Belgium, be entitled still to make his declaration within a period of two years from the day of the publication of the present law.

Art. 4 of the law of April 1, 1879, shall apply to him, as well as to his children and descendants.

EXTRACT FROM NOTE OF BARON DE FAVEREAU, BELGIAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TO MR. WILSON, MINISTER TO BELGIUm, august 2, 1906.

[Translation.]

In regard to the third question it is to be observed that the Belgian laws contain no provision relative to the voluntary and formal renunciation of Belgian nationality. Therefore no conditions for the recovery of said nationality when lost by renunciation can be stipulated. However, the Civil Code, in articles 18, 19, and 20, determines the ordinary conditions for the recovery of Belgian nationality.

The authorization to return to the Kingdom, provided for in articles 18 and 19, paragraph 2, is published in the "Moniteur" (Official Gazette).

To question 4 I have the honor to reply to your excellency by calling your attention to art. 17 of the Civil Code, which provides that Belgian nationality is lost by settling in a foreign country in any manner, without intention of returning.

According to established jurisprudence the giving up of the intention to return is never presumed by the law; it must be shown by precise facts, the judgment of which is left to the magistrate.

In regard to question No. 5 the official agents of the Belgian Government abroad are instructed to lend abundant and willing aid to our compatriots in the defense of their interests.

No restriction is made in regard to Belgians definitely and permanently established abroad, protection being granted them as long as they preserve their Belgian nationality.

MINISTERIAL CIRCULAR OF MAY 15, 1900, CONCERNING THE REGISTRATION OF BELGIANS ABROAD, THE KEEPING OF THE REGISTERS, AND THE DELIVERY OF CERTIFICATES AND EXTRACTS.

[Translation.]

BRUSSELS, May 15, 1900.

SIR: Since 1881 the department of foreign affairs has furnished its agents abroad with registers within which to inscribe Belgians who reside within their jurisdiction. These registers, the keeping of which is of incontestable benefit, constitute in some measure a supple ment to the registers of the population of the Kingdom as provided by the law of June 2, 1856.

Besides the privileges which arts. 76, 107, and 117 of the law on consulates and consular jurisdiction of December 31, 1851, connect with registration in non-Christian countries, this registration affords. to Belgians who wish to comply with the formality the means of proving whether they desire to retain their nationality and that their

residence abroad is kept up with an intention of returning. (Art. 17, No. 3, of the Civil Code.) Under many circumstances, moreover, data recorded in the register, while keeping the consuls informed as to the residence and individuality of the persons placed under their jurisdiction, facilitate and expedite consular intervention. They may be consulted to advantage, either in the issuance of passports (royal decree of June 23, 1857) and the preparation of the documents which the officials of the foreign office stationed abroad are called upon to draw up as registers of births, deaths, etc. (law of Oct. 20, 1897, arts. 1 and 2; royal decree of the 25th of same month), or as notaries public (same law, arts. 3 and 4; Govt. instructions of May 10, 1900), or else in answering the numerous requests for information addressed to the minister of foreign affairs by families and by authorities in the Kingdom. The registration of Belgians in the office of the consulate within whose jurisdiction they reside is therefore exceedingly beneficial not only for themselves but also for the Government.

Consuls shall be governed in this matter by the following instructions, which replace those of August 1, 1881: Belgians living abroad may, after proving their nationality, be registered in the office of the consular post where they reside.

The registration consists in the inscription of the Belgian in a special register, indicating the date of inscription, the Christian and family name of the applicant, his occupation, the place and date of his birth, his civil status (bachelor, married, widower, or divorced), Christian and family name of his father and mother, the place of his last domicile in Belgium or that of his parents, the date of his arrival and his place of residence in the consular district, his previous place of residence, the documents which he has produced in proof of his nationality, the type of his signature, and the Christian and family names and the places and dates of birth of his wife and children, if he has such.

