Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

Appointment to grades instead of to particular positions allows a shifting of men from one post to another whenever it is desirable, and it does so without sacrificing valuable experience. For it is true that a long residence at one consulate may so familiarize a man with his surroundings, especially if he finds himself in a lucrative business, that he becomes in some degree alienated from his own country without being aware of it. He may lose track of events at home or else become accustomed to viewing them from a foreign standpoint, so that as a result he falls into an apologetic tone toward those who criticize or a critical attitude toward the home government. He is then in a fit condition to be sent home. It has been suggested as a preventative to this that consuls be recalled from time to time to give lectures throughout the country, or instruction in a school for the consular service. Otherwise the same result will be accomplished so far as the consul is concerned, by shifting him to another position along with some salutary advice as to what his business is. This provision also puts the service more on a footing with the Army and Navy, which in many respects would be a decided gain.

Since this bill or a similar one is likely to become a law, and in any event has already earned strong endorsement, I append a few more of its provisions.

Instead of consul general, consul and commercial agent there are to be four grades, namely consul general of the first and the second class and consul of the first and the second class.

All consular officers shall receive compensation in salaries—none in fees.

Subjects in examination shall relate “chiefly but not exclusively to the duties of the consular service, and for consul of the first class examination in one foreign language will be required”.

The President is to appoint a board of five examiners, “who are to be the Civil Service Commissioners and two officials of the State Department”. These, however, shall have no connection with the reorganization of the entire service, which is entrusted to a committee consisting of two Senators, three Representatives and one officer of the State Department. It is intended that this committee shall have a pretty free hand in the inauguration of desirable changes, and the President is given large discretion as to the manner of putting such changes into execution.

There remains one important subject to be mentioned—the very difficult subject of the selection of men for examination, or after examination it may be. The present system is purely political. If you happen to have “influence” which will secure you a recommendation to the President you may be permitted to take the examination whenever a vacancy occurs. Hence the way is pretty effectually barred as far as unsupported merit is concerned; so it depends much more upon the “influence” than upon your merit. This is open to obvious abuses, and in case restrictions as to preparation are set aside, what have we but the “spoils system”?

On the other hand the Department must know something more about you than an examination can show. It must have some assurance of your powers of observation, your business acumen, your vigilance and alertness, and especially your dignity and integrity of character, so that you may well represent your country’s interests among foreigners, and defend the international rights of your fellow citizens.

Whether any better way can be devised remains to be seen, but in justice to the present system it must be said that it has secured many good officials—so many, indeed, that the American consular system, according to one writer[4], has become a subject of careful study by European nations. The same writer quotes from _La Revue Diplomatique_ as follows:

“The Americans are practical men and their instinct for business is marvelous. Nothing is more characteristic in this respect than the organization of their consular corps. Its duty is that of a sort of bureau of information at the expense of the state. It is recruited principally from journalists, who carry into their official career the trained instinct of observation, the quick grasp of passing events which belong to their former profession.

“The American consul does not understand that he has a commercial situation to maintain but always a commercial situation to conquer. His ingenuity is exercised to invent and find new markets, and in his study of ways and means, he descends to the most minute details. Despite their colonial conquests, the Americans have comprehended that the real struggle remains in the old markets—that there especially is the hard school that will force them to manufacture and sell better than all others”.

Footnote 4:

Francis B. Loomis, North American Review, Sept., 1899.

It appears from the above quotation, as well as others, that, in the judgment of Europeans, the peculiar excellence of the American consul is analogous to that of the American soldier—his ability to take the initiative, to be his own commander.

After all, the man is more important than the equipment and harder to discover.

AFTER APPOINTMENT.

Now let us watch our candidate get ready for business after he has received notice of his appointment. Every consular officer before entering upon his duties must take the prescribed oath of office and give bond for a sum of not less than one thousand nor more than ten thousand dollars. Then his commission is made out and given to the Diplomatic Bureau along with a special passport and an order on his predecessor to turn over the office to him. The commission is forwarded to the diplomatic representative in the country where he is to be stationed with instructions to procure from the government an exequatur.

An exequatur, in a word, is _permission to act_. It is simply a formal recognition of the right of any country to grant or refuse to any other country, or any of its representatives, the right to do business within its territory.

Meanwhile our newly made consul is supposed to be very hard at work completing his preparation, for he is to be at his post within thirty days of the date of his commission, his salary having begun on the date of his taking the oath of office. Having arrived at his post he notifies the American legation of that fact and receives his exequatur. Then he applies to the person in charge of the consulate for the government archives, the seal and all other government property. In company with his predecessor or the one in charge of the office, he makes an inventory of all the effects, and transmits a copy of it to the State Department.

It is expected that the consulate shall remain in the same place; but if our consul prefers to move he may move. He must do so, however, subject to instructions, for he is expected to establish his office “at the most convenient, central location that the sum allowed for office rent will permit”, and then give in minute detail a description of the new office in a report to the State Department. “The arms of the United States should be placed over the entrance to the consulate, unless prohibited by the laws of the country.” The flag may be hoisted occasionally, on national holidays, etc., if there is no objection, and it is always hoisted when required for protection.

