TITLE X.

DUTIES OF FOREIGNERS TO THE NATION.

CHAPTER XXVIII. Subjection to the laws.

XIX. Civil and military service.

XXX. Taxation.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

SUBJECTION TO THE LAWS.

ARTICLE 356. Subjection to the laws.

Subjection to the laws.

356. Except as otherwise provided by this Code, or by special compact, foreigners are subject to the constitution and laws of the country wherein they are, for the time being.

Bluntschli, (Droit Int. Codifié, § 388,) in stating this rule, adds, that allowance ought to be made for the fact that strangers do not understand the laws as well as citizens.

CHAPTER XXIX.

CIVIL AND MILITARY SERVICE.

ARTICLE 357. Civil service.

358. Military service.

Civil service.

357. Foreigners are exempt from all official functions.

Treaty between Great Britain and

Colombia, Feb. 16, 1866, Art. XVI., Accounts and Papers, 1867,

Italy, Aug. 6, 1863,

Treaty between France and

The Free Cities of Lu

vol. LXXIV., (36.)

XV., Id., 1864, vol. LXVI., (35.)

beck, Bremen & Ham- Mar. 4, 1865, Art. II., 9 De Clercq, 189.
burg,

The English Judicature Commission (Report of 1869,) recommend that aliens having been resident ten years shall, if qualified, be liable to do jury duty.

Military service.

358. Foreigners are exempt from military and naval service, except in the case of necessity for the purpose of defending the place where they are from brigands or savages.

Bluntschli, Droit Intern. Codifié, § 391.

Freedom of foreigners from compulsory military and naval service is recognized by the treaties between the United States and

June 21, 1867, Art. IX., 15 U. S. Stat. at L.,(Tr.),59.

Nicaragua,

By the treaty between the United States and the Swiss Confederation, Nov. 25, 1850, Art. II., (11 U. S. Stat. at L., 587,) the members of either nation residing in the other are free from personal military service, but are liable to the pecuniary or material contributions chargeable on exempt citizens.

Heffter, Droit International, § 62, p, 125. Papers relating to Foreign

Affairs, 1862, p. 282. Mr. Stuart to Mr. Lenard, Sept. 6, 1862 :“The ordinary "claim for exemption of alien residents from military service does not "extend to service in the local police when imposed by the municipal "law, or in companies formed exclusively for the maintenance of internal peace and order and for the protection of property."

CHAPTER XXX.

TAXATION.

ARTICLE 359. Jurisdiction to tax.

360. Taxes on the person.

361. Equality of taxes.

362. Corporations.

363. Shipping.

364. Property in transit.

365. Debts, and evidences of debt.

366. Commercial paper.

367. No nation to tax national obligations of another.

Jurisdiction to tax.

359. Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, each nation has exclusive power to impose taxes:

1. Upon all property within its jurisdiction, whether movable or immovable;'

2. Upon all property of its domiciled residents, and of corporations existing by virtue of its laws, which is not within another jurisdiction; and,

3. Upon the exercise of any vocation within its jurisdiction.

1 Taxes are a portion that each individual gives of his property in order to secure the perfect enjoyment of the remainder; and the owner of property within the limits of any State, no matter whether it be real or personal, and no matter where he has his domicil, since he is entitled in respect to it to the protection of the State, is liable to taxes levied by such State. Duer v. Small, 7 American Law Register, 500; and see Bluntschli, Droit Intern. Codifié, § 377.

There are authorities, however, to the contrary, on the ground that double taxation, which this rule allows, is inequitable. People ex rel. Hoyt v. Commissioners of Taxes, 23 New York Rep., 224. And see Report of Wells and others, Commissioners on local taxation in New York, (Harper's ed.,) pp. 43, 44, 65.

Taxes on the person.

360. Taxes in respect to the person can only be imposed by the nation in which the person is domiciled.

Bluntschli, (Dr. Int. Cod., § 376,) qualifies this by adding that the country of origin may levy certain taxes on its own members domiciled abroad, (for example, taxes for the assistance of the poor,) but that the State of the domicil is under no obligation in reference to the collection thereof.

Equality of taxes.

361. No other or more burdensome taxes can be imposed upon foreigners, whether in respect to person, property, or vocation, than on the members of the nation.

Equality of taxes is secured by a number of treaties. See
Treaty between France and

Treaty between the United States and

Nicaragua, June 21, 1867, Art. IX., 15 U. S. Stat. at L., (Tr.,) 59. Bluntschli, in stating the rule on this point, qualifies it by adding that the State may demand a sum in payment for the privilege of sojourning in the country. Treaty provisions forbidding such burdens are now so common that it seems advisable to discard that right.

This rule, perhaps, should be qualified by excepting foreign corporations, which it is usual, in some countries, to tax more heavily than domestic corporations.

Corporations.

362. The interests of owners of shares in the capital of a corporation are taxable as the personal property of such owners.

By the American law, the property of the corporation is distinguished from the interests of its shareholders, for the purposes of taxation, as well as for other purposes.

A State has no power to tax the interest of bonds, (secured in this case by mortgage,) given by a railway corporation, and binding every part of the road, when the road lies partially in another State; being one road owned by a company incorporated by the two States. The effect of allowing such tax would be to enable each State to tax property beyond its own limits. Railroad Company v. Jackson, 7 Wallace's U. S. Supreme Court Rep., 262.

Upon considerations somewhat similar to those referred to, it may be suggested that shares in corporations, as distinguished from the property of the corporation, should not be taxable.

Shipping.

363. Shipping is taxable only by the nation whose character it bears.

This is the rule laid down in Hays v. Pacific Mail Steamship Co., 17 Howard's U. S. Sup. Ct. Rep., 596, as applicable at least so long as the vessel gains no situs in the foreign State.

See also People ex rel. Hoyt v. Commissioners of Taxes, 23 New York Rep., 240; and Report of Wells and others, Commissioners on Local Taxation, Harper's ed., p. 45.

Property in transit.

364. Property of a foreigner, in transit between different jurisdictions, whether actually in motion or awaiting directions or means of transportation, is only taxable under ordinary revenue laws applicable to importation or exportation.

This rule we understand to be generally recognized. The power to tax property sent into a State, and lying there awaiting sale, seems clear, although the policy of it is questioned. Report of Wells, and others, Commissioners, on Local Taxation, Harper's ed., p. 45. The treaty between the United States and Belgium, 1858, Arts. XII. and XVI., (12 U. S. Stat. at. L., 1046,) provides that during the period allowed by law for the warehousing of goods, no duties, other than those of watch and storage, shall be levied on articles brought from either country into the other, while awaiting transit, re-exportation, or entry for consumption.

And articles, the transit of which is allowed in Belgium, are exempt from transit duty there, when transportation is effected on Belgian railways.

Debts and evidences of debt.

365, Debts, and the evidences thereof, due from domiciled residents of a nation to another nation, or domiciled residents therein, are not taxable in either.

Sound political economy forbids the taxation of evidences of debt. (See Report of Wells, and others, Com'rs, on Local Taxation, Harper's ed., p. 45. They are instruments of commerce. The systems of England and France are understood to recognize this principle.

It is for each nation to adopt such a rule or not, for its own members; but in an international point of view, it is suggested that this rule should be observed. It leaves all tangible property to be taxed according to the previous rule.