ALIEN ENEMY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2544, 19 August 1915, Page 3

ALIEN ENEMY

WHAT THE TERM MEANS attorney-general explains An explanation of the meaning of tie term ' alien enemy," about which thero has'been some confusion, was given by the- Attorney-General (the Hon. A. L. Herdman) yesterday. ' "The expression 'alien enemy' -usually means a person who is the subject of ail enemy State, and who owes allegiance to an euemy Sovereign or Government. But undar the regulations made under the War Regulations Act, 1914, tlie term was given a more extended meaning. , The War Regulations Act was passed during last session of Parliament to make batter provision for public safety, the defence of Is T ew Zealand, and the effective conduct of military and naval operations during the .war. "For the purposes of the War Regulations Act it became necessary to Eire a special meauing to the term 'alien enemy,' and by regulations made on jVovembor 10, 1914, 'alien enemy' was defined as 'including (except in regulations Nos. 9 arid 26) any person who lias been naturalised in New Zealand and who would have been an alien enemy had he not been so naturalised, and also including (except as aforesaid) any person reasonably suspected of boing an alien enemy.' This extension of the meaning of the term wab made so that we might'better control persons who. being of German or Austrian birth and origin, had becomo naturalised under our naturalisation laws, but who might be a menace to'the public : fcafety. / "Then the .definition of 'alien enemy' *as. further extended on July 19 last to cover another class of persons. The original regulation which "I have mentioned was repealed, and- a now/regulation was made which reads as follows:— ■ "'For tho purposes of tlio, War Regulations (except Clause 26 of the • •War Regulations of November 10, •1914) every person shall be deemed to ! be an alien enomy who is. or has at ' oil}- time been a subjcct of any State { • with which His Majesty is now at war, notwithstanding the fact that such per- J • son may be also by birth, naturalisation, or otherwise a British subject, .or may have ip any manner ceased to be a subject of any 6uch State.' . • "The reason for the new Regulation is this: It has been , found that the definition of alien enemy as contained in the original War Regulations of November 10, 1914, was nob sufficiently wide to cover all persons who should during the present war' be dealt with' i as alien' enemies. From information 1 i lately received as to the German law i iof. nationality, it seems that until re- i cently, a German lost his nationality t ■by absence from Germany.for a certain j •period unless he took certain steps to 1 preserve his nationality. It may be I assumed, therefore,. that' there are in | New Zealand_a large number of persons | of German birth and descent and 6ym-. i pathies who are not in strict law still possessed of German, nationality. Gases \ have already come under notice in which t persons possess a double nationality, t ■being natural-born British subjects be- 1 cause of birth in New Zealand; and £ also German subjects , by reason of { descent. It was therefore considered' ■[ i necessary to include such persons in j (the list of alien enemies. All reference j to alien enemies in any of tho War c Regulations (except Regulation 26) 1 now include all persons who come with- t in this extended definition, and .they € are subject to the provisions of those ( regulations'accordingly." : t ■ i ■ t