Nothing is stipulated as to his residence except that it must be within the town in which he is doing business. Though he is expected to have regular office hours, he must be willing to be at the service of the public if called upon outside of those hours.

PRIVILEGES.

The consular service originally comprised some of the functions and enjoyed many of the privileges of the diplomatic. It lost those functions and most of the privileges when the diplomatic service developed and became common, except in uncivilized countries. The consul has lost, in the main, his representative character and has retained in uncivilized countries his judicial power—capacity to act as a judge. The consul has lost the right of exterritoriality, that is, the right to be subject to the laws of his own country and not to those of the country where he is stationed. However, he is under the special protection of international law and is regarded as the officer “both of the state which appoints and the state which receives him”. The extent of his authority is derived from his commission and his exequatur, and the extent of his privileges is defined for the most part by treaties between his own government and the one where he is stationed. Among these we will notice the following:

TREATY RIGHTS.

_The-most-favored-nation_ clause in a commercial or consular treaty between two powers entitles the consuls of those two countries to all the privileges that those countries grant to the consuls of other powers. It is no more than an agreement between Smith and Jones that in a certain particular they will treat each other as decently as they treat any of their other neighbors.

_Inviolability of the archives and papers_ of the consulate means that they cannot be seized or examined by anybody.

_Inviolability of the consular office and dwelling_ secures those places from invasion even by officers of the law; but it is understood that they are not to be used as an asylum or place of refuge for fugitives from the law. If it is known that they are so used it is doubtful if there are many countries where this would hold.

_Exemption from arrest_ secures to a consul the freedom of a diplomatic officer, but this is seldom enjoyed in full. Usage inclines to grant every liberty to a consul consistent with public welfare. He is seldom exempt from arrest for crime.

_Exemption from obligation to appear as a witness_ “except for defense of persons accused of crime” is secured in several countries.

_Exemption from taxation_ of personal property is secured in a number of countries, provided the officer is not a citizen of that country, and provided also he is not engaged in business.

This first proviso may sound a little strange, yet it is a fact that Uncle Sam has often jeopardized his reputation for shrewdness by employing citizens of a country to represent his commercial interests right in their own home. A study of treaties will show that foreign governments do not look upon this arrangement with more favor than we should, hence it is a good practice to abandon.

_Exemption from military billetings and public services_ is granted upon the same proviso mentioned above.

These are not all the points covered by treaties in reference to the consular service, but the remainder contemplate his duties rather than his privileges and may be mentioned, possibly, in the next lecture. Bear in mind that these privileges do not exist in any country unless it is so stipulated in a treaty between the United States and that particular country.

PROHIBITIONS.

Uncle Sam doesn’t propose to have his public servants abroad intermeddling in foreign politics. Consuls are desired to “cultivate friendly social relations with the community in which they reside”, but to “refrain from expressing harsh or disagreeable opinions upon local, political or other questions which divide the community within their jurisdiction. They are forbidden to participate in any manner in the political concerns of the country. In their (public) dispatches upon such subjects, they will confine themselves to the communication of important or interesting public events as they occur, avoiding all unnecessary reflections upon the character or conduct of individuals or governments, and they will not give publicity, through the press or otherwise, to opinions injurious to the public institutions of the country or the persons concerned in their administration”.

This is good, sound diplomacy; and the same paragraph goes on to say, “It is at the same time no less their duty to report freely and seasonably to their own government all important facts which may come to their knowledge touching the political condition of the country, especially if their communications can be made to subserve or may affect the interests of their own country”.

PUBLIC SPEECHES.—He is “not allowed to allude in public speeches to any matters in dispute between the United States and any other government, nor to any matters pending in the consulate. It is a still better rule to avoid public speeches when it can be done without exciting feeling”.

THE PRESS.—The prohibitions extend also to correspondence with the press, not literary or non-political articles, but to such as touch upon public affairs in any foreign government, or communications to newspapers relative to epidemic diseases abroad.

GIFTS, TESTIMONIALS.—Consuls are not permitted to ask or accept for themselves or anybody else “any present, emolument, pecuniary favor, office or title of any kind from any foreign government”. If any such offers are made to them “they may apply to Congress through the Department of State for permission to accept the same”.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OFFICE.—Consuls are forbidden to recommend any one for any governmental office or trust of profit. By permission of the Secretary of State they may make recommendations to offices subject to their own jurisdiction.

UNIFORM.—Consular officers are forbidden to wear any distinguishing uniform. The Regulations are indulgent enough to allow them to wear an Army uniform if they happen to have been in the Army of the United States during the Rebellion.

ABSENCE.—Consuls are forbidden to be absent from their posts longer than forty-eight hours without reporting to the Department about it. No one is permitted to be absent more than ten days at any one time without permission from the President. Special permission must be obtained in order to return to the United States, and the statutes do not provide for a continuance of salary for an absence of longer than sixty days.

This is about all that need be said about the consuls themselves. What remains to be considered will come up in connection with the duties of the consular office. We will wait a few moments for questions.

