depredation which occurred prior to his becoming a citizen of the United States in the manner provided by the treaty. De Baca v. United States (1901), 36 Ct. Cl. 407. This case contains an elaborate discussion of the boundaries of Texas. "The change of national character subsequent to the alleged offence does not release an offender from penalties previously incurred when legally brought within the jurisdiction of the country whose laws have been violated." Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. D'Oench, Nov. 16, 1853, 42 MS. Dom. "When an alien who has been naturalized in the United States voluntarily returns to his native country with legal obligations contracted before he left there, the naturalization is not held to absolve him from those obligations if the government or individual to whom they may be due shall think proper to enforce them." Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Vroom, min. to Prussia, No. 37, Dec. See, also, Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Florence, M. C., Feb. 17, 1857, While a naturalized citizen who returns to his native country is liable, like any other person, to be arrested for a debt or a crime, he can not rightfully be punished for the nonperformance of a duty which is supposed to grow out of his abjured allegiance. An arrest of a former subject, who has become naturalized in the United States, can not be justified on the ground that he emigrated contrary to the laws of his original country. Black, At. Gen., 1859, 9 Op. 356. "It is apprehended, however, that the Moorish Government may be mistaken, if it supposes that the effect of the naturalization of the person adverted to, supposing it to have taken place, would be to weaken his liability for his debts in Morocco, even if he should return to that country. He might, in that case, be prosecuted for them in the consular court, and this Government is bound to presume that impartial justice would there be dispensed." Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Mathews, Oct. 23, 1872, MS. Inst. Barb. "Desertion is an offense from the penalty of which exemption by foreign naturalization is neither claimed nor conceded by the United States or, so far as known, by any other country." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Turner, Sept. 10, 1885, 157 MS. Dom. See, to the same effect, Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Bain, April 18, While "desertion from active military service is generally regarded as not condoned by lapse of time or change of nationality," and no official action can be taken in such a case, yet, where a British subject, who deserted from the British army in his youth in 1842, afterwards became an American citizen, and served with distinction in the American civil war, attaining the rank of brevet brigadier-general, the American minister in London was instructed that he might personally present the request of the person in question for the removal of whatever disability might rest on him by reason of his desertion forty-five years before. (Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Endicott, June 14, 1887, 164 MS. Dom. Let. 626.) A June 17, 1887, on the Queen's Jubilee, a proclamation was issued granting pardon to all deserters from the land forces of England of more than five years' standing, provided the deserter surrendered himself within two months if at home, and within four months if abroad. person who failed to avail himself of the terms of the proclamation remained amenable to the penalties prescribed by the laws of Great Britain in case of his return. (Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Mr. McDowell, June 11, 1895, 202 MS. Dom. Let. 538; Mr. Adee, Second Assist. Sec. of State, to Mr. Todd, Dec. 10, 1897, 223 MS. Dom. Let. 326.) The crime of desertion is not condoned by law or treaty and generally not by lapse of time, but a person, who deserted from the German army in 1873 and came to the United States and was naturalized, was advised that if he would prepare a petition for pardon in the German language, and send it to the imperial war office, and then send a copy to the Department of State, the American ambassador at Berlin would be instructed to support it so far as he properly might. (Mr. Hill, Assist. Sec. of State, to Mr. Whelden, June 19, 1900, 245 MS. Dom. Let. 664.) American citizenship will not exempt a person from trial in Great Britain for the offence of mutiny committed there while a subject of that country. (Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Willey, April 29, 1885, 155 MS. Dom. Let. 245.) In 1887 the American legation in Paris presented to the foreign office the case of J. C. Carlin, a naturalized American citizen of French origin, who, prior to his naturalization, deserted from a French merchant vessel in the United States, and who desired to return to France for the purpose of visiting his family. The French foreign office, in its reply, besides referring to the charge of desertion, stated that Carlin belonged to the class of 1876, and, as he did not respond to the call for the army, he was declared, February 15, 1878, to be in a state of insubmission. He was therefore, said the foreign office, subject to two penalties, (1) imprisonment from one to three months for the desertion (art. 66, decree and law of March 24, 1852); (2) imprisonment from one month to one year for insubmission (art. 61, law of July 27, 1872). These two offences being successive could not fall under the law of limitation, and, as there was nothing in Carlin's prior conduct to justify a favor, permission for his return was refused. Mr. Vignaud, chargé at Paris, to Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, Sept. 5, 1887, Naturalization can not retroactively affect a penalty imposed before the naturalization took place. Mr. Adee, Act. Sec. of State, to Mr. Kunze, Aug. 3, 1897, 220 MS. Dom. Referring to the case of Efraim Rubin, a naturalized citizen of the United States of Austrian birth, who was arrested in