Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/172

 164: NATURALIZATION rived at the age of 21 years, if he has resided five years in the United States, including the three years of his minority, and has so con- tinued to reside up to the time when he makes his application, upon complying with the law in other respects. There is some obscurity in this latter provision. Some have thought that the three years of minority, from 18 to 21, is all that can be allowed as a part of the five years' residence demanded by the act, and that one naturalized as a minor was not entitled to be admitted until he had arrived at the age of 23 ; but it has been decided in the New York common pleas (all the judges concurring) that he is entitled to be admitted at 21, if he had resided here since he was 15 ; that all that the statute requires is, that he must in every case have resided here between the ages of 18 and 21, and if he has done that, and also resided here two years before that period began, it is a residence of five years within the meaning of the act. By an act passed in 1862 an alien who has enlisted in the armies of the United States, either in the regular or volunteer service, and who has been honorably discharged, may, upon proof of one year's residence in the United States and of good character, be naturalized without any previous declaration of intention. By the act of June 7, 1872, any seaman who declares his intention in a competent court to become a citizen, and who thereafter serves for three years on board of a merchant ship or ships of the United States, can, upon the pro- duction of a certificate of his discharge and good conduct during that time and of his pre- vious declaration, be naturalized ; and for the purpose of protection he is deemed a citizen after the filing of his declaration of intention to become one. When the applicant has com- pleted the necessary residence, he must prove the fact before one of the courts previously named by other testimony than his own oath. One witness, if he knows the fact, is sufficient. If entitled to admission without a previous declaration of intention, the alien must declare upon oath, and prove to the satisfaction of the- court, that for the three years next preceding his application it was bonafide his intention to become a citizen ; and every applicant must prove (which may be done by his own oath, unless the court should require other testimony) that he has behaved during the period of his residence as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same. The mode of admission is as follows. The appli- cant goes to the clerk of the court, and exhib- its the certificate of his having declared his intention. The clerk then prepares a written deposition for the witness, setting forth his knowledge of the applicant's residence and of his good character, and another for the appli- cant, declaring that he renounces all allegiance to every 'foreign power, and particularly that of which he is a citizen or subject, and, if he has borne any title of nobility, that he re- nounces it, and that he will support the con- stitution of the United States. The parties are then taken before the judge, who examines each of them under oath ; and if he is satisfied that the applicant has resided in the country for the requisite period, and is a man of good character, he makes an order in writing for his admission. The depositions are then subscribed by the parties and publicly sworn to in court in the presence of the judge ; and the certificate of the declaration of intention, the depositions, and the order of the judge are filed, and con- stitute the record of the proceeding. A final certificate under the seal of the court, signed by the clerk, is then given the alien, declaring that he has complied with all the requisites of the law, and has been duly admitted a citizen ; which certificate is conclusive evidence there- after of the fact. In the case of a minor the previous declaration of intention is dispensed with, but in all other respects the course of procedure is the same. The record of natu- ralization, if regular upon its face, is conclu- sive as to the naturalization of the alien, and cannot be contradicted by extrinsic evidence. It may be set aside, however, if fraudulently obtained, by the court in which the alien was naturalized; and a very elaborate and effective act was passed July 14, 1872, making it a felony to obtain or knowingly to assist in obtaining a fraudulent naturalization. Acts have been passed for the admission of persons residing in the United States before certain dates with- out previous declaration of intention ; but they have all become obsolete by lapse of time, ex- cept possibly the last, relating to those so re- siding prior to June 18, 1812. A child born out of the United States is a citizen if the fa- ther was one at the time of the birth of the child, but the right will not descend to one whose father has never resided in the United States ; and the minor children of persons nat- uralized, if the children are then dwelling in the United States, become citizens by the natu- ralization of the parent. It was formerly ques- tioned whether this latter provision applied to any but the children of parents naturalized before the passage of the act in 1802. Chan- cellor Kent, in his " Commentaries," inclined to the opinion that the act was prospective, and was designed to embrace the children of per- sons who should thereafter be naturalized ; and opinions to the same effect were expressed by many eminent jurists. But the point came up for decision in the court of chancery of the state of New York in 1840, in the case of chil- dren who were minors, living with their father in this country, when the father was naturalized in 1830, and whose right to succeed to his es- tate was denied upon the assumption that they were aliens. Chancellor Wai worth decided that they were not aliens, but became citizens in 1830 by the naturalization of their father. After an elaborate examination of the legisla- tion of congress, he held that the provision in