* * * * *

Q. “Professor, aren’t there other needed reforms in the consular service besides those you have mentioned”?

A. “Certainly, but I preferred to dwell only upon the most difficult and at the same time the most vital of them all; namely, the choice and preparation of the men. I think it might be well to emphasize just a point or two more in this connection. The first is that the consular service ought not to be filled with foreigners. The Consular Register of July, 1899, shows that out of 706 subordinate positions, including commercial agencies, 412 are filled by men born in the country where they are stationed. In fact, out of a total of 1,020 men in the consular service only 547 are of American birth or parentage. The reason for this is that so many of the positions don’t pay enough to induce Americans to undertake them. Four or five hundred dollars a year may mean something to a man who is on the spot, small as the sum is, but it shuts Americans out of a large majority of the subordinate positions.

“The second point to be mentioned is the effect of this parsimony—miscalled economy—upon the higher positions. For instance, suppose a man is appointed to a place, the duties of which involve some diplomatic responsibility. Such a man must live on a scale becoming his position, or bring himself and his country into contempt. As a matter of fact it has frequently happened that a thrifty consul, profiting by the example in frugality set by his government, has tried to save money by living in rented rooms above his business office, only to find when the inspector came around that he had to move out and live in a more sumptuous fashion. Aside from the question of sentiment, democratic or undemocratic, the government is best served by a consul who, other things being the same, enters a great deal into society and is not too careful to live within his income. It gives him an influence, a prestige among his surroundings which inures to the financial advantage of his country. Uncle Sam pays less for his consular service than does any other power of equal wealth, but those who know best the service and its possibilities have always claimed that it is poor economy.”

Q. “Will you please distinguish again between Consular Clerks and Clerks at Consulate”?

A. “Certainly; Consular Clerks are not stationed at consulates at all. They are specialists who work upon some task assigned by the State Department. Such a one may specialize upon a certain line of textile fabrics in all its degrees of quality and the methods employed in its manufacture. Another may become an expert authority on chemicals or iron and steel products, etc. Clerks at Consulate are, as you may suppose, those engaged in ordinary clerical duties at the consulates.”

Q. “Do you think that the present movement in favor of consular reform has any partisan purpose”?

A. “Not at all. The last two administrations, i. e., Cleveland’s and McKinley’s, have done more for this cause, perhaps, than all the others put together. Moreover, the time just now is ripe for this reform and Congressmen should be more than ever awake to the necessity of it, irrespective of party”.

Q. “How about that school for consuls and diplomats, Professor? It seems to me that however desirable it may be, it is hardly feasible for partisan reasons.”

A. “That, of course, is the stock objection to such a proposition. Yet I fail to see why such a school might not be put into the hands of a non-partisan board—say the second and third Assistant Secretaries of State, who do not change with the administration as a rule. And we might add to these the Civil Service Commissioners, or any other competent men, provided they are not to be meddled with on the score of partisanship. Partisanship does not enter into the management of West Point or Annapolis to any noticeable extent, nor does it prevent our numerous State universities from being as well managed as other institutions of learning.”

Q. “But why not leave all this to the institutions already established?”

A. “Well, perhaps as good a reason as any is that none of them are in Washington. The government has here its great scientific museum, the Smithsonian Institute; also its historical museum, various experiment stations, and above all, perhaps, its Congressional Library and collections of State papers and archives. Besides, diplomacy should be learned from diplomats in active service—men acquainted with their occupation both past and present, European and American. Such a school need not be continuous, perhaps, or conducted as many months of the year as other schools, its chief purpose being to satisfy the exigencies of the Government, rather than to furnish a liberal education”.

Q. “I suppose, Professor, that our Government has treaties with most other countries covering the principal points of commercial importance”?

A. “Yes, in the main, though there are some surprising exceptions. For instance, ‘the-most-favored-nation’ clause is not in the treaties with either Great Britain or Sweden and Norway. With many of our neighboring states we have no extradition treaties whatever. A glance at the synopsis[5] given will show that our treaties are fullest with the following named countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Roumania, San Salvador and Servia. Evidently the treaties with some of the other countries need overhauling.”

Footnote 5:

See Appendix.

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LECTURE
III

THE CONSULAR SERVICE—DUTIES.

Consular duties, like household duties, are very numerous; and about as multiform as they are numerous. The mere mention of them, aside from any description or dwelling upon particulars, would leave little time for anything else to be said in the same lecture. We shall content ourselves, therefore, with a cursory view, a glance over the whole field of those duties, without stopping to distinguish between those of a consul and those of a consul general, or of a seaport and of an inland town.

The following classification will be found to be helpful and very nearly comprehensive:

(1) Duties commercial.
(2) Duties in connection with customs regulations.
(3) Duties to merchant vessels.
(4) Duties in case of wrecks.
(5) Duties to officers, naval, diplomatic and departmental.
(6) Duties to seamen.
(7) Duties in regard to immigration and quarantine.
(8) Duties to citizens other than seamen.
(9) Duties judicial—in non-Christian countries.
(10) Duties to the State Department.

