Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1877

No. 117.
Mr. Davis to Mr. Evarts.

Legation of the United States,
Berlin, June 30, 1877. (Received July 19 )

No. 704.]

Sir: I take the liberty once more to suggest, for the consideration of the Department, the propriety of certain amendments in our naturalization laws, in the interest of the naturalized citizen. Three years’ experience here, preceded by four years’ experience in the Department of State, have convinced me that the changes which I am about to indicate are much to be desired.

A native-born German who returns to Germany after being naturalized in America generally brings with him two documents as muniments of his personal safety. The first is a copy of the record of his naturalization, sometimes called a certificate of naturalization, and sometimes shortened into “citizen-paper.” The second is a passport from the Department of State.

To a young man whose age is within the limits prescribed for military service, the first of these papers is much the more important of the two. In all military cases the German authorities appear to desire to scrutinize the record of the citizenship. Unfortunately frauds, which in several cases have come to the cognizance of this legation, justify the wish. During the past year, for instance, fifty applications have been made here for passports for naturalized citizens. On investigation it turned out that in six of the cases the naturalization had been obtained by fraud. In five of the six there had not been a full five years’ residence in the United States before naturalization, and none of the applicants had served as soldiers or seamen, so as to make special provisions of law applicable to them. In the sixth case, the applicant in the course of the five years which he pretended to have passed in America had resided for some time in Germany.

It is, of course, not to be imagined that the proportion of fraudulent to honest naturalizations is by any means as large as 12 per cent, of the whole; but it must be conceded that the mere fact that so large a proportion has happened to show itself here in a single year justifies the inquiries which are always made in military cases.

It is, therefore, plainly in the interest of the young emigrant, who must chiefly rely upon these official copies of records for protection against military conscription, that they should be uniform, intelligible, and as little subject to question as possible. Yet the reverse is the case. So far from being uniform, they range from the loose record of the court of common pleas in the city of New York, of which a copy is inclosed, to the nearly perfect form of the municipal court in Milwaukee, also inclosed. So far from being intelligible, the New York form furnishes no information to one desiring to investigate an alleged naturalization. So far from being unquestionable, so loose a record provokes an antagonistic inquiry, since it spreads on the record no link in the chain of necessary proceedings prior, to the final adjudication of the court.

In practice I have found it necessary, in submitting a case to this government, to supply the missing links. I inclose a copy of the blank which is usually sent to a person who asks our aid in securing the remission of a military fine, in order that he may fill it up and return it for transmission to the foreign office. Similar inquiries are made in other military cases. If these questions are properly answered, the military authorities receive simultaneously with the legation’s application all the material necessary for the decision of the case.

A very little legislation on the part of Congress would greatly improve the condition of the returned emigrant in Germany, without throwing the slightest obstacle in the way of naturalization. It would also make the discovery of fraud easy, and probably would therefore tend to diminish the amount of its commission.

I. The emigrant’s place of residence in the old country, his age, the date and port of departure, and the name of the vessel on which he emigrated, may easily be put in the record on the oath of the applicant; or, should he have forgotten the name of the vessel, that fact might be stated. So long as he is permitted to prove these points by his own testimony, there can, be no hardship in requiring them to be spread upon the record.

II. If the naturalization takes place under the provisions of section 2167 of the Revised Statutes, the fact should appear in the record.

III. If it takes place under the provisions of section 2165, the record should show the date of the declaration of intention, and the court before which it was made.

All these improvements could be enforced by means of a statute prescribing the form or forms for the record in all cases and in all courts.

IV. The repeal of sections 2166 and 2174 of the Revised Statutes would remove from the system an irregularity inconsistent with the treaties of naturalization. The treaties, without exception, recognize expatriation as complete after naturalization and a five years’ residence uninterruptedly in the United States. Section 2166 of the Revised Statutes provides for the naturalization, after a year’s residence in the United States, of a soldier honorably discharged from the Army of the United States. The cause for this exception from the general rule has now happily gone by, and there would seem to be no good reason for retaining the provision. As to section 2174, which relates to the naturalization of seamen, I respectfully submit that the advantages gained by the mercantile marine of the United States through its provisions do not compensate for breaking what would otherwise be a uniform rule in the naturalization laws and treaties of the United States.

