Duties imposed United States. consuls best succeed in settling difficulties and in the accomplishment of important objects. Commercial intercourse is a common bond of interest among all countries and all men, and it is by arguments drawn from this source, rather than by unreasonable pretensions and disputes, that injurious restrictions can be removed.1 23. The laws of the United States on the subject by laws of the of consuls and vice consuls specially authorize them to receive the protests of masters and others relating to American commerce, and they declare that consular certificates under seal shall receive faith and credit in the courts of the United States. It is likewise made the duty of consular officers, where the laws of the country permit, to collect and remit the assets of the personal estates of American citizens who may die within their consulates leaving no legal representative, and to take charge of wrecks and secure the effects of stranded vessels, in the absence of the master, owner, or consignee; and they are bound to provide for destitute seamen within their consulates, and to send them, at the public expense, to the United States. It is their duty, likewise, to reclaim deserters, to discountenance insubordination, and lend their aid to the local authorities for this purpose, to discharge seamen cruelly treated, and to receive from the masters of American vessels, on their arrival at a foreign port, and after the vessel shall have come to an entry, the registers, sea letters, and passports of such vessels." These duties, and some others which are prescribed by legal enactment, are in accordance with the usages 1 De Clercq, tome ii. p. 32, et seq. 2 Statutes at Large, vol. i. p. 255; idem, vol. xi. p. 61. of nations,' and with special treaty stipulations with certain countries. consular du 24. Many of the consular duties arise from peculiar Variety and imcircumstances: such as the character and habits of portance of the nation in which the consul resides, its laws and ties. customs, and the nature of its intercourse with the United States. In the most restricted sense, they are important and multifarious; are quite different from those of other officers employed in foreign affairs; and require for their proper performance an amount of practical information for which the consular officer needs a special training. Consuls are often so situated as to exercise towards their countrymen within their consular jurisdiction the duties of judges, arbiters, and peacemakers; they are the registers of marriages, births, and deaths; they act as notaries, and sometimes as revenue officers; they watch over and verify the sanitary condition of their consulates; and, through their social and official relations, they are able to obtain a full and accurate knowledge of the commerce, navigation, and industry peculiar to the country of their residence.2 1 Kent, vol. i. p. 42; Wheaton's Elements of International Law, p. 166. "Après avoir été un ministre habile, que des choses il faut encore savoir pour être un bon consul! Car les attributions d'un consul sont variées a l'infini; elles sont d'un genre tout différent de celles des autres employés des affaires étrangères. Elles exigent une foule de connaissances pratiquées, pour lesquelles une éducation particulière est necessaire. Les consuls sont dans le cas d'exercer, dans l'etendue de leur arrondissement, vis-à-vis de leur compatriots, les fonctions de juge, d'arbitres, de conciliateurs; souvent ils sont officiers de l'état civil; ils remplissent l'emploi de notaries; quelquefois celui d'administrateurs de la marine; ils surveillent et constatent l'état sanitaire. Ce sont eux qui, par leurs relations habituelles, peuvent donner une idée juste et complête de la situation du commerce, de la navigation, et de l'industrie particulière au pays de leur résidence."-Remarks of Talleyrand upon the Character of Count Rheinhard. Duties in respect to commercial regula tions. Suggestions in sular corre 25. The commercial interests of their own country are, in a measure, committed to their care. They are to see whether the stipulations in commercial treaties are observed, and report all changes in commercial regulations and municipal ordinances. Every law, edict, or regulation of the government where they reside in any way affecting the commerce of the United States which comes to the knowledge of consular officers must be immediately transmitted to the Department; and, if it be a local regulation, operating only on a particular port, they must also give immediate notice thereof to the minister, if there be one in the country to which the district belongs. 26. Consular officers are expected, in their correregard to con- spondence, to note all events which bear upon the spondence, and commerce between the country where they reside the transmis- and the United States, the establishment of new sion of new branches of industry within the limits of their conful seeds, and sular jurisdiction, and the increase and decline of products, use samples. such as have been before established. They should also make such suggestions as, in their opinion, may lead to an increase of trade, and point out any circumstances which may have produced a contrary effect, with the means that appear proper for avoiding such a result. When new products of the arts, sciences, or manufactures appear to be valuable either for export or import, and this is not generally known, the fact should be communicated to the Department, and samples sent, if not too bulky, with the consular letters; otherwise, they may be addressed to the collector of some one of our principal ports. Seeds of plants and grain suitable for cultivation in the United States should also be sent. In general, the duties of a consular officer require an attention to everything that can promote the commerce and navigation of this country, and the interests of its citizens. consular offi men. towards 27. Consular officers are particularly cautioned not Contentions to to enter into any contentions which can be avoided, be avoided. either with their countrymen or the authorities of the country in which they reside; referring questions of Conduct to be that nature to the ministers to whom they are respec- observed by tively subordinate, or to the Department of State; cers using every endeavor to settle in an amicable man- their countryner all disputes in which their countrymen may be concerned; and countenancing and protecting them before the authorities of the country in all cases in which they may be injured or oppressed, but withholding from them support when they have been willfully guilty of an infraction of the laws, particularly in any attempt to defraud the revenue. In this last case they will aid the proper officers in checking such practices. from participa side. 28. All consular officers are forbidden to partici- Consular offipate in any manner whatever, directly or indirectly, cers to abstain in the political concerns of the countries by whose ting in politics governments they are severally acknowledged and in the countries. recognized in their public character; and they are to where they rebe on their guard against the enlistment of their feelings upon the side of any of the political or sectional parties which may exist in those countries. In their Limits to be obdespatches upon such subjects, even to the Department served in conof State, they will confine themselves to the communication of important or interesting public events, as they occur, in a clear and concise form, avoiding all unnecessary reflections or criticism upon the character or conduct of individuals or governments; and they will not give publicity, through the press or otherwise, to opinions or speculations injurious to the pub sular Corre spondence. Prohibitions in sular corre of friends for lic institutions of those countries, or the persons concerned in the administration of them; but 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, through authentic channels, touching the political condition of these countries, especially if their communications can be made subservient to, or may affect, the interest and well-being of their own.1 29. All consular officers are prohibited from correregard to con- sponding in regard to the public affairs of any foreign spondence, re- government with any private person, newspaper, or commendation other periodical, or with any other person than the foreign offices, proper officers of the United States; and from recomacceptance of mending any person, at home or abroad, for any employment of trust or profit under the government of the country in which they are located; as well as from asking or accepting, for themselves or any other person or persons, any present, emolument, pecuniary favor, office, or title of any kind, from any such government.2 presents, etc. Assumption of 30. As consuls, excepting in some Mohammedan diplomatic States, are not invested with diplomatic powers, they hibited. are not entitled to communicate directly, except under functions pro special circumstances, with the government of the |