There are a few others, such as duties in regard to extradition, the purchase and transference of foreign built vessels, etc., etc., which we shall term miscellaneous.

DUTIES COMMERCIAL.

The most important of these—the one indeed which is now, as it always has been, of central importance in the consular service, is the one first mentioned—commercial duties. Owing to its importance I will quote in full from the Consular Regulations, pages 248-51, the list of subjects upon which the consul is expected to report to the State Department:

“1. Conditions of foreign commerce and internal trade, manufacturers, mechanical industries, agriculture, etc., especially—

“(a) Statistics of exports and imports, of shipping and of revenue and expenditure of the country; amount of public debts, national and local; rates of taxation, character of taxable basis, how taxation is levied and collected, amount of taxation per capita, etc.; value, actual value in exchange, and also as measured by the dollar of the United States; changes in purchasing power of the currency; banking—new systems, especially of savings banks and of banks as associations for lending money to agriculturists, mechanics, and factory operatives; public loans and the matters of finance affecting the industry or commerce of the country; commercial credits—rates and periods usually granted to foreign purchasers, and those expected from foreign shippers; trade usages and peculiarities; special demands of consumers as to demand and quality of goods or supplies already in use or capable of being introduced among them, with suggestions as to the best and most economical style of packing to conform to local requirements of sale and transportation.

“(b) Improvement of old and development of new industries, including inventions or discoveries, and the result obtained from the practical application of them.

“(c) Introduction of inventions made in the United States or imitations of them; application of business or mechanical methods employed in the United States.

“(d) Importation and use of food supplies, raw materials and manufactures from the United States, or the possibility of introducing them, and local or race requirements to make them acceptable to foreign consumers.

“2. Facilities for direct and indirect communication with the United States—establishment of new ocean or international railroad lines or agencies; development of internal transportation lines—railroads, highways and steamboat or other carriage on rivers and canals, or betterment of them; opening up of new trade routes or abandonment of old ones; changes in transportation rates, both freight and passenger, which are of general interest to commerce; bounties or subsidies to railroads and shipping.

“3. Development or decline of commercial and manufacturing centers; causes of drift of agricultural population to towns and cities; diversion of trade from one local market or district to another; projects for great manufacturing or other industrial enterprises for harbor or river improvement, for better methods of lighting, street paving, water supply, sewerage and disposal of sewage, economy of municipal taxation and expenditure; hygienic and quarantine measures; police systems, urban and rural.

“4. Changes in economic condition of producing communities, urban and rural; fluctuations in rates of wages, cost of living, prices of products, raw and manufactured, especially for food supplies, wearing apparel, agricultural and domestic implements, machinery, etc.; scarcity or glut of articles of consumption of all kinds, particularly those produced in the United States; changes in hours of labor or other conditions affecting workingmen, trades’ unions; strikes and lockouts; systems of co-operation and profit sharing; government measures (national, municipal or local) or private (organized) projects for insurance or care of infirm or superannuated laborers, for improved sanitation of factories and dwellings, for regulating the labor of women and children, and for combating usury in the lending of money; technical and commercial education; museums, exhibitions, merchants’ unions and similar organizations for promoting trade, and the functions assumed by the state in connection therewith.

“5. All changes in tariff legislation, including new rates of export, import, or transit duties, special care being taken to state whether they discriminate in favor of or against the United States as compared with other countries. When a wholly new tariff law is enacted it should be given in full with an explanatory statement of increase or decrease in duties as compared with the tariff previously existing. Prompt notice of contemplated tariff legislation should be sent to the Department. By tariff legislation are meant not only measures affecting export and import duties, but also those relating to customs administration, transit duties, octroi or municipal taxes upon supplies entering cities and towns, taxes imposed upon the import or export of articles from one political district of a country (such as a state, province, canton, arrondissement, etc.) to another, tonnage, taxes and port dues, or other taxes upon shipping, etc.

“6. Legislation or proposed legislation of interest to farmers, merchants, mechanics, inventors, etc., such as changes in patent, trade mark, and copyright laws; laws to prevent adulteration of food, or to prohibit importation or sale of adulterated or impure food; laws prohibitory of importation of diseased animals, impure seeds, etc.; measures discriminating for or against any particular class of products or against imports from any country; bounties granted to special lines of manufacture or agricultural production; changes in legislation concerning agricultural, commercial or industrial concessions, such as government land grants, railroad bonuses, special privileges, and exemptions for colonists; encouragements to or restrictions of immigration; rights of citizenship; taxation or exemption of manufacturing plants, machinery and implements; licenses to trade; taxation of commercial travelers; legislation as to bankruptcy and collection of debts, etc. Also decisions of courts or of government officers on important commercial questions; government regulations relating to law changes; changes in commercial procedure.

“7. Undertakings and enterprises of moment—the construction of public works, the opening of mines, the granting of concessions for working minerals or forests, or for other similar purposes”.

This is an admirable list for any one to study if he would learn what are the signs of a nation’s material prosperity. It deserves further comment because of its importance to the consular service, but we must pass on.

DUTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE CUSTOMS REGULATIONS.

A large share of the routine of every consulate is concerned with the customs regulations, certifying to invoices, guarding against fraud, keeping account of all transactions and reporting the same to the State Department. If you are engaged in importing “fancy Scotch cheviots” (your imported Scotch goods are made in America, however), the goods must be described in full in a consular invoice. This invoice must be signed by yourself or agent and accompanied by an “official shipper’s certificate”, which amounts to saying that the invoice is “all right”, and this again must be signed by the shipper and certified by the consul. Thus the consular service facilitates the work of the customs officials by having imported goods invoiced before arrival at the “port of entry”.

DUTIES TO MERCHANT VESSELS.

An American merchant vessel sailing from an American to a foreign port is required under penalty to deposit its register and also its sea letter with the American consul immediately upon reaching its destination. “It is usual also to deposit its crew list and shipping articles”. These documents are known as the “ship’s papers”, and are kept by the consul until the ship has received “clearance”.

The consul is required to give the masters of vessels all information in his possession concerning coast surveys, pilot and hydrographic charts, etc., such as are published by the Navy Department, and to furnish to the State Department any information that may be of service to navigation.

DUTIES IN CASE OF WRECKS.

No consular officer is permitted to take any action in case of a wreck, if the “owner, master or consignee thereof is present and capable of taking possession of the same”. If no such person is present, the consul is required, so far as the laws of the land permit, to take all necessary action for the preservation of vessel and cargo, and keep inventories of the same, together with the expense involved. The consul must make a full report of such wrecks to the State Department, whether they occur within his jurisdiction or are brought in.

In case Americans are shipwrecked the consuls are required to “render such assistance as may be in their power”, but they are not authorized to incur any expense with the expectation that it will be met by the State Department.

Whenever foreigners render aid to shipwrecked Americans, the Consul is required to forward to the State Department an account of the facts, giving the name of the master of the foreign vessel and those of the crew who especially distinguished themselves for heroism or humanity. These details should be quite exact, as they are to be laid before the President, who is authorized by Congress to make suitable acknowledgment. In some cases the consul may reward a rescuing crew out of funds at his disposal.

DUTIES TO OFFICERS—NAVAL AND DIPLOMATIC.

Duties to naval officers were mentioned in connection with “rank” in the preceding lecture. Officers of the Navy are under a reciprocal duty to consuls, however, which should be mentioned. On this point I quote the exact words of the Regulations.

“The Navy is an independent branch of the service, not subject to the orders of the Department of State, and its officers have fixed duties prescribed for them; consuls will, therefore, be careful to ask for the presence of a naval force at their posts only when public exigencies absolutely require it, and will then give the officers in command the full reasons for the request and leave with them the responsibility of action. If the request is addressed to the Department of State, the reasons should likewise be fully stated for its information.”

The diplomatic service has general supervision over the consular service in any one country. When there is a consul general, this supervision is exercised through him, and the consuls will not correspond officially with the diplomatic officers—except in reply to inquiries. Where there is no consul general the consuls will correspond directly with the diplomatic officials and “endeavor in all cases to comply with their requests and wishes”. Leaves of absence and recommendations for appointment of subordinate officers are usually sent through the diplomatic officers.

Sometimes in the absence of a diplomatic officer a consul general or consul may discharge the duties of a diplomatic officer. Sometimes the two offices are united in the one representative.

“Consular officers will confer freely with the Treasury revenue agents who may be appointed to visit and examine the consulates. They will remember, however, that these agents have no authority to instruct them as to their official acts”.

DUTIES OR RELATIONS TO SEAMEN.

To no other class of citizens, save in uncivilized countries, does the consul stand in such immediate relationship as to seamen. This would seem to be because as a class, since their occupation takes them to all parts of the world and away from the protection of their own country, and, moreover, because they are laborers and not men of means, they are more at the mercy of circumstances as well as of unscrupulous masters in foreign lands. On the other hand, justice to the masters also requires national authority to enforce contracts and assist in securing harmony often-times on shipboard. Fully 57 pages of the Regulations are taken up with this subject under the following heads:

1. Shipment of seamen.
2. Discharge of seamen.
3. Wages and effects of seamen.
4. Relief of seamen.
5. Transportation of seamen.
6. Desertion of seamen.
7. Disputes between masters, officers and crews.

A master of an American merchant vessel who engages any seamen in a foreign port must do so under penalty in the presence of the American consul and only with his sanction. The engagement must be signed in duplicate by both master and men in the presence of the consul, who must see to it that the seamen understand clearly the terms of the contract. Seamen may be engaged for a definite time, for a round trip, for a single voyage or “by the lay”, and the terms of the agreement are called the “shipping articles”. In case of desertion or casualty the master may engage a number of seamen equal to the number lost and report to the first consul he sees. In case a vessel is purchased abroad and the seamen “have not character of American seamen” (subsequently defined), they do not come within the jurisdiction of the consul.

