General princi ples of jurisdiction.

ton, 106, 107.

the offenders should be sent to the United States for trial, he may apply to the local authorities for means to secure and detain them while they remain in port; and in all cases where the vessel is not bound for the United States, be is directed to procure at least two of the principal witnesses to be sent along with the prisoners. And he will, at the same time, promptly transmit certified copies of all the depositions, together with a carefully prepared report of all the facts and proceedings that may aid in establishing the guilt of the offenders, to the United States attorney for the district to which the prisoners are sent, and also a like report of the case to the Department of State.

345. The general principle on which such offenses are exDana's When empted from the cognizance of foreign tribunals is, as stated by Wheaton, that the public and private vessels of every nation, on the high seas, and out of the territorial limits of any other State, are subject to the jurisdiction of the State to which they belong. This jurisdiction, however, is exclusive only so far as respects offenses against its own municipal laws. It is accordingly otherwise with piracy and other crimes against the law of nations. It is asserted that a vessel while upon the high seas is to be regarded as a part of the country whose flag she bears, and that therefore all offenses and crimes against the laws of the country are cognizable by its tribunals alone; and that, as the municipal laws of a State provide for the punishment of offenders in its territory, whether foreigners or its own citizens or subjects, so also this cognizance embraces all persons, without regard to nationality, who have committed offenses against its laws upon its vessels when on the high seas. Whenever, therefore, jurisdiction over offenses or crimes so committed on American vessels is asserted and exercised, as has sometimes been the case, by the courts of a foreign country, it is the duty of the Consular Officer to protest against any and all proceedings, and to report the facts and circumstances to the Department of State and to the Diplomatic Representative of the United States, if there be one accredited to the country.

Expenses of de

teation and transportation.

346. The expenses incident to the removal of an offender from a vessel and his transportation to the United States are

usually considerable in amount. In some instances it has been found necessary to employ a keeper for the prisoners; but such an outlay is justified only when the safe-keeping of the accused cannot be stipulated for in the contract with the transporting vessel, or there are other controlling reasons. Consular Officers, therefore, will be careful not to subject the Government to the expense of sending offenders to the United States, and of their imprisonment and trial in this country, unless the offense is of an aggravated character and the evidence is such as to render it probable that a conviction can be obtained.

Transportation not obligatory on

347. While masters of American vessels in foreign ports are subject, on the requisition of the Consular Officer, to ship-masters, convey distressed seamen to the United States, they are not obliged to take on board seamen or other persons charged with crime, to be brought to the United States for trial. No specific instructions can be given as to the amount a Consular Officer may agree to allow a master for transporting a prisoner; but the compensation should be reasonable. The amount may be left, by mutual agreement, to the determination of the Department of State, when all the circumstances shall have been presented after the arrival and delivery of the prisoner to the proper authorities.

348. All disbursements and expenses incurred by Consular Officers for the arrest, imprisonment, and transportation of persons accused of crime against the United States should be stated in a separate account and transmitted to the Department of State, supported by proper vouchers; and the draft therefor, when there is not sufficient funds in the Consulate, should be drawn upon the Secretary of State.

349. No allowance will be made to Consular Officers for expenses incurred in procuring the defense in any court of law of American seamen or of persons accused of crimes against the laws of the United States, or the laws of foreign countries, without the special permission or sanction of the Department of State.

PILOT CHARTS AND NOTICES TO MARINERS.

350. Consular Officers are required to keep the pilot charts and all notices to mariners published by the Hydro

Accounts, how

paid.

No allowance for legal services.

Charts and no. tices to be posted.

Reports.

graphic Officer of the Navy Department, and which are regularly forwarded to them, in conspicuous positions, to call the attention of ship-masters thereto, and to afford masters of vessels every facility for their examination. They will also inform captains that branches of the abovementioned office have been established in the Maritime Exchanges of the principal seaboard cities, where (free of charge) all the information collected by said officer may be obtained, and where ship-masters are requested to call and report any information which will be of benefit to the maritime community at large. They are also required to forward without delay to the Department of State any information they may obtain which can possibly be utilized for the benefit of the sea-farer, and to decrease the dangers of navigation.

Various forms.

MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES.

