Dulles

This appeal is from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in an action against the Secretary of State of the United States, hereafter called the Secretary. The action was instituted in the name and on behalf of Lee Gnan Lung, hereafter called Lung, by Lee Kut, hereafter called Kut.

In the complaint, Kut was described as Lung’s next friend, but it did not appear from the complaint that Lung needed a next friend, or that Kut was authorized to act as such. The complaint did not allege that Lung was an infant. Instead, it alleged that he was bom on September 15, 1926. The action was instituted on February 19, 1952, at which time, according to the complaint, Lung was 25 years old. The complaint did not allege that Lung was incompetent. It did allege that he was temporarily residing in Hong Kong, China, but that fact, if it was a fact, did not render him incompetent or disable him from instituting the action by and for himself. However, he did not so institute it.

This purported to be an action under § 503 of the Nationality Act of 1940, 8 U.S.C.A. § 903 , which provided: “If any person who claims a right or privilege as a national of…