THE DANCER OF DOUBLE ALLECIANCE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2468, 22 May 1915, Page 13

THE DANCER OF DOUBLE ALLECIANCE.

fjir,—ln your editorial under the above heading, published in to-day's issue of your paper, you cite tho following paragraph from tlie German law dealing with"citizenship: "Citizenship is not lost hy anyone who, before acnuiring foreign citizenship, has secured on application the written consent of tho competent authorities of his home fitate to retain citizenship." It is therefore _solf evident that a German who acquired a Foreign citizenship loses his German citizenship if lie has not secured such written consent prior to naturalisation. The paragraph just cited is immediately followed in tho German law by tho paragraph (1 cite from the French paper "I.c Temps"): "Before such consent is given the German ConMil must, he consulted." If it is taken into consideration that, the German law from which these paragraphs are taken came into force on the Ist January of last year, and had . therefor a been in action for not, longer

than seven months at the outbreak of tho war, it will bo seen that, as far as New Zealand is concerned, enses of doublo allegianco are highly improbable. For tho candidate for doublo, citizenship had first to write to Germany for a consent to retain German citizenship: the German authorities thereupon had to write to the Consul iii Now Zealand for a report on tho applicant; only after this report had been received in Germany could tho consent be forwarded to New Zealand. Now at last, when he was in possession of tho written oonsent from the German authorities, could the prospective double citizen apply for naturalisation iu New Zealand. If the slowness of official proceedings is taken into consideration it is therefore almost certain that the great distance which separates this country from Europe has been a protection against the danger of doublo allegianco.—l am, etc., F.W. Wellington, May 14, 1915.