The registration of a Belgian in the registry shall be free of charge. The delivery and the viséing of certificates of registration are alone subject to the fees established under Nos. 29 and 30 of the schedule appended to the law of October 22, 1897, namely: No. 29, for the delivery of a certificate of registration, 4 francs; No. 30, for the viséing of a certificate of registration, 3 francs.

It is necessary that the certificates of registration, reciting all the information contained in the registry, be signed by the agent who delivers them, and stamped with the seal of the consulate. The blank form, which you will find further on, may be followed in drawing up these certificates."

Where the Belgian residents are numerous the register shall be provided with an alphabetical index in order to facilitate consultation. Finally, at the beginning of January of each year the officials of the foreign office abroad shall transmit to the ministry of foreign affairs a copy of the inscriptions made in the register during the preceding year.

It is not to be expected that the carrying out of the foregoing instructions will be accompanied with any difficulties; they are formal and do not really need any comment. Nevertheless, I will give a few explanations in order clearly to set forth the intentions of the Government.

As you will have observed, Belgians can not be inscribed in the registry until they have proven their nationality.

As a rule, Belgian nationality should be proven, as far as possible, by means of authentic documents, such as certified copies of declarations of choice of nationality, naturalization certificates, birth and marriage certificates, passports, certificates of discharge from military service, etc. You will please observe, however, that the performance of the military obligations does not necessarily involve Belgian nationality, which can only be acquired according to the rules established by law.

If the interested parties do not possess corroborative documents, you will take such precautions as prudence and the circumstances suggest in order to establish their identity and their Belgian nationality. I can but reiterate to you in this connection the recommendations already made in the circular of Viscount Vilain XIV of June 24, 1857, regarding the issuance of passports.

Whenever any doubt remains in your mind regarding the identity of the applicant, it will be well to require him to make a declaration, preferably in the office and in the presence of two witnesses, and containing all the data to be entered in the register. Should you deem it necessary you might, besides, refer the matter to my department, which will make the necessary inquiries of the competent authorities in the Kingdom.

Another point to which I wish to call your earnest attention is the purely optional character of the measure of which I have just spoken to you. Although it is expedient that you invite the Belgians residing within your consular jurisdiction to register voluntarily, and that you neglect no opportunity to impress upon them the utility of this formality, nevertheless you must not in any case, in spite of the practical advantages offered by registration, consider yourself authorized to make it obligatory or to refuse your assistance to those of our countrymen who have not registered."

In some countries the local authorities require foreigners residing within their territories to furnish proof of their nationality. When, in such cases, Belgians call at the consulate in order to declare there that they possess and wish to retain Belgian nationality, you must not record their declaration in the special registers for the declaration of nationality, the keeping of which forms the subject of the second part of the present document, but you should inscribe the declarants in the register of the consulate, keeping in mind the rules which I have just laid down. As a general rule the exhibition of an extract

from the last-named register will be sufficient for them in order to furnish to the local authorities the proof which the latter require.

As it is desirable that the utility of registration be known to all parties concerned, you will please post up on the doors of your office the notice which my department places at your disposal for this purpose. This notice invites Belgians residing abroad to register at the consulate within whose jurisdiction they reside. It also calls attention to the fact that consuls are authorized to grant a total or partial remission of the fees established for the delivery or viséing of the certificates of registration. Whenever any person not situated in easy circumstances asks such a favor of you, I can only state that I shall be obliged to you to comply with his request.

Please accept, etc.,

[Enclosure in despatch from Mr. Sorsby, minister to Bolivia, October 4, 1906.]

The minister of foreign affairs to Mr. Sorsby, August 31, 1906.

No. 18.]

[Translation.]

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

La Paz, August 31, 1906.

Mr. MINISTER: In reply to your estimable dispatch of the 22nd instant, in which you request this ministry to furnish you with the laws in force with respect to citizenship, expatriation, and protection of Bolivian citizens abroad, I have to say that the articles of the political constitution in force, promulgated October 28, 1880, and which govern the matter, are as follows:

ARTICLE 31. The following are Bolivians by birth: 1st. Those born within the territory of the Republic.

