4. The naturalization of foreigners and the restoration of French nationality shall give rise to the collection of a fee of 100 francs for affixing the seal. This fee shall go to the benefit of the colony.

A total or partial remission of this fee may be granted by decree of the President of the Republic at the proposal of the minister of the colonies and the minister of justice.

TITLE II.-Formalities to be observed in order to acquire or renounce French nationality in the colonies, except Guadeloupe, La Martinique, and La Réunion.

5. A foreigner who desires to become naturalized in the colonies should present an application, accompanied by his birth certificate, an extract of the court record relating to him, and, if married, his marriage certificate and the birth certificates of his minor children, with a translation of these documents if they are in a foreign language.

6. A foreigner who requests naturalization after three years' uninterrupted residence in the colony should append to his application documents showing that he actually resides there and has resided there at least three years.

7. A foreigner who has married a French woman should, if he desires to become naturalized after one year's residence, produce the birth certificate of his wife as well as that of her father, if the latter document is necessary in order to prove her French origin.

8. A foreigner who requests naturalization under the conditions contemplated by article 10 of the Civil Code as modified by the present decree should produce birth or marriage certificates of that one of his parents who possessed French nationality, and of his grandfather in the same line, as well as the documents which certify to the loss of such nationality.

9. If the interested party is unable to procure the documents relative to the civil status which are required to be produced by the present decree, their place may be supplied by a national act drawn up in the form established by a ministerial decision reached jointly by the minister of the colonies and the guardian of the seals, minister of justice.

10. The wife and minor children of a foreigner who requests to become French, either by naturalization or restoration to former nationality, should, if they desire also to acquire French nationality without condition as to period of residence, by application of articles 12 and 18 of the Civil Code as modified by the present decree, append their application for naturalization to that made by the husband, the father, or the mother.

11. The application for naturalization should be transmitted, together with the corroborative documents, to the mayor of the commune or to the administrative officer of the territory in which the applicant resides.

It is the duty of the mayor or administrative officer to make an investigation as to the previous record and the moral character of the applicant. The result of this investigation is sent, together with the record of the case and the corroborative documents, to the director of the interior or the official performing the duties of such.

The latter transmits the case, together with his opinion supported by reasons, to the governor of the colony.

The governor, after passing upon the application, transmits it, together with the corroborative documents, to the minister of the colonies.

It is decided upon by the President of the Republic, with the advice of the minister of the colonies and the minister of justice.

12. Signed declarations, made either in order to renounce the right to decline French nationality or in order to relinquish such nationality, are received by the justice of the peace within whose jurisdiction the applicant resides.

They may be made by special and duly authenticated power of attorney.

They shall be drawn up in duplicate.

The applicant shall be accompanied by two witnesses, who shall certify to his identity. He shall produce in support of his declaration his birth certificate, an attestation in due form from his government, showing that he has preserved the nationality of his parents, and a certificate to the effect that he has responded to the call to the colors in conformity with the military law of his country, save the exceptions provided by treaties.

In case of residence abroad the declarations are received by the diplomatic officers or the consuls.

13. The two copies of the declaration and the corroborative documents shall be immediately sent by the justice of the peace to the attorney-general of the Republic. The latter shall transmit them without delay, through the governor, to the minister of the colonies, who shall forward them to the minister of justice.

The declaration shall be recorded at the chancelry on a special register. One of the copies, together with the corroborative documents, shall be filed among the archives, while the other copy is sent to the interested party with a memorandum of the registration.

The recorded declaration shall bear the date of the day on which it was received by the authority before which it was made.

14. The declaration must be recorded in the ministry of justice under penalty of being void.

The recording shall be refused if it is found from the documents produced that the declarant does not fulfill the conditions imposed by law, he being entitled to appeal before the civil courts in the manner prescribed by articles 855 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The applicant shall, within a year from the date of his declaration, receive a notification of the refusal to record it, accompanied by a statement of the reasons.

Unless the notifications mentioned above are made within the period indicated the minister of justice shall, upon the expiration thereof, deliver to the declarant, at his request, a copy of his declaration, accompanied by a memorandum of registration.

15. The renunciation by a minor of the right which belongs to him, in accordance with articles 12 and 18 of the Civil Code, as modified by the present decree, of declining French nationality within a year after the attainment of his majority, shall be made in his name by his father, or, in case of the latter's death, by his mother; in case of

the death of both father and mother or of their exclusion from guardianship, or in the cases contemplated by articles 142 and 143 of the Civil Code, or in case the period of paternal authority has expired, it shall be made by the guardian authorized by deliberation of the family council.

These declarations shall be made in the form prescribed by articles 12 et seq. of the present decree. They shall be accompanied by the birth certificate of the minor and by the decree conferring French nationality on his father or mother, as the case may be.

16. Declarations made either for the purpose of renouncing the right to decline French nationality or for the purpose of relinquishing such nationality shall be inserted in the Law Bulletin after being recorded.

Nevertheless, the omission of this formality shall not prejudice the rights of declarants.

No fees for affixing seals shall be collected on these declarations.

TITLE III.-General provisions.

17. No change is made in the status of the natives in the French colonies.

18. All provisions contrary to the present regulations are hereby abrogated.

19. The minister of the colonies and the guardian of the seals, minister of justice, are each charged, as far as he is concerned, with the execution of the present decree, which shall be published in the Official Gazette of the French Republic and inserted in the Law Bulletin, as well as in the official bulletin of the ministry of the colonies. Done at Paris, February 7, 1897.

FÉLIX FAURE.