An American seaman is (1) an American citizen or (2) a foreigner shipped in an American vessel in an American port or (3) a foreign seaman shipped in an American vessel in either an American or a foreign port, who has declared his intention in a competent court to become a citizen of the United States and has served three years thereafter on American merchant vessels. For purposes of protection the filing of the declaration is sufficient.

A consular officer may discharge a seaman upon his own or his master’s application, provided the terms of the agreement have been fulfilled. He is also to give a certificate to that effect to the seaman. Other cases where American seamen are discharged abroad are for sickness, misconduct, on the sale of American vessel, on account of ill treatment, when vessel is wrecked or condemned as unseaworthy, etc. The general policy of the government is to “discountenance the discharge of seamen in a foreign port”, and any master who knowingly abandons a seaman abroad is subject to fine and imprisonment. “Cases have occurred in which the consular officers have, with the subsequent approval of the Department of State, removed masters of vessels and appointed others in their places to complete the voyage”, but this was only when the “gross incompetency” of the masters endangered the lives of passengers and crew.

A consul in discharging a seaman, must see to it that his wages are paid, otherwise “he shall be held accountable to the United States for the full amount thereof”.

It is the duty of the consul to provide for destitute seamen, to secure their transportation to the United States at government expense, subject always to certain conditions, and to take charge of their effects upon their death at sea or in port.

The consular officers must help to reclaim deserters and call in the assistance of the local authorities for this purpose if necessary, which they are authorized to do by treaty with several countries and by comity or usage with others.

One of the many interesting points in international law is that of “mixed jurisdiction”, as it is called, or jurisdiction within a harbor. A dispute on shipboard on the high seas is clearly within the jurisdiction of the country under whose flag the vessel is sailing, but when the vessel comes into the harbor of another country it is just as clear that the jurisdiction of that country is superior. As a matter of practice, however, it has long been found best to allow all such controversies occurring on shipboard within a harbor to be tried by the law and authorities to which the vessel is subject, provided, of course, that “it does not involve the peace or dignity of the country, or the tranquility of the port” where it occurs. In all such cases the consul, as the representative of his government, acts as an officer of justice. Where he is authorized by treaty to call for local aid he is cautioned not to do so if it can be avoided. If such aid is refused, he should lay claim to his treaty rights and then report at once to the diplomatic officers in the country and to the State Department.

This hurried review of the consul’s relations to seamen leaves a great deal unsaid, but the main points, at least, have been touched upon. Let us now turn to

IMMIGRATION.

The old idea that this land is an asylum for all kinds and conditions of men is now happily exploded. The classes of aliens now excluded are as follows:

(a) Chinese laborers.
(b) Contract laborers.
(c) All idiots and insane persons.
(d) Paupers or persons likely to become a public charge.
(e) Persons suffering from a loathsome or contagious disease.
(f) Felons and all criminals except political offenders; (and these
latter are excluded if the penalty is removed upon condition of
immigration).
(g) Polygamists.
(h) Assisted immigrants.
(i) Abandoned women.

Every master of a vessel having on board immigrants bound for any port in the United States is obliged upon arrival to submit a manifest to the inspector of immigration. A manifest is a list of the immigrants on board, with a general description of each one, giving name, age, sex, nationality, ability to read and write, calling or occupation, means, destination, etc. This must be subscribed and sworn to by the master in the presence of the consul before the vessel can leave port, and in like manner the surgeon of the vessel must take oath that he has made a personal examination of each one and finds everything satisfactory.

QUARANTINE.

Before clearing for any American port any vessel in a foreign port must procure from the consul a “bill of health”, which is a certificate to the effect that the sanitary conditions of the vessel are satisfactory and that all rules and regulations in such cases have been complied with. The consul must take pains to satisfy himself before granting the “bill of health”, and for this purpose a medical officer is often detailed by the Government. A master of a vessel who sails into an American port without having procured a “bill of health” is liable to a fine not to exceed $5,000.

DUTIES TO CITIZENS OTHER THAN SEAMEN.

Citizens going abroad for business or pleasure may find it to their advantage to inquire into the consideration that Uncle Sam is prepared to show them when abroad. The freedom of travel you enjoy at home is a small thing until, in a foreign land, you find yourself confronted by an officer of the law demanding your passports. Besides, there are numerous little official courtesies for which the traveler or sojourner will be very grateful, and in cases of emergency assistance may be rendered far beyond all adequate reward.

As was said before, passports may be procured from the State Department, otherwise through the diplomatic officers, or in their absence, through the consular service. If the applicant is accompanied by his wife, minor children, servant, etc., the one passport answers for all.

A consular officer may verify or visé (pronounced vee-záy) a passport by writing on it the word “good” in the language of the country, and affixing his official signature and seal. Diplomatic representatives should visé passports only when there is no consulate in the city where the legation is situated. A visé is good only in the country where it is given.

