1.  Europa.  625  35.  Großbritannien  und  Irland.

in  the  interest  of  public  safety.  It  has  the  duty  of  keeping  the  standard  of  weights,  tlıe  safety
of  ships  and  crews,  and  issues  certificates  to  the  officers  and  engineers  of  merchant  ships  ““enabling
them  to  act  as  masters,  mates  and  engineers’!,  The  Finance  department  of  the  Board  is  the
outcome  of  all  the  above-mentioned  duties.  The  staff  required  to  effect  this  elaborate  supervision,
  the  maintenance  of  harbours  and  lighthouses,  the  arrangements  for  merchant  seamen’s
savings  banks,  money  orders,  pensions  for  the  relief  and  conveyance  home  of  distressed  seamen,
for  the  custody  and  transmission  of  the  wages  and  effects  of  deceased  seamen  —  all  these  matters
involve  not  merely  the  keeping  of  accounts,  but  the  administration  of  funds.  The  financial
business  of  the  Board  involves  therefore  considerable  labour  and  some  cost?.
British  Nationality  and  Naturalization?.

(a)  Nationality.  —  The  following  are  by  the  law  of  England,  deemed  to  be  British  subjects:

(I)  All  persons  born  in  His  Majesty’s  dominions,  whether  of  British  or  of  Foreign  parents.

(II)  Children  of  natural-born  British  subjects  wherever  born.

(III)  Grandchildren  of  natural-born  British  subjectse  wherever  born,

(IIL)  Persons  naturalized  (a)  By  Special  Act  of  Parliament,  (b)  Under  the  provisions  of
the  “Naturalization  Act,  1870”®,

The  above  does  not  apply  to  married  women,  who  are  subjects  of  the  state  of  which  their
husbands  are  subjecte.  Natural-born  British  subjects  can  only  deprive  themselves  of  British
nationality.  (1)  If  they  happen  to  be  born  in  the  British  dominions  of  foreign  parents,  in  which
case  they  may,  if  of  full  age  and  under  no  disability,  make  a  declaration  of  alienage;  (2).  If  they
voluntarily  become  naturalized  in  a  foreign  state.

British  subjects  born  in  foreign  countries  sometimes  become,  by  the  law  of  the  country
of  their  birth,  subjects  or  citizens  of  that  country.  In  such  case  thay  may,  by  the  law  of  England,
when  of  full  age  make  a  declaration  of  alienage,  and  they  then  cease  to  be  British  subjecte.  Should
they  retain  their  British  nationality,  and  continue  to  reside  in  the  country  of  their  birth,  their
British  nationality  willnot  avail  them  if  claimed  as  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  country  in  question®.

(b)  Naturalization®.  The  ordinary  way  of  becoming  a  British  subject  is  by  fulfilling  the
requirements  of  the  “Naturalization  Act,  1870”.  The  applicant  must  either  have  resided  in  the
United  Kingdom  for  a  term  of  5  years,  or  have  been  in  service  of  the  Crown  for  a  similar  period.
He  must  also  furnislı  evidence  of  hisintention  when  naturalized,  either  of  residing  in  tlıe  United
Kingdom,  or  of  serving  under  the  Crown.

A  natural  born  British  subject,  who  has  become  naturalized  in  a  foreign  country,  may  obtain
  &amp;  certificate  of  re-admision  to  British  nationality  in  fulfilling  the  conditions  required  in  the
case  of  aliens  applying  for  a  certificate  of  naturalization.  The  children  of  naturalized  British
subjects,  if  born  in  the  British  dominions,  are  by  the  law  of  England  British  subjecte.  If  born
abroad,  they  are  only  naturalized  British  subjects  provided  that  their  father  was  naturalized
under  the  naturalization  act,  1870,  and  that  during  infancy  they  became  resident  with  their  father,
or  mother  being  a  widow,  in  any  part  of  the  United  Kingdom,

ı  Sir  T.  Farrer:  The  State  in  its  Relation  to  Trade,  p.  123.

®  Anson:  Laws  and  Custom  Part.  II,  vol.  I,  p.  199.  Vide  also  Return  to  an  Order  of
the  House  of  Commons  for  1871  (482),  cf.  also  Board  of  Trade’s  Provisions  and  Water  rules  in  The
Shipping  World  Year  Book.

s  Cf.  Whitaker’s  Almanack  1909.

«  33  and  34  Vict.  c.  14;  and  35  and  36  Vict.  oc.  39  (Act  of  1872).  In  which  is  enacted  inter
alis  that  any  British  subject  who,  when  in  any  foreign  state  and  not  under  any  disability,  shall
have  voluntarily  become  naturalized  in  such  state,  shall  thenceforth  be  deemed  to  have  ceased
to  be  a  British  subject,  and  be  regarded  as  an  alien;  though  provision  is  at  the  same  time  made
to  enable  such  person,  on  the  same  condition  as  other  aliens  to  obtain  a  certificate  of  re-admission
to  British  nationality  (Stephen’s  Comes.  vol.  II,  p.  405,  et  seq.).

$  «Hanoverians  born  in  Hanover  while  William  IV.  was  king  of  Hanover  were  citizens
of  the  United  Kingdom,  but  they  became  aliens  upon  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria“  (Anson,
Laws  and  Customs  of  the  C.,  vol.  I,  Part.  I,  p.  239).

°  Cf.  Cutler‘s  Law  of  Naturalization,  1871,  and  Encyclopaedia  of  Forms  and  Precedents,
vol.  IX,  heading  ‘“Naturalization“.  By  H.  8.  Q@.  Henriques.

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