Congress has passed a Bill declaring that naturalized citizens of
the Union owe no allegiance to any foreign government, and directing that they shall receive the same protection as the native born. If the President hears that any such citizen is unjustly deprived of liberty by a foreign government, he is to demand his release, and if not released, he is to "use such means not amount- ing to acts of war as shall secure it," and then relate his proceed- ings to Congress. We fail entirely to perceive what difference this Bill makes in the position of any American citizen, naturalized or otherwise, in any free country. He cannot be arrested except on a charge of crime, and if charged with crime, he is, though a foreigner, as liable to punishment as a native. A few Irishmen may plead henceforward that they are Americans, but if they do, what then ? Americans are not permitted to levy war on the Queen within her own territories, any more than Irishmen. As for the claim of indefeasible allegiance, that can be abrogated only by treaty, and Government has already announced that it accepts the principle laid down by the United States. The Bill is a manceuvre to catch votes, and not a creditable one.
