File No. 136/108
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador on Special Mission ( Reading)
Excellency: Referring to your note of May 15, 1918,1 in which you inquire regarding the views of this Government relative to the status of William Egerton Mellen, who, it appears, has applied for [Page 824] naturalization under Canadian law, I have the honor to inform you that an investigation has been made into this matter, and the Department is now in a position to furnish the information which it seems is desired by the Canadian authorities for their guidance.
You call attention to a request said to have been made of the Canadian Department of State by the American Consul General at Vancouver, British Columbia, that, in view of provisions contained in an act of Congress, approved March 2, 1907, that “no American citizen should [shall] be allowed to expatriate himself when this country is at war,” certificates of naturalization be not granted to citizens of the United States. You further call attention to an application for registration which, it appears was made by Mr. Mellen to the American Consul General at Montreal, and was denied. And you ask to be informed respecting “the view taken by the United States Government in connection with applications for naturalization in Canada under such circumstances as those indicated above.”
It seems unnecessary for the purpose of answering your inquiry to discuss this Department’s regulations with regard to registration of American citizens abroad. The particular point regarding which information is desired can doubtless be made clear by indicating the Department’s views respecting the construction of the act of Congress just mentioned. If Mr. Mellen can be naturalized under Canadian law irrespective of his status under the law of this country, the Department desires to make it clear that this Government has no intention of interfering with any action on the part of the competent authorities of the Canadian Government in the case of Mr. Mellen or in any similar case. However, in case Mr. Mellen should obtain naturalization as a Canadian citizen, the Department would still be obliged to regard him as an American citizen under the laws of this country in view of the statutory restrictions on the expatriation of American citizens in times of war.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