351. It has been customary to give to the Consular Officers a variety of forms, to aid them in their business intercourse with masters and seamen, which sufficiently explaia themselves without the necessity of instructions. For declaration of a master in case of death or loss of a mariner, sce form No.74; of same to correctness of log-book, see Form No. 75; of same to ship's bills for repairs, see Form No. 76; for certificate in case of deviation of voyage, see Form No. 77; for certificate of ownership of a vessel, see Form No. 78; for crew-list when required by port authorities, see Form No. 79; for order to pay seamens' wages at home, see Form No. 80; for master's acknowledgment to the same, see Form No. 81; for certificate of shipment of seamen, see Form No. 82; for master's agreement to increase wages, see Form No. 83; and for form to be used when shipwrecked seamen are picked up at sea and conveyed to any port, see Form No. 84. For form of an average bond, see Form No. 160. Forms for the authentication of signatures and certificate that an officer is qualified to administer oaths are given in Forms Nos. 88 and 89.

ARTICLE XXII.

Estates of Citizens and Seamen Dying Without the
United States.

352. The following are the provisions of statute respecting the authority and duties of Consular Officers in relation to the estates of citizens and seamen of the United States dying without the United States, viz: It is made the duty of a Consular Officer to take possession of the personal estate left by any citizen of the United States, other than seamen belonging to any vessel, who shall die within the Consulate, having there no legal representative, partner in trade, or trustee by him appointed to take care of his effects. He is directed to inventory the property, with the assistance of two merchants of the United States, or, for want of them, of any others he may choose. It is also his duty to collect the debts due the deceased in the country where he died, and to pay the debts due from his estate which he shall have there contracted. He is required to sell at auction, after reasonable public notice, the perishable part of the estate, and such further part as shall be necessary for the payment of the debts of the decedent, and the residue at the expiration of a year from the decease. The net proceeds remainder of the estate is to be transmitted to the Treasury of the United States to be held in trust for the legal claimant; except that if at any time before such transmission the legal representative of the estate shall appear and demand the effects, the Consular Officer shall deliver them up, being paid the fees, and shall cease his proceedings.

353. The Consular Officer is further required, for the information of the representative of the deceased, to notify the death in one of the gazettes published in the Consulate, and also to the Secretary of State, in order that the death may be made known in the State to which the deceased belonged. And he shall also, as soon as may be, transmit to the Secretary of State an inventory of the effects of the deceased, taken as before directed.

354. When the deceased leaves, by any lawful testamentary disposition, special directions for the custody and management, by the Consular Officer, of the personal property

of which he dies possessed in the country, the Consular Officer shall, so far as the laws of the country permit, strictly observe such directions. When the decedent appoints, by any lawful testamentary disposition, any other person than the Consular Officer to take charge of and manage the property, it shall be the duty of the latter, whenever required by the person so appointed, to give his official aid in whatever way may be necessary to facilitate the proceedings of such person in the lawful execution of his trust, and, so far as the laws of the country permit, to protect the property of the deceased from any interference of the local anthorities of the country where such citizen dies; and to this end it is made the duty of the Consular Officer to place bis official seal upon all the personal property or effects of the deceased, and to break and remove such seal as may be required by such person, and not otherwise.

355. When any seaman or apprentice belonging to or sent 43, home on any merchant-ship employed on a voyage which is to terminate in the United States dies during the voyage, the master should take charge of all moneys, goods, and effects which he leaves on board; and if the ship touches or remains at a foreign port before coming to any port of the United States, it is his duty to report the case to the Consular Officer there, and to give such officer any information he requires as to the destination of the ship, and the length of the voyage. Thereupon such officer may, if he considers it expedient so to do, require the said effects, money, and wages, to be paid to him, aud upon that being done, he shall give the master a receipt therefor (Form No. 85). The Consular Officer shall also indorse and certify apon the agreement with the crew the particulars of such delivery and payment. In case he does not require the delivery and payment, it is his duty to obtain from the master a statement of the seaman's account with the vessel, and transmit a copy thereof to the Department of State. If the ship is sold in a foreign port and the master has in his hands the effects, money, and wages of a deceased seaman, the Consular Officer may require them to be delivered to him. (See paragraph 225.)