States if it was deemed best by the political department of the government, but would simply necessitate that it should be exercised by the military instead of by the civil power."

2. Status of Porto Ricans and Filipinos.

In conformity with the provision of the treaty which declares that the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be determined by the Congress, Congress, by the Act of April 12, 1900 (31 Stat. at L. 77, Ch. 191), establishing a civil government for Porto Rico, provided that "all inhabitants continuing to reside therein who were Spanish subjects on the 11th day of April, 1899, and then resided in Porto Rico, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of Porto Rico, and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain on or before the 11th day of April, 1900, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain entered into on the 11th day of April, 1899 (30 Stat. at L. 1754); and they, together with such citizens of the United States as may reside in Porto Rico, shall constitute a body politic under the name of The People of Porto Rico, with governmental powers as hereinafter conferred, and with power to sue and be sued as such." (Sec. 7.)

And by the Act of July 1st, 1902 (32 Stat. at L. 691, Chap. 1369), providing for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, Congress declared that "all inhabitants of the Philippine Islands continuing to reside therein, who were Spanish subjects on the 11th day of April, 1899, and then resided in said islands, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of the

Philippine Islands, and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, signed at Paris December 10th, 1898" (Sec. 4).* [30 Stat. at L. 1754].

From a despatch of the United States consul at Amoy in August, 1903, it appeared that Buenaventura Chuntianlay, a Chinese merchant, born at Amoy, emigrated to the Philippines thirty years ago, and had been domiciled there since that time. In 1899 he married a native of the Philippines, and, as the result of the marriage, a son was born in the Philippine Islands December 5, 1902. Chuntianlay, who was then with his family on a temporary visit in Amoy, wished to be registered in the consulate, or, failing that, desired to have either his wife or child registered. The consul stated that Chuntianlay had considerable property interests in Amoy, and that his object * The whole law relating to the citizenship of residents of the Philippine Islands is as follows:

ARTICLE IX OF THE TREATY OF PARIS.

Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula, residing in the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty may remain in such territory or may remove therefrom, retaining in either event all their rights of property, including the right to sell or dispose of such property or of its proceeds, and they shall also have the right to carry on their industry, commerce, and professions, being subject in respect thereof to such laws as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they remain in the territory they may preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain by making, before a court of record, within a year (extended by the protocol of agreement proclaimed on April 28, 1900, to eighteen months, 31 Stat. at L., 1881) from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty (April 11, 1899), a declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance; in default of which declaration they shall be held to have renounced it and to have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may reside.

The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined by the Congress.

in trying to register a member of the family in the consulate was to enable him to transfer the property to the member so registered, thus putting it under American ownership, to avoid the assessments of the Chinese officials, which are said to be quite heavy on property owned by nonresidents. The consul inquired whether any one of his family was entitled to registration, and, if so, whether it would be proper for him to record a transfer of property from Mr. Chuntianlay to such member of his family.

In reply, the Acting Secretary of State said: "Upon the facts stated, neither of the Chuntianlays appears to be entitled to registration in the consulate.

"Section 4 of the Act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. at L. 692, Ch. 1369), provides that 'all inhabitants of the Philippine Islands continuing to reside therein, who were Spanish subjects on the 11th day of April, 1899, and then resided in said islands, and their children born sub

SECTION 4 OF ACT OF CONGRESS OF JULY 1, 1902.

That all inhabitants of the Philippine Islands continuing to reside therein who were Spanish subjects on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and then resided in said islands, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of the Philippine Islands and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain signed at Paris December tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight. [And the protocol proclaimed April 28, 1900.]

PROVISIONS OF THE SPANISH CIVIL CODE.

ART. 17. The following are Spaniards: (1) Persons born in Spanish territory; (2) children of a Spanish father or mother, even though they were born out of Spain; (3) foreigners who may have obtained naturalization papers; (4) those who, without said papers, may have acquired a residence in any town in the monarchy.

ART. 18. Children, while they remain under the parental authority, have the nationality of their parents.

In order that those born of foreign parents in Spanish territory may enjoy the benefits granted them by No. 1 of article 17, it shall be an

sequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of the Philippine Islands, and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, except such as shall have elected to preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, signed at Paris December 10, 1898.' 30 Stat. at L. 1754.

"While Mr. Chuntianlay comes within the language of the statute, 'inhabitants of the Philippine Islands,' he is not included within the description, 'who were Spanish subjects on the 11th day of April, 1899.' According to the statement in your despatch, he is 'a Chinese merchant who emigrated to the Philippine Islands thirty years ago and has been domiciled there since that time.' If he had acquired Spanish citizenship it is inferred that that fact would have been stated.

indispensable requisite that the parents declare, in the manner and before the officials specified in article 19, that they choose in the name of their children the Spanish nationality, renouncing all others.

ART. 19. The children of a foreigner born in Spanish possessions must state, within the year following their majority of emancipation, whether they desire to enjoy the citizenship of Spaniards granted them by article 17.

Those who are in the kindom shall make this declaration before the official in charge of the civil registry of the town in which they reside; those who reside abroad before one of the consular or diplomatic agents of the Spanish government, and those who are in a country in which the government has no agent addressing the secretary of state of Spain.

The effect of these provisions, as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands in the Bosque case (1 Philippine Reports, 88) is that:

1. Natives of Spain became citizens of the Philippine Islands if they complied with two requirements: (a) Residence in the islands from 11 April, 1899, to 11 October, 1900, and (b) failure to preserve allegiance to Spain by a legal declaration made within that period.

2. Inhabitants of the Philippine Islands (other than those embraced in the last paragraph), and their children born after 11 April, 1899, are citizens of the Philippine Islands, if (a) they were Spanish subjects on that date, and (b) resided in the Philippine Islands on that date and continue to reside therein. Memorandum regarding Naturalization of Residents of the Philippine Islands, S. Doc. 336, 59th Cong., 1st Sess.

"Assuming, then, that Mr. Chuntianlay is, as stated in your despatch, a Chinese subject domiciled in the Philippine Islands, upon his marriage to a native of the Philippines, under the general rule that the nationality of the wife follows that of the husband, she became a Chinese subject.

"The son, born in the Philippines December 5, 1902, is not a citizen of the Philippine Islands within the meaning of the statute, as that only applies to the children of inhabitants of the islands who were Spanish subjects on April 11, 1899." Asst. Sec'y Adee to United States Consul at Amoy, September 5, 1903.

The treaty provision and the Act of Congress of April 12, 1900, were construed by the Circuit Court of the United States for the southern district of New York, in October, 1902, in the case of Re Gonzalez, 118 Fed. 941, upon a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The facts are stated in the opinion of the court, Lacombe, Judge: "Petitioner, an unmarried woman, is a native of Porto Rico, twenty years of age, who arrived here from that island on August 24, 1902. She was detained at Ellis Island immigrant station, was duly examined by a board of special inquiry, and was excluded from admission into the United States upon the ground that she was liable to become a public charge. The only question open for discussion on this application is whether or not petitioner is an alien. Upon all other questions the decision of the appropriate immigration officers, when adverse to the admission of the alien, is made final, unless reversed on appeal to the Secretary of the Treasury. Act August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. at L. 390, Chap. 301 [U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, 1303]). The 14th Amendment to the Constitution provides that all in the United States, and

persons born or naturalized subject to the jurisdiction

thereof, are citizens of the United States. It is not dis

puted that petitioner was by birth an alien. Unless in