at 

 least in the United States, and one year in the state where the court is 

 held ; and he must show that he is attached to the principles and 

 t ution of the United States, and" is of good moral character. The 

 court then requires that he should take an oath of fidelity to the 

 constitution, and likewise an oath by which he renounces his native 

 allegiance. He must also renounce any title or order of nobility, if he 

 has any. The children of persons naturalised according to this form, 

 if they were minors at the time, are deemed citizens if they are then 

 dwelling in the United States. If an alien dies in the interval between 

 having taken the preliminary steps towards his naturalisation and the 

 time of his admission, hi widow and children become citizens. If an 

 alien resided in the United States previously to the 18th of June, 1812, 

 the preliminary notice of two years is not necessary, nor if he be a 



ARTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. I. 



minor under twenty-one and has resided in the United States during 

 the three years preceding his majority. In the case of an alien who 

 has arrived in the United States after the peace of 1815, it is required 

 that he should not at any time have left the territory during the five 

 years preceding his admission to citizenship. A naturalised alien 

 immediately acquires all the rights of a natural-born citizen, except 

 eligibility to the office of President of the United States, and of governor 

 in some of the states. A residence of seven years, after naturalisation, 

 is necessary to qualify him to be a member of Congress. (Kent's 

 ' Commentaries,' vol. ii. p. 50-75.) 



In 1804 Congress passed an Act supplementary to the Act of 1802, 

 which contains a clause respecting the children of American citizens 

 born abroad, but it applies only to the children of persons who then 

 were or had been citizens ; and Kent remarks (' Commentaries,' vol. ii. 

 p. 53) that the rights of the children of American citizens born 

 abroad are left in a precarious state ; and in the lapse of time there 

 will soon be no statute which will be available, in which case the 

 English common law will be the only principle applicable to the 

 subject. 



Before the adoption of the present constitution of the United States, 

 the several states had each the privilege of conferring naturalisation. 

 Each state can still grant local privileges. There is a considerable 

 diversity in the laws of different states respecting aliens. By a per- 

 manent provision in the state of New York, an alien is enabled to take 

 and hold lands in fee, and to sell, mortgage, and devise (but not to 

 demise and lease the same), provided he has taken an oath that he is a 

 resident of the state, and has taken the preliminary steps towards 

 becoming a citizen of the United States. There are similar provisions 

 in several of the other states. In New York resident aliens holding 

 real property are liable to be enrolled in the militia, but they are not 

 qualified to vote at any election, of being elected to any office, or of 

 serving on a jury. In North Carolina and Vermont the constitution 

 provides that every person of good character who comes into the state 

 and settles, and takes an oath of allegiance, may hold land, and after 

 one year's residence he becomes entitled to most of the privileges of a 

 natural-born citizen. In Connecticut the superior court, on the peti- 

 tion of any alien who has resided in the state six months, has the 

 power of conferring upon him the same privileges in regard to holding 

 land, as if he were a natural-bom citizen. In Pennsylvania aliens may 

 purchase lands not exceeding 5000 acres, and hold and dispose of the 

 same as freely as citizens. In Georgia aliens can hold land, provided 

 they register their names in the Superior Court. No alien can act as 

 executor or administrator in this state. In Kentucky, after a residence 

 of two years, an alien 'can hold land. In Indiana, Missouri, and 

 Maryland the disqualification of an alien holding land is done away 

 with on his giving notice of an intention to become a citizen. Most, 

 if not all, of the state legislatures are in the habit of granting to 

 particular aliens, by name, the privilege of holding real pro- 

 perty. ( ' Law relating to Aliens in the United States,' in ' Boston 

 Almanac,' 1835.) 



In the States generally, perhaps in all, as in England, the alienage of 

 a woman does not bar her right of dower. 



The following information is abstracted from evidence given by 

 Harvey Gem, Esq., before the Select Committee on aliens, in 1843, 

 and the information was stated to have been obtained from the 

 ambassadors or ministers of the different Powers in London : 



In Prussia, from the moment when an alien becomes a resident 

 and places himself under the protection of the laws, he enjoys the 

 same rights as a natural-born subject, and not only has he a right to 

 vote in the election of members to the Provincial States, but he is also 

 eligible himself as a member. 



In Saxony, by a law passed in 1834, an alien may acquire the 

 privileges of a natural-born subject by right of domicile, granted by the 

 local authorities of each district, or by the purchase of real property, 

 and in towns by obtaining the freedom of the corporation. In the 

 two latter cases, the alien must have been in possession of his real 

 property or of his freedom for five years, during which period he must 

 have resided in the place where the property is, or in the town of 

 which he has obtained the freedom. The right of voting, eligibility as 

 a representative of the Chambers of the Kingdom, &c., depend upon 

 the nature and value of the real property acquired, whether a manor, 

 a house in a town, Ac. 



In Bavaria aliens can possess landed property, without the condition 

 of residence, but they are liable to the duties which attach to the 

 property. Naturalisation is obtained either by marriage of a 

 foreign woman with a Bavarian, by domicile and renouncing foreign 

 allegiance, or by royal decree ; but a residence of six years is necessary 

 before the full citizenship can be obtained. The privileges of an alien 

 in Bavaria depend in some degree on the policy of the state of which 

 he is a subject towards foreigners in general or Bavarians in 

 particular. 



In Wiirtemberg an alien who wishes to be naturalised, first pur- 

 chases landed property in or near the place where he intends to settle, 

 by which he obtains the consent of the local authorities to reside 

 among them (biirger-recht). These conditions having been fulfilled 

 and the sanction of government obtained, the alien acquires the Staats- 

 biirger-recht, which gives him all the privileges of a natural-born 

 subject, and with them its obligations, as liability to the military con- 



