where they reside. The nature and extent of this peculiar jurisdiction depend upon the stipulations of the treaties between the two States. Among Christian nations it is generally confined to the decision of controversies in civil cases, arising between the merchants, seamen, and other subjects of the State, in foreign countries; to the registering of wills, contracts, and other instruments executed in presence of the consul; and to the adminis tration of the estates of their fellow-subjects, deceased within the territorial limits of the consulate. The resident consuls of the Christian powers in Turkey, the Barbary States, and other Mohammedan countries, exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over their countrymen, to the exclusion of the local magistrates and tribunals. This jurisdiction is ordinarily subject, in civil cases, to an appeal to the superior tribunals of their own country. The criminal jurisdiction is usually limited to the infliction of pecuniary penalties; and, in offences of a higher grade, the functions of the consul are similar to those of a police magistrate, or juge d'instruction. He collects the documentary and other proofs, and sends them, together with the prisoner, home to his own country for trial.1

By the treaty of peace, amity, and commerce, concluded at Wang Hiya, 1844, between the United States and the Chinese Empire, it is stipulated, art. 21, that "citizens of the United States, who may commit any crime in China, shall be subject to be tried and punished only by the consul, or other public functionary of the United States thereto authorized, according to the laws of the United States." Art 25. "All questions in regard to rights, whether of property or of person, arising between citizens of the United States in China shall be subject to the jurisdiction, and regulated by the authorities, of their own government. And all controversies occurring in China, between citizens of the United States and the subjects of any other government, shall be

1 De Steck, Essai sur les Consuls, sect. vii. §§ 30-40. Pardessus, Droit Commercial, Pt. VI. tit. 6, ch. 2, § 2, ch. 4, §§ 1, 2, 3. Miltitz, Manuel des Consuls, tome ii. Partie 2, pp. 102-135, 70-78, 162-201, 695-779, 853–866. The various treaties between the United States and foreign powers, by which the functions and privileges of consuls are reciprocally regulated, will be found accurately enumerated and fully analyzed in the above treatise of Baron de Miltitz, tome ii. Part II. pp. 1498-1598.

regulated by the treaties existing between the United States and such governments respectively, without interference on the part of China." (a)

(a) [In the treaties between the United States and Great Britain, there is no other provision respecting consuls than that contained in the 4th article of the Commercial Convention of 1815, which merely stipulates that it shall be free to each party to appoint consuls, to reside, for the protection of trade, in the dominions of the other; but requires that, before any one acts, he shall be approved and admitted by the government to which he is sent. In case of illegal or improper conduct, the consul is to be punished according to law, if the laws will reach the case, or be sent back; the offended government assigning to the other the reasons for the same. U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. viii. p. 230.

For consuls to engage in commerce, is at variance with the policy of some of the European governments, particularly France and England; which, in general, accord to their commercial agents fixed salaries, in addition to fees, — the only mode in which, except in special cases, American consuls are compensated. There is, moreover, a provision in several of the treaties which stipulate for consuls the privileges accorded to those of the most favored nation, that if they shall exercise commerce, they shall be subjected to the same laws and usages to which private individuals are subject in the same place, in respect to their business.

As the Convention of 23d February, 1853, with France, is peculiar, not only for the provision which it makes as to aliens holding real property in the States of the Union, and in extending the consular jurisdiction over the merchant vessels of the respective countries, according to the principles of the French law, but in other particulars, it is here inserted.

ARTICLE I. The consuls-general, consuls, and vice-consuls, or consular agents of the United States and France shall be reciprocally received and recognized, on the presentation of their commissions, in the form established in their respective countries. The necessary exequatur, for the exercise of their functions, shall be furnished to them without charge; and, on the exhibition of this exequatur, they shall be admitted at once, and without difficulty, by the territorial authorities, federal or state, judicial or executive, of the ports, cities, and places of their residence and district, to the enjoyment of the prerogatives reciprocally granted. The government that furnishes the exequatur reserves the right to withdraw it, on a statement of the reasons for which it has thought proper to do so.

ART. II. The consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents of the United States and France shall enjoy, in the two countries, the privileges usually accorded to their offices; such as personal immunity, except in the case of crime; exemption from military billetings, from service in the militia, or the national guard, and other duties of the same nature; and from all direct and personal taxation, whether federal, state, or municipal. If, however, the said consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents are citizens of the country in which they reside; if they are, or become owners of property there, or engage in commerce, they shall be subject to the same taxes and imposts, and,

§ 12. In

Every sovereign State is independent of every other,

dependence in the exercise of its judicial power.

of the State,

as to its judicial power.

This general position must, of course, be qualified by the exceptions to its application, arising out of express

with the reservation of the treatment granted to commercial agents, to the same jurisdiction as other citizens of the country, who are owners of property, or merchants.

They may place, on the outer door of their offices, or of their dwelling-houses, the arms of their nation, with an inscription in these words: "Consul of the United States," or "Consul of France;" and they shall be allowed to hoist the flag of their country thereon.

They shall never be compelled to appear as witnesses before the courts. When any declaration for judicial purposes, or deposition, is to be received from them, in the administration of justice, they shall be invited, in writing, to appear in court, and, if unable to do so, their testimony shall be requested in writing, or be taken orally at their dwellings.

Consular pupils shall enjoy the same personal privileges and immunities as consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents.

In case of death, indisposition, or absence of the latter, the chancellors, secretaries, and consular pupils attached to their offices, shall be entitled to discharge, ad interim, the duties of their respective posts; and shall enjoy, whilst thus acting, the prerogatives granted to the incumbents.

ART. III. The consular offices and dwellings shall be inviolable. The local authorities shall not invade them under any pretext. In no case shall they examine or seize the papers there deposited. In no case shall those offices or dwellings be used as places of asylum.

