Efforts to Solve a Knotty Problem for Men and Women:
Shanghai has its women who two nationalities: they have rotal their original citizenship upon marriage, being so entitled to do by the law of their own country, and they have acquired that of a husband, since law of some other countries automatically assumes that a woman decernes of the same nationality as her husband. Shang hai also has its women who have nationality,—who, by the law of their own country lost the: x nationality upon marriage, but by the law of their husbands' country did not obtain citizenship in his. Now What about children who are born of parents not of the same nationality? For of course one of most important aspects of the qu: tion of the nationality of a married woman is whether there should be condition under which a child and his mother are of different natzonallitie Some countries rule that a child of parents of different nationality takes his paternal nationality. Those-who argue that the family should be a unit, that the woman upon her marriage should assume her husband's national: ty, do 80 with the idea in mind that a "hous divided against itself cannot, stand." The argument is that if the wife retains her own nationality upon marriage to an alien husband, her children will be of another nationality than her own, and there will be divided loyalties in the home. This is not always the case, even 80: because different countries have different criteria for the nationality of children. "If a British woman marries a foreigner in England, and continues to live in England, her children are British. Technically she is a foreigner having assumed brought to bear by their environment upon her children. Whether the mother and her children are of different nationality is influenced in part by the law of any given country as to the nationality of the child it assumes the hhationality of the parent or that of country of birth: "Thus it will be seen, that two questions closely {interlock—what determines the nationality of the child who is born, of with an aye recognised for fixing the nationality of a child at birth Some countries adopt the criterion of "blood relationship" whereby a child, regardless of its birth place, takes the nationality of {ts parents. China's recently. passed nationality lave claims as Chit fany children born of Chinese parents any' part of the world; same time other countries, adhere 10 the second method of judgment fon this question, regard as belong-{ng to that country all born in it, and hence regard the children of Chinese parents born in that country as citizens of that country. Yet Again other countries including the United States, use doth principles: thus it is. possible to have many national complications. It is possible for a child to have dual hhationality: and should the child be girl of a country which gives liber' a choice of nationality. on marrying, and who later marties a man of yet another nationality, the Taws of whose country automatically make' her acquire his nationality, there is such a thing as possessing triple nationality?
During the last twelve years there has been an increasing cognition of the right of a married woman to retention of her own nationality or at any. rate. choice of that which she will assume. Bight countries recognise the right of a woman to hey own, nationali Laws of seventeen other country recognise that, she has a right to independent nationality with certain restrictions, Yet others. recognise the principle by permitting a woman to. preserve her own nationality, when she does not acquire that of her foreign husband by virtue of marriage. China however, has just Tuled that a woman of alien nat ty, acquires Chinese nationality by marriage, provided that marriage
aw a wale By the tenets of "Chinese Many of the disabilities of women are of ancient origin: but that. by which some countries demand. that she follows the nationality of her husband is comparatively recent. JO study made by the International Federation of University Women states thay the rule does not seem to have existed anywhere before the French Revolution. South Amer-jean countries have never adopted it in its entirety Tt came into 1832 and 1833.
1844 that a foreign Jwoman who married a British subject became British, and not till 1870 that a British woman lost her' nationality" on marriage with foreigner. Only in 1855 did 1} United States confer its citizenship Jon a foreign woman who married Jone of its nationals, and not till 1007 did a woman citizen of But throughout the world, between 1907 and 1918, the general rule was a woman followed the nation-Jality of her husband. Thus it cannot be upon its hoary-headedness that there should be any diffidence upon the part of governments. to ko & change in whatever ditecif it Should be for the universal good!
But the more one looks at this the more it becomes cer-international action. is sonic common procedure be adopted by all nations if the dificult procedure year has the part of the League of Nations to find the way out. When the matter found no solution at the Confer-Jence on the Codification of International Law at the Hague in 1930 (it was considered of sch import-lance that it was placed first on the agenda), it was referred by this Conference to the Lo Where-jupon organised women went to Geneva to present. their case in Ipereon both to the League Assembly Jand the Council. They requested the Assembly to open up the ques-to further discussion, and a recommendation to this effect was attached to the 1980 Assembly's report on codification which is to be diseussed_ in September 1931. Women asked specifically of the: Council that the point of view of women should be represented on any body which discussed this matter. There was one woman delegate from the United, States to the Law Codification Conference, but few women lof few countries were qualified as international constitutional lawyers to take a place in that assembly.
1981, the Council of structed the Secretar; me international women's organisations, empowering him to set up an advisory com mittee, with two members from leach. "The nine included—among Jothers—the International Council of Women: the International Federation of University, Women: World's the International Suffrage Alliance: and the newly developing All: men's Conference wi its first meeting this year. Women generally rejoiced, since this was the first occasion upon which the League had consulted organised Jwomen, though women have been members of its' Commission and ICommittee, and have served in the of the League and of Labour Organisa-
For two weeks, at the end of JJane and the beginning of July effort was made to find a unanimity of mind in the Advisory [Committee so that a unanimous report on the issue could be submit. fed. No satisfactory solution could id the group broke up without decision. Women themselves have shown themselves un-fable to find the way, as yet, out lof the difficulties involved. For this they deserve no censure: conference Jof human beings in the past have been known to break up,. unable to resolve conflicting interests and points of view. 'Through their de-Tiberations' the issues are clearer than ever before: and if, upon reassembling next year, they are Inble to make any progress, however small, they shall have con-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.