her case analogous to that decided by you in your dispatch No. 238, dated February 24, 1871, where you decided that it would be judicious to withhold a passport in a case where an American woman had married a foreigner and her husband had afterward died, unless she gave evidence of her intention to resume her residence in the United States. In the present case the party desiring the passport does not "give evidence of her intention to resume her residence in the United States," but avows that her purpose in obtaining a passport is to enable her to marry a Frenchman.—Mr. Washburn to Mr. Fish, No. 963, May 5, 1874. Answer: I have to state that the course pursued by you For. Rels., in regard thereto is approved.—Mr. Fish to Mr. Washburn, No. 614, June 9, 1874. 1874, P. 413. 1894, P. 139. You state that Mrs. Lawrence was originally a British For. Rels., subject, that she married a citizen of the United States, and has since been divorced. Mrs. Lawrence, by her marriage, became an American citizen both by British and American law; she is undoubtedly still an American citizen, viewed either from the American or the English standpoint. She has not lost her American nationality by any method recognized by our law; and, according to British law, an English woman who by marriage acquires foreign citizenship must, in order to reacquire her original nationality upon her husband's death, obtain a certificate therefor from the British authorities. It is not believed that any different rule would be applied where the parties are divorced. As Mrs. Lawrence claims American citizenship, it is assumed that she has not taken any steps to reacquire British nationality. It is not understood, either, that there is any conflicting claim to her allegiance. Mr. Uhl to Mr. Denby, March 17, 1894. Vol. ii, p. 305, Vol. viii, P. 155, May 5, 1882. Vol. x, p. 109, Vol. xiii, DUPLICATE PASSPORT. When a passport has been lost or destroyed by accident and the fact is clearly established, a duplicate may be issued in its place; but two passports are never furnished to one applicant. When a duplicate is issued, every effort should be made to obtain possession of the original; and when it is obtained, either the original or the duplicate should be destroyed. It is proper that you should understand that the circumstances connected with this case are such as to cause this Department to view the application with suspicion. The attorney who makes application for this passport alleges that in two separate instances passports for which he has applied were not received. It is desired, accordingly, that the accompanying passport shall not be delivered, unless you are fully satisfied that the case is regular, authentic, and genuine. It is presumed that you have sufficient address to enable you to ascertain whether is really entitled to a passport before you deliver it. If he is really entitled to it, of course he should receive it; otherwise not.- To Dispatch Agent, New York. Application for duplicate of a lost passport of recent date should be in the form of affidavit, stating the facts in regardto loss. It is not customary to send passports in duplicate. Before a duplicate passport can be issued, it must be Mar. 28, 1896. clearly shown that the original has not reached the person P. 312, for whom it was intended, or has been lost. DURATION AND RENEWAL OF PASSPORT. A passport is good for two years from its date, and no longer. When it has expired, a new application may be made and a new passport issued. The old passport, if issued in this country, may be accepted instead of the naturalization certificate in proof of citizenship, if upon examination the original application is found to have contained sufficient information to satisfy the regulations in force. If the examination develops the fact that the first passport was improperly issued, the Department declines to issue another. Jan. 5, 1872. A passport can not be issued by this Department upon Vol. ii, p. 207, one obtained from a legation or consulate. -'s Vol. xiii, p. 286, It is true, as stated in your letter and in Mr. letter, that he received a passport from this Government Mar. 26, 1896. before. It was issued April 30, 1884, and was a reissue of a passport which had previously been given him on May 17, 1875. The application on which the latter passport was issued contained no statement as to the time of Mr. 's emigration, and hence the Department had no opportunity, as it has in the case of the application now under consideration, of ascertaining that the applicant's naturalization was incorrect. The passport regulations now in force require an affidavit containing fuller information than was formerly required, and an old passport is now no longer reissued. R. R. Hitt, The regulation in question is prescribed by this Depart- Letter to Hon. ment in the exercise of the discretionary authority of the Apr. 23, 1896. Secretary of State to grant passports, the issuance thereof Printed form of Department letter, 1896. being, under section 4075, Revised Statutes, permissive and not mandatory. The object of prescribing a two years' duration for passports issued is partly to insure evidence at reasonable invervals of the conservation of United States citizenship by persons residing indefinitely abroad, and partly in view of the provisions of certain naturalization treaties which stipulate that a return to and residence for two years in the country of origin creates a presumption of intention to resume the original status. Prior to the adoption of this rule it was not uncommon for parties permanently domiciled abroad, and not locally known to be American citizens, to claim protection in some emergency under passports issued many years before; and the convenience of the rule has been manifest in many regards, both as regards native and naturalized citizens. of the passport formerly issued to EXPATRIATION. (See also Citizenship.) Americans, therefore, The Government of the United States has declared by statute that expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all men. who go abroad may subsequently acquire citizenship in some other country, or they may forfeit American citizenship. Sometimes the forfeiture may be by some formal act of renunciation; sometimes it may follow a severance for a long period of time of their relations with this Government; sometimes it may be inferred from an acceptance of service under a foreign government. There is no general or fixed rule on the subject; but, whenever expatriation has occurred, the former American citizen is necessarily denied the protection of a passport. 1999. Whereas the right of expatriation is a natural and inher- Right of expatriation. ent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of R. S. sec. the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and whereas in the recognition of this principle this Government has freely received emigrants from all nations, and invested them with the rights of citizenship; and whereas it is claimed that such American citizens, with their descendants, are subjects of foreign states, owing allegiance to the governments thereof; and whereas it is necessary to the maintenance of public peace that this claim of foreign allegiance should be promptly and finally disavowed: Therefore any declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officer of the United States which denies, restricts, impairs, or questions the right of |