PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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C.O. 885
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The Governor-General in Canada would only be able under the second above- mentioned proposals to certify that an alien had satisfied in Canada the requirements mutatis mulandis for naturalization in the United Kingdom.
The Minister recommends that the Imperial Authorities be advised of the approval of the Government of Canada of the principle that residence in one of the British Possessions should qualify for full naturalization in the same way as in the United Kingdom, and further that it would be simpler and avoid cases of hardship if the qualification with regard to past residence could be altered by substituting the words the King's Dominions," for United Kingdom," in the same way as is proposed for the intention to be declared for future residence.
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The Minister states that under the law, as proposed to be amended, it would seem that an alien who had resided five years in either the United Kingdom or in Canada would be able to obtain full naturalization, but an alien who had resided four years in the United Kingdom, followed by four years' residence in Cauada, or vice versa, would be unable to obtain naturalization in either country.
The Committee advise that his Excellency be inoved to forward a certified copy of this Minute to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
All which is respectfully submitted for His Excellency's approval.
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of local rights to aliens, they would probably feel no further difficulty in the matter, expecially if it were pointed out to them that, as regards the passage in our report which has attracted their particular attention, our proposals are that the Government of the United Kingdom shall have no greater powers than those which we have recommended to be conferred on the Governments of other parts of His Majesty's Dominions.
The papers referred to us do not appear to call for any further observations.
We are, &c.
The Right Hon. C. T. Ritchie, M.P.,
&c.
&c.
&c.
KENELM E. DIGBY. F. H. VILLIERS. D. FITZPATRICK. W. E. DAVIDSON.
H. BERTRAM COX,
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JOHN J. MCGEE,
Clerk of the Privy Council.
No. 2.
SIR,
NATURALIZATION COMMITTEE to MR. RITCHIE.
Whitehall. 18th June 1902. In accordance with your instruction we have given our careful consideration to the Colonial Office letter of the 16th ultimo, forwarding copies of communications received from the Governments of certain of the self-governing Colonies in regard to our report on the question of naturalization, and we submit the following observations thereon.
In drafting our report we considered the question whether a person applying for a certificate of naturalization should be required to show that he had resided for five years within the jurisdiction of the naturalizing authority to whom the application might be addressed, or whether, so long as the applicant could show that he had resided five years within the King's Dominions, it should be immaterial that he had during that period resided within the jurisdiction of more than one naturalizing authority.
We recommended the first alternative. We considered that five years' residence in the United Kingdom or some one British Possession would be a proper guarantee of a definite intention to continue to reside within the Dominions, and that if it were permitted to an applicant for naturalization to reckon five years' residence made of
up shorter terms in various parts of His Majesty's Dominions, difficulties would arise in We adhere to reference to evidence of residence and fitness for naturalization. this view.
With regard to the remark of the Minister of Justice of Canada that the Governor- General of that Dominion would only be able, under the proposals of the Committee, to certify that an alien had satisfied in Canada the requirenients mutatis mutandis for naturalization in the United Kingdom, we would observe that we contemplated that, speaking generally, the Governments of the several Colonies would bring their existing "naturalization laws up to the standard requisite for enabling them to grant full and complete naturalization, and make whatever supplementary provision they might think fit for the grant to aliens, under provision similar to that of section 16 of the Naturalization Act of 1870, of purely local rights.
If it were made clear to the Canadian Government that at present they are entirely without power to grant complete naturalization, and that it is proposed to give them such power and at the same time to leave them unfettered in the matter of the grant
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