INHABITANT


One who resides actually and permanently In a given place, and has his domicile there. Ex parte Shaw, 145 U. S. 444, 12 Sup. Ct. 935, 36 L. Ed. 768; The Pizarro, 2 Wheat. 245, 4 L. Ed. 226. “The words ‘inhabitant,’ ‘citizen,’ and ‘resident,’ as employed in different constitutions to define the qualifications of electors, mean substantially the same thing; and one is an inhabitant. resident, or citizen at the place where he has his domicile or home.” Cooley, Const. Dim. *600. But the terms “resident” and “inhabitant” have also been held not synonymous, the latter implying a more fixed and permanent abode than the former, and importing privileges and duties to which a mere resident would not be subject. Tazewell County v. Davenport, 40 111. 197.


Law of Nations, Chap 19
§ 213. Inhabitants.
The inhabitants, as distinguished from citizens, are foreigners, who are permitted to settle and stay in the country. Bound to the society by their residence, they are subject to the laws of the state while they reside in it; and they are obliged to defend it, because it grants them protection, though they do not participate in all the rights of citizens. They enjoy only the advantages which the law or custom gives them. The perpetual inhabitants are those who have received the right of perpetual residence. These are a kind of citizens of an inferior order, and are united to the society without participating in all its advantages. Their children follow the condition of their fathers; and, as the state has given to these the right of perpetual residence, their right passes to their posterity.