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Restricted
Immigration

See page 101.
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The government affords all the protection it can under the circumstances. Of course it can have no jurisdiction in criminal cases, except in uncivilized countries, and it can have no civil jurisdiction except by treaty or by the law of the land. “The right of a citizen to claim protection is founded upon the ‘correlative right’ of his country to his ‘allegiance and support.’” Consuls are “particularly cautioned not to enter into any contentions that can be avoided, either with their countrymen or with the subjects or authorities of the country. They should use every endeavor,” continues the “Regulations”, “to settle in an amicable manner all disputes in which their countrymen may be concerned, but they should take no part in litigation between citizens. They should countenance and protect them before the authorities of the country in all cases in which they may be injured or oppressed, but their efforts should not be extended to those who have been wilfully guilty of an infraction of the local laws. It is incumbent upon citizens of the United States to observe the reasonable laws of the country where they may be. It is their duty to endeavor on all occasions to maintain and promote all the rightful interests of citizens, and to protect them in all privileges that are provided for by treaty or are conceded by usage. If representations are made to the local authorities and fail to secure the proper redress, the case should be reported to the consul general, if there be one, or to the diplomatic representative if there be no consul general, and to the Department of State.”

I have quoted this passage almost entirely because it is the best expression to be found, probably, of the general attitude of the Government of the United States toward its citizens abroad.

Citizens intending to sojourn abroad should register at the consulate within which they are to reside. This is not required, but it may be a great convenience both ways.

Who are citizens? (1) “All persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof”; (2) all children born to such natives, even if beyond the jurisdiction of the United States; (3) “any white woman, or woman of African nativity or descent, or Indian woman, married to a citizen of the United States, is a citizen thereof”; (4) naturalized citizens; (5) the minor children of naturalized citizens.

“An official letter of introduction, when given to a citizen of the United States, is valuable to the holder for prompt identification in case he needs the intervention of a consular officer in his behalf. But in no case must the letter be understood or taken as implying any claim upon the consul for hospitality or personal courtesies beyond the politeness always due to citizens of the United States when they have legitimate business with a consulate”.

Consuls are not allowed to give their names as business references, nor to report the financial standing of houses in their districts. Such requests should be referred to banks or business agencies.

“Consular officers are not authorized to indorse notes or bills of exchange, nor in other ways to become responsible pecuniarily for American citizens or others who have no personal claims upon them.” Such transactions are not a part of the official duties of a consular officer. He is “not authorized to lend money to indigent citizens of the United States or others, nor to incur expenses or liabilities for any persons except seamen of the United States, in the expectation of reimbursement by the Government”.

Consular officers are forbidden to solemnize marriages. A marriage may be solemnized in the presence of a consular officer as a witness, and in that case it has certain peculiarities, as will be seen from the following:

According to international law the mode of solemnizing marriage conforms to the law of the place where it is performed. But there are many conceivable circumstances which might make this undesirable, and in such cases it is declared by the statutes that “marriages in presence of any consular officer of the United States in a foreign country, between persons who would be authorized to marry if residing in the District of Columbia, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, and shall have the same effect as if solemnized within the United States”. In all such cases the consul must give a certificate to each of the parties and forward a copy to the Department of State.

In case of the death of an American citizen abroad, it is the duty of the consul to take possession of his estate, provided there is no other legal representative, and provided, also, the laws of the country so permit,—to inventory the same with the help of two merchants (Americans, preferably), to make collections and to discharge the debts due from the estate, to sell at public auction such part as is of a perishable nature, and at the expiration of one year the remainder, and finally to transmit the proceeds to the Treasury of the United States to be held in trust for the legal claimants, who, however, are at liberty to appear at any time and take charge of the proceedings and the estate themselves. This applies to personal property only—real estate being administered according to the laws of the locality. In the absence of a treaty covering such points the consul is to proceed in the above manner unless it is known that the local authorities are unwilling, for “he should avoid the appearance of opposing or disregarding actual local requirements”.

The same proceedings as the above are followed in case a citizen dies on the high seas “on either an American or a foreign vessel, and his effects are brought within a consular district”.

JUDICIAL DUTIES—IN NON-CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES.

The use of the term “non-christian”, which in the present day is giving place to “uncivilized”, is as old as the consular system itself; that is to say, it has come down to us from mediaeval times when the consular system originated. It might still have been retained had it not been for the progress of one country, Japan, which may be better described as civilized rather than Christian.

The judicial power of a consul, therefore, remains as a relic of mediaevalism, and it remains because the need remains; for just as civilized countries five hundred years ago were unwilling to look to the Turk for justice, so they are to-day, and treaties to that effect secure Turkish recognition of this humiliating state of things. As it is with Turkey so it is with China, Korea, Siam, Persia, Madagascar, Borneo, etc., the treaties varying considerably in each case.

This assumption of superiority by the self-styled civilized countries would be hard to justify on the ground of theoretical ethics, but apparently theoretical and practical or applied ethics sometimes diverge very widely, and when they do diverge no statesman hesitates as to which he shall follow.

From the tiresome details of Title XLVII, U. S. Revised Statutes, which deals fully with courts of this character, the following points may be gleaned:

(1) Cases arising between Americans are tried before American officers.

(2) Cases arising between Americans and others not natives are arranged by their respective consular officers; in Turkey they are tried in the consulate of the defendant.