ART. IV. The consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents of both countries shall have the right to complain to the authorities of the respective governments, whether federal or local, judicial or executive, throughout the extent of their consular district, of any infraction of the treaties or conventions existing between the United States and France, or for the purpose of protecting informally the rights and interests of their countrymen, especially in cases of absence. Should there be no diplomatic agent of their nation, they shall be authorized, in case of need, to have recourse to the general or federal government of the country in which they exercise their functions.

ART. V. The respective consuls-general and consuls shall be free to establish, in such parts of their districts as they may see fit, vice-consuls, or consular agents, who may be taken indiscriminately from among Americans of the United States, Frenchmen, or citizens of other countries. These agents, whose nomination, it is understood, shall be submitted to the approval of the respective governments, shall be provided with a certificate given to them by the consul by whom they are named, and under whose orders they are to act.

ART. VI. The consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents shall have the right of taking, at their offices or bureaus, at the domicile of the par

compact, such as conventions with foreign States, and acts of confederation, by which the State may be united in a league with

ties concerned, or on board ship, the declarations of captains, crews, passengers, merchants, or citizens of their country, and of executing there all requisite papers.

The respective consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents shall have the right, also, to receive at their offices or bureaus, conformable to the laws and regulations of their country, all acts of agreement executed between the citizens of their own country and the citizens or inhabitants of the country in which they reside, and even all such acts between the latter, provided that these acts relate to property situated, or to business to be transacted, in the territory of the nation to which the consul or the agent, before whom they are executed, may belong.

Copies of such papers, duly authenticated by the consuls-general, consuls, viceconsuls, or consular agents, and sealed with the official seal of their consulate or consular agency, shall be admitted in courts of justice throughout the United States and France, in like manner as the originals.

ART. VII. In all the States of the Union, whose existing laws permit it, so long and to the same extent as the said laws shall remain in force, Frenchmen shall enjoy the right of possessing personal and real property, by the same title and in the same manner as the citizens of the United States. They shall be free to dispose of it as they may please, either gratuitously or for value received, by donation, testament, or otherwise, just as those citizens themselves; and in no case shall they be subjected to taxes on transfer, inheritance, or any others different from those paid by the latter, or to taxes which shall not be equally imposed.

As to the States of the Union by whose existing laws aliens are not permitted to hold real estate, the President engages to recommend to them the passage of such laws as may be necessary, for the purpose of conferring this right.

In like manner, but with the reservation of the ulterior right of establishing reciprocity in regard to possession and inheritance, the government of France accords to the citizens of the United States the same rights within its territory, in respect to real and personal property, and to inheritance, as are enjoyed there by its own citizens.

ART. VIII. The respective consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents shall have exclusive charge of the internal order of the merchant vessels of their nation, and shall alone take cognizance of differences which may arise, either at sea or in port, between the captain, officers, and crew, without exception, particularly in reference to the adjustment of wages and the execution of contracts. The local authorities shall not, on any pretext, interfere in these differences; but shall lend forcible aid to the consuls, when they may ask it, to arrest and imprison all persons composing the crew whom they may deem it necessary to confine. Those persons shall be arrested at the sole request of the consuls, addressed in writing to the local authority, and supported by an official extract from the register of the ship or list of the crew, and shall be held, during

other States, for some common purpose. By the stipulations of these compacts, it may part with certain portions of its judicial

the whole time of their stay in the port, at the disposal of the consuls. Their release shall be granted at the mere request of the consuls, made in writing. The expenses of the arrest and detention of those persons shall be paid by the consuls.

ART. IX. The respective consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents, may arrest the officers, sailors, and all other persons making part of the crews of ships of war, or merchant vessels of their nation, who may be guilty or be accused of having deserted said ships and vessels, for the purpose of sending them on board, or back to their country. To that end, the consuls of France in the United States shall apply to the magistrates designated in the Act of Congress of May 4, 1826; that is to say, indiscriminately to any of the federal, state, or municipal authorities; and the consuls of the United States in France shall apply to any of the competent authorities, and make a request in writing for the deserters, supporting it by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel and list of the crew, or by other official documents, to show that the men whom they claim belonged to said crew. Upon such request alone, thus supported, and without the exaction of any oath from the consuls, the deserters, not being citizens of the country where the demand is made, either at the time of their shipping or of their arrival in the port, shall be given up to them. All aid and protection shall be furnished them, for the pursuit, seizure, and arrest of the deserters, who shall even be put and kept in the prisons of the country, at the request and at the expense of the consuls, until these agents may find an opportunity of sending them away. If, however, such opportunity should not present itself within the space of three months, counting from the day of the arrest, the deserters shall be set at liberty, and shall not again be arrested for the same cause.

ART. X. The respective consuls-general, consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents, shall receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains of vessels of their nation, in reference to injuries experienced at sea; they shall exaamine and take note of the stowage; and when there are no stipulations to the contrary between the owners, freighters, or insurers, they shall be charged with the repairs. If any inhabitants of the country in which the consuls reside, or citizens of a third nation, are interested in the matter, and the parties cannot agree, the competent local authority shall decide.

ART. XI. All proceedings relative to the salvage of American vessels wrecked upon the coasts of France, and of French vessels wrecked upon the coasts of the United States, shall be respectively directed by the consuls-general, consuls, and vice-consuls of the United States in France, and by the consuls-general, consuls, and vice-consuls of France in the United States, and, until their arrival, by the respective consular agents, wherever an agency exists. In the places and ports where an agency does not exist, the local authorities, until the arrival of the consul in whose district the wreck may have occurred, and who shall be immediately informed of the occurrence, shall take all necessary measures for the protection of persons and the preservation of property.