Page:United States Reports, Volume 209.djvu/123

 BOSQUE . UNITED STATES. claims to have lost his Spanish nationality because he had not made the necessary declaration of intention to prerve his aileganec to Spain, bt that requirement Was meant only for those who remained in the territory, and was not necessary in his case, since he removed from the islands. In the opinion .of the Philippine Supreme Court he carried his Spanish nationality with him on his departure, and it could only be lost by continuous residence in the islands and failure to declare his intention of retaining it within the time specified. But plaintiff was absent from the Philippines during the wholeof the period allowed for making such declaration, and remained away several months after its expiration. It follows that he did not become a citizen of the islands under the new sovereignty, but that he continued to remain a Spaniard. The fact that he intended to return does not affect this conclu- sion. It was not necessary in order to retain his Span|Rh nationality that he should remain away permanently, and he was absent for more than a year and a half. The question whether aliens were permitted to practice law in Spain and her colonies is elaborately argued, but it is quite unn_ry to pass upon it, since it is manifest that the words in Article IX of the treaty, "such laws as are applicable to other foreigners," referred not to the Spanish law, but to the laws enacted by the new sovereignty. Spaniards only became "foreigners" after the cession of the islands, and it is obvious that the words meant such laws as skall be applicable to other foreigners. We think it evident that plaintiff under the laws and regu- lations on the subject put in force in the Philippines, first by the military and then by the civil authorities, was not entitled to the privilege which he sought. On July 19, 1899, the military governor promulgated, in respect to the admission of lawyers, certain regulations, known as "General Orders, No. 29, Series of 1899," �of which pro- vides as follows: "Any resident of the Philippine Islands, not a smdrject or

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