(3) Cases arising between Americans and natives are tried before an American tribunal in China, Siam and Madagascar; before a mixed tribunal in Persia, the Barbary States and Turkey.

It is rather startling to notice the power entrusted to one man, as is done by our government in the case of the consuls to these countries. A consul, for instance, can issue a warrant for the arrest of a man merely upon his own initiative, and can then proceed to try him, he himself acting as judge and jury. He first submits a list of men to the minister, who selects from one to four to sit with him in the trial as advisers. These advisers must record and sign their judgment of the case, but it is the consul’s judgment that condemns or acquits.

In trials for capital offenses there must be four advisers, and their judgment must concur with the consul’s, and their combined judgment must be approved by the minister before there can be conviction. In some cases appeal may be made to the minister and rarely to a U. S. circuit court, but in general the decision of the consul is final. Hence, although the power of life and death is lodged in the hands of the consul, it is well safeguarded, and the danger of its abuse is more apparent than real.

There are some miscellaneous duties devolving upon the consular service which we will notice briefly before turning finally to the duties to the State Department.

EXTRADITION.

Whenever a criminal attempts to escape justice by fleeing to another country it is a delicate matter to recapture him, necessarily; for aside from the ordinary difficulties of the case the powers add a few by their carefulness to preserve each other’s dignity in such matters. Thus the pursuit of a criminal by the officers of one country into the territory of another, even when permitted by treaty, may result in a rather awkward state of things, especially if what is regarded as a crime in the one is not so much of a crime in the other. For instance, suppose that the laws of Canada regarding embezzlement are not as stringent as are those of the United States, or suppose she hasn’t any at all: one can see that a request by our Government for the extradition of an embezzler might strain international courtesy more than a trifle. A treaty is a prerequisite to extradition in any country, and fortunately our Government has such treaties with most of her neighbors, though there are some startling exceptions.

Whenever a warrant or “requisition” is made for a fugitive criminal it is usual to act through a diplomatic officer. If it is made through a consul it must first be with the sanction of the State Department.

TRANSFER OF FOREIGN VESSELS.

The right of citizens to purchase foreign-made vessels abroad involves the right to the protection of those vessels. A vessel cannot sail the high seas without registration and a flag; for if she does she is liable to seizure as a pirate. Hence the ceremony of transfer in such a case must be attended to by the consul.

Ordinarily this does not imply any great responsibility, but while a war is in progress it is a very different thing, no matter whether we are neutrals or belligerents. To illustrate: Suppose during the recent war the owner of an American vessel wished to put it out of danger by putting it under a neutral flag. This he might do by a pretended sale to a citizen of a foreign country through the connivance of a consul. It is the consul’s duty, therefore, to prevent such fraudulent sales, to take all possible pains to satisfy himself that the sale is or is not a genuine transaction.

WATCHING ENEMY’S VESSEL.

In case of war with another power the consuls are required to keep watch on the movements of the enemy’s vessels and report promptly to the Department.

AS A FOREIGN AGENT.

During the progress of a war between two foreign states our consuls may as a matter of courtesy to one or both of them take charge of its consular offices and effects. This must be with the permission of the Secretary of State, however, and the Government assumes no responsibility for the acts of the consuls.

DUTIES TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT—AND OTHERS.

The consular service may be likened to a great reporting system. The consuls are reporters, their offices are news agencies, their field the world, their managing and publishing office the State Department, their organ the Consular Reports, their readers—just a few persons, here and there, whose numbers, by the way, are increasing. In addition to the correspondence which must be carried on in connection with the duties mentioned, the consul may have occasional correspondence on public business with “the Secretary of the Treasury, the Comptroller, the Auditor for the State and other Departments, the Register of the Treasury, collectors of customs as to invoices and prices current, the diplomatic representative of the United States in the country where he resides, other consular officers, and with naval or military officers in the service of the United States who may be employed in the neighborhood, and to whom it may be necessary to communicate immediately any event of public interest, and with no other person”.

This, I trust, will serve as a brief conspectus of consular duties, and now we will listen to questions.

* * * * *

After dismissal a group of men including a banker, a merchant, two manufacturers, a grain dealer, some traveling men, etc., made their way to the platform and were introduced to Professor Loyal as some of the business men of the place.

“We suppose, Professor,” said one of them, “that it is rather aside from your purpose to tell us how to reach foreign trade—how to get our goods on the market—and yet it is the very thing we need to know; so if you can give us any further light we shall appreciate it”.

“I am very glad to hear you say so”, said the Professor, “for that is just what the consular service is intended to do, while my purpose is to serve as an introduction committee between you and the service. You will find in the syllabi the name and address of every member of the consular and diplomatic services all over the world, and they, no doubt, will furnish you all the information you need. The Regulations, indeed, have this to say: ‘Inquiries made by citizens of the United States touching business matters, or other matters not of mere curiosity, should be answered as far as they can be consistently with the consul’s other duties. All inquiries of this character should be acknowledged, even when it is impracticable to answer them’”.

“But why not write at once to the State Department”?