2nd. Those born abroad of a Bolivian father or mother in the service of the Republic, or who have emigrated for political causes; these are Bolivians even in those cases in which the law imposes the condition of having been born in Bolivian territory.

ARTICLE 32. The following are also Bolivians:

1st. Children born abroad of a Bolivian father or mother, by the mere fact of settling in Bolivia.

2nd. Foreigners who, having resided one year in the Republic, declare their desire to settle in Bolivia before the authorities of the municipality in which they reside.

3rd. Foreigners who obtain naturalization papers from the Chamber of Deputies as a privilege.

ARTICLE 33. In order to be a citizen it is necessary:

1st. To be a Bolivian; 2nd. To be 21 years of age if single, or 18 if married; 3. To be able to read and write and to be possessed of real estate, or an annual income of two hundred bolivianos not derived from services as a domestic servant; and 4th. To be inscribed in the civil register.

ARTICLE 34. The rights of citizenship consist:

1. In participation, as elector or elected, in the formation or exercise of the public powers.

2. In being eligible to public offices without any other requisite than fitness, save the exceptions established by this constitution.

ARTICLE 35. The rights of citizenship are lost: 1st. By becoming naturalized in a foreign country; 2nd. By being sentenced by a competent tribunal to corporal punishment until rehabilitation; 3rd. By making a declaration of fraudulent bankruptcy; and 4th. By accepting employment, office, or decorations from a foreign Government without special permission of the Senate.

ARTICLE 36. The rights of citizenship are suspended for being sub judice by virtue of a decree of impeachment, or for having been distrained as a debtor to the public treasury after the expiration of the period fixed for payment.

With the hope of having complied with your request, I take pleasure in renewing the assurances of my high and distinguished con

sideration.

To His Excellency Mr. WILLIAM B. SORSBY,

CLAUDIO PINILLA.

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister

Plenipotentiary of the United States.

BRAZIL.

[Enclosure in despatch from Mr. Griscom, ambassador to Brazil, October 13, 1906.]

The minister for foreign affairs to Mr. Griscom, October 8, 1906.

Second section.]

[Translation.]

MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Rio de Janeiro, October 8, 1906. MR. AMBASSADOR: I have before me note No. 23 which your excellency sent me on August 11 requesting explanations about the laws which regulate the rights of Brazilian citizenship and the way we protect our citizens residing in foreign countries.

To the first question formulated in the said note it is my duty to answer that the rights of citizenship are those stated in articles 72 to 78 of the Federal constitution.

As to the second question, decree No. 569 of June 7, 1899, says:

ART. 1. The rights of Brazilian citizenship are lost to those:

SEC. 1. Who become naturalized in a foreign country. (Constitution, art. 71, sec. 2, letter A.)

SEC. 2. Who accept any employment or pension from a foreign government without permission of the Federal executive. (Constitution, art. 71, sec. 2, letter B.)

SEC. 1. Brazilians who allege reasons of religious faith in order to dispense with whatever duty the laws of the Republic may by chance impose on its citizens. (Constitution, art. 72, sec. 29.)

SEC. 2. Brazilians who accept foreign decorations or titles of nobility. (Constitution, art. 72, sec. 29.)

To the third question, your excellency will find the answer in the said articles 2 and 5, and in addition in numbers 3, 4, and 7 of the above-mentioned decree, which I transcribe below:

ART. 3. The national who has lost his citizenship reacquires the rights of Brazilian citizenship when he obtains his reintegration by decree (of the executive), provided he is domiciled in Brazil.

SEC. 1. In order to accomplish this the petitioner will address a petition to the President of the Republic, through the minister of the interior or of the governor or president of the State in which he resides. His signature must be duly