his native country for nonperformance of military service, but afterwards released, and who claimed $9,000 as damages on account of his arrest and imprisonment, and $3,000 in addition by way of solatium, the Department of State said: "It is not the practice of the Department to present claims arising out of the military arrest and detention of naturalized American citizens who return to the country of their birth." Mr. Adee, Acting Sec. of State, to Mr. Harris, min. to Austria-Hungary, The same rule is laid down in Mr. Hill, Assist. Sec. of State, to Mr. Kar- For a contrary view, in certain earlier instances, see Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Davis, min. to Germany, Nov. 21, 1876, MS. Inst. Germany, XVI. 264; Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. White, min. to Germany, June 26, 1879, id. 477; and Mr. F. W. Seward, Acting Sec. of State, to Mr. White, min. to Germany, August 27, 1879, MS. Inst. Germany, id. 505, 2. GERMAN TREATIES. (1) MILITARY CASES. § 402. "The information given below is believed to be correct, yet is not to be considered as official, as it relates to the laws and regulations of a foreign country. "A German subject is liable to military service from the time he has completed the 17th year of his age until his 45th year, active service lasting from the beginning of his 20th year to the end of his 36th year. "A German who emigrates before he is 17 years old, or before he has been actually called upon to appear before the military authorities, may, after a residence in the United States of five years and after due naturalization, return to Germany on a visit, but his right to remain in his former home is denied by Germany, and he may be expelled after a brief sojourn on the ground that he left Germany merely to evade military service. It is not safe for a person who has once been expelled to return to Germany without having obtained permission to do so in advance. A person who has completed his military service and has reached his 31st year and become an American citizen may safely return to Germany. "The treaties between the United States and the German States provide that German subjects who have become citizens of the United States shall be recognized as such upon their return to Germany if they resided in the United States five years. "But a naturalized American of German birth is liable to trial and punishment upon return to Germany for an offense against German law committed before emigration, saving always the limitations of the laws of Germany. If he emigrated after he was enrolled as a recruit in the standing army; if he emigrated while in service or while on leave of absence for a limited time; if, having an unlimited leave or being in the reserve, he emigrated after receiving a call into service or after a public proclamation requiring his appearance, or after war broke out, he is liable to trial and punishment on return. "Alsace-Lorraine having become a part of Germany since our naturalization treaties with the other German States were negotiated, American citizens, natives of that province, under existing circumstances, may be subjected to inconvenience and possible detention by the German authorities if they return without having sought and obtained permission to do so from the imperial governor at Strassburg. "The authorities of Würtemberg require that the evidence of the American citizenship of a former subject of Würtemberg which is furnished by a passport shall be supplemented by a duly authenti cated certificate showing five years' residence in the United States, in order that fulfillment of the treaty condition of five years' residence may appear separately as a fact of record. "A former German subject against whom there is an outstanding sentence, or who fears molestation upon return for an offense against German law, may petition the sovereign of his native State for relief, but this Government can not act as intermediary in presenting the petition." Circular notice, Department of State, Washington, Jan. 23, 1901, For. That a person charged, not with evasion of military service by emigration, Natives of Würtemberg, who, after being naturalized in the United States, return to their native country, should carry not only American passports, but also their certificates of naturalization. The certificate should be authenticated by the German consul nearest the person's home, and if, as is often the case, it does not state that he has lived five years uninterruptedly or continuously in the United States, he should take with him a written statement that he has so resided, signed and sworn to by two friends before a notary, and the signature of the notary should be acknowledged by the German consul. Besides, if the person in question was not naturalized in his full and exact baptismal name, he should take with him another statement, sworn to and acknowledged in the same manner, to the effect that "Henry who was naturalized on —, 18—, before the court of at is identical with Heinrich C. for whatever the name may be], son of————————— and G. who was Mr. Johnson, consul at Stuttgart, to Mr. Uhl, Sept. 18, 1895, For. Rel. 1895, See Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Mr. Jackson, chargé at Berlin, Feb. 13, In Germany it is the practice of the local authorities to keep records of the birth and whereabouts of all residents, and it is the duty of every German, upon changing his residence, to inform the authorities, of both his old and his new home, of the fact. From time to time notices are issued for all males of a certain age to report for examination as to fitness for military service. If, after a certain time, anyone has not reported, a judgment of fine or imprisonment, or both, is taken against him and is executed whenever possible. It is this that gives rise to the frequent so-called "military cases." If the person against whom such a judgment is sought to be executed satisfies the local authorities that he has acquired another nationality or has lost his |