ANDRÉ LEBON,

Minister of the Colonies.

J. DARLAN,

Guardian of the Seals,

Minister of Justice and Worship.

GERMAN EMPIRE.

Mr. Tower, ambassador to Germany, to Mr. Root, Secretary of State, November 19, 1906.

No. 1061.]

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES,
Berlin, November 19, 1906.

SIR: In compliance with the instructions contained in Mr. Bacon's circular dispatch of the 9th of July, 1906, and in reply to a note which I addressed accordingly to the imperial German ministry of foreign affairs, asking for information in regard to the laws of citizenship and the practice of the German Government in protecting its citizens in foreign countries and recognizing their expatriation, I have received to-day from the ministry copies of the laws now in force upon this subject throughout the Empire, which are respectfully inclosed to you herewith, as follows:

A copy of the "Bundes-Gesetzblatt des Norddeutschen Bundes," No. 20, issued at Berlin on the 23d of June, 1870, which contains on page 355 the law of June 1, 1870, as to acquirement and loss of citizenship in the different Federated States of the North German Confederation. This law, which was enacted only for the territory included within the North German Confederation, was subsequently extended and has effect throughout the whole German Empire; so that its provisions which relate to the North German Confederation, its territory and its citizens, are to be taken to apply to the whole of the territory and citizens of the Empire.

In this it is to be noted, however, that the provisions of article 1. paragraph 2, and of article 8, paragraph 3, and also paragraph 16, which were valid only so long as the North German Confederation existed and were limited to its existence, have now no further force. It will be seen that under this law the rights of citizenship in Germany are acquired:

1. By inheritance.

2. By legitimation.
3. By marriage.
4. By adoption.

5. In the case of a foreigner, by naturalization.

By birth, even in the case of children born abroad; legitimate children of a citizen of Germany acquire the nationality of their father; illegitimate children acquire the nationality of the mother.

I inclose also herewith, upon page 604 of the Reichs-Gezetzblatt, issued on the 18th of August, 1906, a copy of a statute which enlarged and amended the provisions of the act above referred to of the 1st of June, 1870.

I also inclose as a further provision relating to citizenship in Germany a copy of the "Bundes-Gesetzblatt des Norddeutschen Bundes," No. 16, published in Berlin on the 20th of April, 1871, containing on page 64 a copy of the constitution of the German Empire; this provision is in paragraph 3.

I also inclose a copy of the "Reichs-Gesetzblatt," No. 32, issued at Berlin on the 22d of December, 1875, which contains on page 324 a further enactment in regard to foreigners in the service of the German Empire.

I inclose further a copy of the "Reichs-Gesetzblatt," No. 40, issued at Berlin on the 13th of September, 1900, which contains on page 812 the provisions relating to the acquirement of citizenship in the German protectorates.

The provisions of the law under which citizenship and nationality are lost in Germany are set forth in paragraphs 1 to 13 of the statutes of the 1st of June, 1870.

German subjects may, under certain circumstances, be released upon petition from their German allegiance. The provisions relating to this subject are to be found in paragraph 13, No. 1, and in paragraphs 14 to 19 of the law of the 1st of June, 1870; but if a German subject has once been released from his allegiance he can acquire his nationality again only through naturalization.

Germans who have lived abroad for ten years without interruption shall lose their nationality through that fact, unless they take steps to preserve their allegiance under the provisions of the statute. This period of ten years may be reduced by treaty between Germany

and other states to a period of five years. (Paragraph 21 of the statute of the 1st of June, 1870.)

Reacquirement of nationality so lost is provided for in sections 4 and 5 of paragraph 21 of that statute.

In case of a residence abroad German nationality may be lost also under conditions which are set forth in paragraphs 20 and 22 of the statute of the 1st of June, 1870.

German subjects residing abroad have the right to claim German protection abroad under the provisions of the constitution of the Empire. But the Imperial Government denies its protection to German subjects living abroad in case such subjects have voluntarily acquired citizenship in another country.

I have, etc.,

CHARLEMAGNE TOWER.

[Enclosure.-Translation.]

(NO. 510.) LAW OF JUNE 1, 1870, ON THE ACQUISITION AND LOSS OF CITIZENSHIP IN

THE CONFEDERATION AND THE STATES THEREOF.

We, William, by God's grace King of Prussia, etc., order in the name of the North German Confederation, with the consent of the Bundesrath and the Reichstag, as follows:

$ 1.

Citizenship in the Confederation is acquired by virtue of citizenship in one of the States thereof, and ceases with the loss of the latter.

Citizens of the Grand Duchy of Hesse possess citizenship in the Confederation only when they are domiciled in those parts of the grand duch which belong to the Confederation.

§ 2.

Citizenship in one of the States of the Confederation shall hereafter be only(1) By descent (§ 3);

(2) By legitimation (§ 4);

(3) By marriage (§ 5);

(4) In case of a North German, by admission; and

(5) In case of a foreigner, by naturalization (§ 6 et seq.).

Adoption does not have this effect of itself.

§ 3.

The legitimate children of a North German acquire the citizenship of the father by birth, even when they are born abroad, and the illegitimate children of a North German woman acquire the citizenship of the mother by birth, even though they be born abroad.

§ 4.

If the father of an illegitimate child is a North German and the mother does not possess the citizenship of the father, the child acquires the citizenship of the father by being legitimated according to the law.

§ 5.

Marriage with a North German confers the citizenship of the husband on the

wife.

§ 6.

Both admission and naturalization (§ 2, Nos. 4 and 5) are granted by means of a certificate drawn up by the proper administrative authority.