V. If a provision can be devised by means of which the Secretary of State can furnish authenticated copies of a record of naturalization (“citizen-paper”), it will be a great benefit to the emigrant. A minister abroad is sometimes asked to authenticate such documents, and is unable to do so for want of official knowledge of the seals of the different courts of record throughout the country. Perhaps it is impracticable to provide by law for the deposit in the Department of State of copies of all records of naturalization. If it were practicable, the emigrant returning to his native land would have a “citizen-paper” under the national seal, of more value to him than one under the seal of an unknown State court.

I have ventured to make these suggestions in the assured confidence that no attempt to point out ways for better protecting an American citizen abroad or for insuring American citizenship against fraud at home will be deemed too humble for your consideration; and, sir,

I have, &c.,

J. C. BANCROFT DAYIS.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 704.]

Form of the naturalization certificate usually issued in the city of New York.

United States of America,
State of New York, City and County of New York:

Be it remembered, that on the _______ day of _______ in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy _______, A _______ B _______ appeared in the court of common pleas for the city and county of New York (the said court being a court of record having common-law jurisdiction and a clerk and seal), and applied to the said court to be admitted to become a citizen of the United States of America, pursuant to the directions of the several acts of Congress of the United States of America. And the said applicant having thereupon produced to the court such proof and having made such declaration and renunciation, and having taken such oaths as are by the said acts required, it was ordered by the said court that the said applicant be admitted to become a citizen of the United States of America, and he was thereupon admitted accordingly.

In testimony whereof the seal of the said court is hereto affixed this _______ day of _______, 187—, in the _______ year of the Independence of the United States of America.

By the court.

{

l. s. Court of common pleas.

}

(Signed) NATH’L JARVIS, Jr.,
Clerk.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 704.]

Form of the naturalization certificate issued by the municipal court of Milwaukee.

certificate of naturalization,

Be it remembered, that at the municipal court held at Milwaukee, for the county of Milwaukee, in the State of Wisconsin, in the United States of America, on the —— day of _____, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy ______, A ______ B ______, a native of ______, exhibited a petition praying to be admitted to become a citizen of the United States, and it appearing to the said court that he had declared on oath before the ______ court for the county of ______, of the State of ______, on the ______ day of ———, A. D. 18—, that it was bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly to the ______ of ______, of whom he was at that time a subject, and the said A ______ B ______ having on his solemn oath declared, and also made proof thereof by competent testimony of C—— D______ and E______ F______, citizens of the United States, that he had resided one year and upwards in the state of Wisconsin, and within the United States of America upwards of five years immediately preceding his application; and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that during that time he had behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United State, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same, and having on his solemn oath declared before the same court that he would support the Constitution of the United States, and that he did absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state, and sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly to ______ of ______, of whom he was before a subject:

Thereupon the court admitted the said A ______ B ______ to become a citizen of the United States, and ordered all proceedings aforesaid to be recorded by the clerk of the said court, and which was done accordingly.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my hand and the seal of the municipal court at Milwaukee this ______ day of ———, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy ______, and of the Independence of the United States of America the hundred and ______.

(Signed)

CHAS. HOLZHAUER,
Clerk of the Municipal Court.

{

l. s. Municipal court, Milwaukee Co.

}

[Inclosure 3 in No. 704.]

Blank used with requests for remission of fine in military cases.

military case.—fine.

Name:

Place of birth: Date of birth:

Name of the vessel on which he emigrated:

Date of emigration to United States:

Date of arrival in the United States:

Date of declaration of intention:

Date of naturalization:

Date of return to Germany:

Date of sentence of penalty:

Date of levy of execution:

Amount of judgment or payment on execution:

Court rendering judgment:

I, ______ _______, a naturalized citizen of the United States of America, who have been condemned to the payment of a fine by the court above named for non-performance of military duty, or for-, do solemnly assert that the above statements contained in the above-written table are true.

______, the ______ day of ______, 187–.

______ ______.