255

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13 June, 1911.] Naturalisation. [Bth Day. Sir JOSEPH WARD— cont. Chinese happen to be naturalised in this country and wanted to come to our country, it is beyond all question we would refuse assent; but I see no reason why there should not be an interchange, as suggested in the course of Sir Wilfrid Laurier's speech, to enable us under proper conditions to allow a Canadian to come to our country when naturalised, so that that naturalisation would not require reaffirming in New Zealand. I think the anomaly mentioned by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, where an American comes to Canada and is a Canadian citizen while he is there and is naturalised there, and then comes on to England, and when he is in England he is not a Canadian but is an American subject, ought to be removed, because once a man becomes a British subject when he comes to Canada, surely he ought to continue to be a British subject when he comes to England, and I am prepared to support general legislation to enable such an undesirable anomaly as the one referred to, to be stopped. Mr. MALAN: I may at once say that in general we agree with the view expressed by Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The practical difficulty of setting up two standards seems to me to be insurmountable. If you have in the same country two sets of certificates of naturalisation running, issued by two authorities, as is proposed in the draft Bill, one set issued by the local Government, and one set issued under the Imperial Act by the Governor- General, it seems to me you are let into a maze of practical difficulties which you can never overcome. Therefore, I think, that as far as the present Bill which has been circulated is concerned, we could never support that. Sir Wilfrid Laurier laid down two clear principles. The first one was uniformity of effect. If he means by that that the same rights which attach to a British subject in the country of naturalisation should also, as of right, be granted in every other part of the Empire to that naturalised British subject, I think his proposition goes too far. But if he sticks to what he first said—a British subject anywhere, British subject everywhere in the Empire—then, I think, he expresses the principle correctly. Sir JOSEPH WARD : Would you apply that to Chinese ? Mr. MALAN: Yes. A British subject anywhere in the Empire is a British subject everywhere in the Empire, but you do not necessarily give him all the rights of a British subject in all parts of the Empire. For instance, a man may be a British subject in South Africa and not be a registered voter at all. General BOTHA : That is the present condition. The CHAIRMAN : Or not be admitted to the country. Mr. MALAN: Yes ; lam speaking now first about the point of citizenship • He is a British subject, but if he is not 21, for one thing, then he is not a registered voter ; or if he does not satisfy the qualifications required by the country he is not a registered voter. In the Cape Province, for instance, there is a property qualification. In Natal it is the same. In the Transvaal and the Free State, where they have manhood suffrage, it is for Europeans only. So the coloured British subjects in the Transvaal and the Free State have not a right to go on to the register. In the Cape Colony they say he has to satisfy their local law as regards registration before he can become a registered voter. If, therefore, a man become a British subject in England and he has the right to be on the register, I do not want to say if so facto when he comes to South Africa he has a right of coming on to the register also. But if he has certain general rights as a British subject when he is naturalised here—that he will be under the British flag and have the protection of the British Flag—then wherever he goes within the Empire that should be maintained.

33—A. 4.