test will be enforced; doubtless the Home Secretary will make some rules as to this.

foreign woman By sect. 10 of

By the Common law marriage had no effect on the nationality of a woman, either to make a English, or an English woman foreign. the new Act (replacing sect. 10 (i) of the Act of 1870), it is declared that the wife of a British subject shall be deemed to be a British subject, and the wife of an alien shall be deemed to be an alien. A woman thus becoming an alien on marriage, remains an alien on her husband's death, until she takes the requisite steps to reacquire British nationality, which, under the Act of 1870, were similar to those required of aliens in general, necessitating residence in the United Kingdom during the preceding five years. The new Act (sect. 2, sub-sect. (5)) provides that, where a woman who was a British subject previously to her marriage and whose husband has died, or whose marriage has been dissolved, the requirements of the Act as to residence shall not apply, so that such a woman may apply for a certificate of re-admission to British nationality immediately after the death of the husband or the dissolution of the marriage. This provision is contrary to the Committee's recommendation.

As mentioned above, formerly the children (born abroad) of a naturalised subject were not themselves ipso facto British subjects. Now, by the joint effect of sect. I (B) and sect. 3 (1), such children will be natural-born subjects; sect. 3 (1) enacting that a naturalised subject shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be entitled to all political and other rights, powers and privileges, and be subject to all obligations, duties and liabilities to which a natural-born subject is entitled or subject, and, as from the date of his naturalisation, have to all intents and purposes the status of a natural-born British subject.

1 Countess of Conway's Case, 2 Knapp, 368.

It will, no doubt, be remembered that sect. 3 of the Act of Settlement 1700 provides that no person born out of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, or Ireland, or the Dominions thereunto belonging, although he be naturalised or made a denizen, except such as are born of English parents, shall be capable to be sworn of the Privy Council, or a Member of either House of Parliament, or to enjoy any office or place of trust, either civil or military. By sect. 3 of the present Act the Act of Settlement is to take effect. as if the words "naturalised or" (italicised above), were omitted. Until 1870 a person who had been naturalised could not become a Member of Parliament or a Privy Councillor, and although the Naturalisation Act of 1870 conferred full political rights on aliens, the words mentioned above. were never repealed, and the Committee, in 1901, recommended that they should be deleted.

Under the Act of 1870, by sect. 7, a naturalised subject, if still retaining his earlier nationality, was not to be deemed a British subject when within the limits of the State whose citizenship he retained. This provision has met with a good deal of criticism, and has been construed in different senses by different authorities, and the Committee in their Report recommended the abolition, as far as possible, of all differences between the status of a natural-born British subject and a naturalised British subject. The new Act apparently accepts the Committee's view and drops the distinction between the status of such a person when within the State of his former nationality and his status in the United Kingdom and in all other places, by enacting that he is to have to all intents and purposes the status of a natural-born British subject (see sect. 3 (i)).

Section 5 gives effect to a further recommendation of the Committee, by providing that the Secretary of State may, in his absolute discretion in any special case, grant a certificate

1 See also In re Bourgoise (L. R. [1889], 41 Ch. D. 310).

of naturalisation to any minor although the conditions required by the Act have not been complied with. Subsect. (1) provides that where an alien obtains a certificate of naturalisation the Secretary of State may, on the application of such alien, include in the certificate the name of a child who is a minor, and the child shall thereupon, if not already a British subject, become a British subject. Any such child may within a year of his attaining majority make a declaration of alienage and so cease to be a British subject. A much-needed reform is introduced by sect. 7 of the Act, carrying into effect the views of the Committee as expressed in their Report, which gives power to the Secretary of State where it appears "that a certificate of naturalisation granted by him has been obtained by false representations or fraud," to make an order revoking such certificate, and by sub-sect. (2), where the Secretary of State revokes such a certificate, he may order the certificate to be given up and cancelled, and any person declining to give up such certificate will be liable to a fine of not exceeding £100. Prior to this enactment, an alien who had, through fraudulent misstatements in his applications or in the declarations accompanying it, obtained the status of a naturalised British subject could not be deprived of the privilege of British nationality and be made an alien again. He could only be punished for his fraudulent misstatements. Sect. 16 of the Naturalisation Act 1870 (now repealed) gave power to the Governments of British Colonies to naturalise applicants, but this power was expressly restricted in its operations to the limits of the colony granting the certificate, so that, e.g., if a German obtained a certificate of naturalisation in Canada, he would not be entitled to be regarded as a naturalised British subject in Great Britain; but if he desired to be naturalised here, he would have to fulfil the requirements of five years' residence in the United Kingdom or five years' service under the Crown; also, naturalisation

in the United Kingdom did not extend to British possessions. Now, by sect. 8 of the new Act, the Government of a British possession has the same power to grant a certificate of naturalisation as the Secretary of State has, and the provisions of the Act as to the grant and revocation of such a certificate also apply. There is, however, a very important proviso to this section. It is declared that in any British possession (other than British India, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland) the powers of the Government of such possession, as regards the granting or revocation of a certificate of naturalisation, shall be subject in each case to the approval of the Secretary of State, and any certificate proposed to be granted shall be submitted to him for his approval. It is also declared that any certificate of naturalisation granted in a British possession shall have the same effect as a certificate of naturalisation granted by the Secretary of State. It should be particularly noted that in this way a certificate granted in a British possession is given effect outside the limits of the possession. In the British possessions specifically mentioned above, the power is vested in the Government; in other possessions, in the Governor or in a person acting under his authority. It is further provided (sect. 9) that none of the above provisions nor any certificate of naturalisation granted under the Act shall have effect within any of the Dominions specified above (except in British India), unless the Legislature of such Dominion first adopts those provisions. This is another illustration of the increasing tendency not to force the legislation of the Imperial Parliament upon the self-governing Colonies without their consent or contrary to the wishes of their peoples as voiced by their representatives, but to give such Colonies an opportunity of considering whether to accept or reject such provisions.

1 See Piggott, Nationality, Part I, p. 240.

Section 10 embodies a novel provision in declaring that where a man ceases during the continuance of his marriage to be a British subject, it shall be lawful for his wife to make a declaration that she desires to retain her British nationality, and that thereupon she shall be deemed to remain a British subject. This provision is certainly new. It refers to the case of a man who, under the provisions of sect. 13 of the new Act (substituted for sect. 4 of the 1870 Act), becomes naturalised in a foreign State and so loses his status as a British subject. The wife of such a person may, if she so desires, retain her British nationality by simply declaring that she does not desire to change it.

The above are the chief changes introduced by the new Act, and on the whole it will be seen that the tendency is in favour of greater strictness in the requirements for applicants for naturalisation, while many sensible provisions as to the status of aliens, and with regard to the position of women married to aliens are also contained in the Act. It will be observed that no distinction is made between "alien friends" and "alien enemies."

W. E. WILKINSON.

CON

VI. CONTRABAND OF WAR.

ONTRABAND of war, in the conception of International law, consists of those things which, in accordance with the rules which by universal consent are binding on belligerent and neutral States, a belligerent State absolutely or conditionally forbids the subjects of neutral States to carry to her enemy.

The theory of contraband received recognition in very early times, but not until the Middle Ages did the theory

1 Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis, liber III, c. 1, § 5.