§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading, read.
THE LORD CHANCELLOR, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that the object of the Bill was to give validity to the stipulations of a Supplemental Convention entered into between this country and the United States on the subject of Naturalization. The original Convention, signed May 13, 1870, stipulated, in the 2nd Article, that the manner in which the born citizens of either country might be able to renounce their original nationality and adopt that of the other should be settled by agreement. 1134 This having been arranged the Naturalization Act of 1870 was passed to give effect to those arrangements. The Government of the United States were subsequently of opinion that the forms provided were not strictly in accordance with the law; and a Supplemental Convention, containing conditions conformable to that law, was signed on the 4th May, 1871. It seemed doubtful whether these new forms were quite covered by the Naturalization Act, 1870, and the Bill declared that renunciation of nationality made in the manner stipulated by the Supplemental Convention shall be valid, and deemed to be authorized by the Naturalization Act.
§ Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House To-morrow.