700. ARTICLE VIII.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the two countries may, in the exercise of their duties, apply to the authorities within their district, whether federal or local, judicial or executive, in the event of any infraction of the treaties and conventions between the two countries; also for the purpose of protecting the rights of their countrymen. Should the said authorities fail to take due notice of their application, they shall be at liberty, in the absence of any Diplomatic Representative of their country, to apply to the Government of the country where they reside.

701. ARTICLE IX.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the two countries, also their Chancellors, shall have the right to take at their office, at the residence of the parties, or on board ship, the depositions of the captains and crews of vessels of their own nation, of passengers on board of them, of merchants, or any other citizens of their own country. They shall have the power also to receive and verify, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country: 1st. Wills and bequests of their countrymen, and all such acts and contracts between their countrymen as are intended to be drawn up in an authentic form and verified. 2d. Any and all acts of agreement entered upon between citizens of their own country and inhabitants of the country where they reside. All such acts of agreement, and other instruments, and also copies thereof, when duly authenticated by such Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent under his official seals, shall be received in courts of justice as legal documents, or as authenticated copies, as the case may be, and shall have the same force and effect as if drawn up by competent public officers of one or the other of the two countries. Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the respective countries shall have the power to translate and legalize all documents issued by the authorities or functionaries of their own country, and such papers shall have the same force and effect in the country where the aforesaid officers reside as if drawn up by sworn interpreters.

702. ARTICLE X.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall be at liberty to go on board the vessels of their nation admitted to entry, either in person or by proxy, and to examine the captain and crew, to look into the register of the ship, to receive declarations with reference to their voyage, their destination, and the incidents of the voyage; also, to draw up manifests, lists of freight, to assist in dispatching their vessels, and finally to accompany the said captains or crews before the courts and before the administrative authorities, in order to act as their interpreters or agents in their business transactions or applications of any kind. The judicial authorities and custom-house officials shall in no case proceed to the examination or search of merchant-vessels without previous notice to the Consular authority of the nation to which the said vessels belong, in order to enable them to be present.

They shall also give due notice to Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, in order to enable them to be present at any depositions or statements to be made in courts of law, or before local magistrates, by captains or persons composing the crew, thus to prevent errors or false interpretations which might impede the correct administration of justice.

The notice to Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall name the hour fixed for such proceedings, and upon the non-appearance of the said officers or their representatives the case shall be proceeded with in their absence.

703. ARTICLE XI.

Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have cxclusive charge of the internal order of the merchant-vessels of their nation. They shall have, therefore, the exclusive power to take cognizance of and to settle all differences which may arise at sea or in port between captains, officers, and crews in reference to wages and the execution of mutual contracts, subject in each case to the laws of their own nation. The local authorities shall in no way interfere, except in cases where the differences on board ship are of a nature to disturb the peace and public order in port or on shore, or when persons other than the officers and crew of the vessel are parties to the disturbance, except as aforesaid, the local authorities shall confine themselves to the rendering of forcible assistance, if required, by the Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, and shall cause the arrest, temporary imprisonment, and removal on board his own vessel of every person whose name is found on the muster-rolls or register of the ship or list of the crew.

704. ARTICLE XII.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have the power to cause the arrest of all sailors or all other persons belonging to the crews of vessels of their nation who may be guilty of having deserted on the respective territories of the high contracting powers, and to have them sent on board or back to their native country. To that end they shall make a written application to the competent local authority, supporting it by the exhibition of the ship's register and list of the crew, or else, should the vessel have sailed previously, by producing an authenticated copy of these documents, showing that the persons claimed really do belong to the ship's crew. Upon such request the surrender of the deserter shall not be refused. Every aid and assistance shall, moreover, be granted to the said Consular authorities for the detection and arrest of deserters, and the latter shall be taken to the prisons of the country and there detained at the request and expense of the Consular authority until there may be an opportunity for sending them away. The duration of this imprisonment shall not exceed the term of three months, at the expiration of which time, and upon three days' notice to the Consul, the prisoner shall be set free, and he shall not be liable to rearrest for the same canse. Should, however, the deserter have committed on shore an indictable offense, the local authorities shall be free to postpone his extradition until due sentence shall have been passed and executed. The

high contracting parties agree that seamen, or other individuals forming part of the ship's crew, who are citizens of the country in which the desertion took place, shall not be affected by the provisions of this article.

705. ARTICLE XIII.

In all cases where no other agreement to the contrary exists between owners, freighters, and insurers, all damages suffered at sea by the vessels of the two countries, whether they enter the respective ports voluntarily or by stress of weather, shall be settled by the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of their respective nations, provided no interests of citizens of the country where the said functionaries reside, nor of citizens of a third power, are concerned. In that case, and in the absence of a friendly compromise between all parties interested, the adjudication shall take place under supervision of the local authorities.

706. ARTICLE XIV.

In the event of a vessel belonging to the Government, or owned by a citizen of one of the two contracting States, being wrecked or cast on shore upon the coast of the other, the local authorities shall inform the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the district of the occurrence, or if such Consular Agency does not exist, they shall communicate with the Consul-General, Consul, Vice Consul, or Consular Agent of the nearest district.

All proceedings relative to the salvage of American vessels wrecked or cast on shore in Austro-Hungarian waters shall be directed by the United States Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents; also all proceedings relative to the salvage of Austro-Hungarian vessels wrecked or cast on shore in American waters shall be directed by AustroHungarian Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents. An interference of the local authorities in the two countries shall take place for the purpose only of assisting the Consular authorities in maintaining order and protecting the rights of salvors not belonging to the crew; also for enforcing the regulations relative to the import or export of the merchandise saved.

In the absence and until the arrival of the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, or their duly appointed delegates, the local authorities shall take all the necessary measures for the protection of persons and preservation of the property saved from the wreck.

No charges shall be made for the interference of the local authorities in such cases, except for expenses incurred through salvage and the preservation of property saved, also for those expenses which, under similar circumstances, vessels belonging to the country where the wreck happens would have to incur.

In case of a doubt concerning the nationality of the wrecks, the local authorities shall have exclusively the management and execution of the provisions laid down in the present article.

The high contracting parties also agree that all merchandise and goods not destined for consumption in the country in which the wreck takes place shall be free of all duties.

707. ARTICLE XV.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, also Consular Pupils, Chancellors, and Consular Officers, shall enjoy in the two countries all the liberties, prerogatives, immunities, and privileges granted to functionaries of the same class of the most favored nation."

708. ARTICLE XVI..

In the case of the death of a citizen of the United States in the AustrianHungarian Monarchy, or of a citizen of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy in the United States, without having any known heirs or testamentary executors by him appointed, the competent local authorities shall inform the Consuls or Consular Agents of the State to which the deceased belonged of the circumstance, in order that the necessary information may be immediately forwarded to the parties interested.

BELGIUM.

Treaty concluded March 9, 1880 (Rights, Privileges, and Immunities of

Consuls).

709. ARTICLE I.

Each of the high contracting parties agrees to receive from the other, Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, in all its ports, cities, and places, except those where it may not be convenient to recognize such officers. This reservation, however, shall not apply to one of the high contracting parties without also applying to every other Power.

710. ARTICLE II.

TheConsuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of each of the two high coutracting parties shall enjoy reciprocally, in the States of the other, all the privileges, exemptions, and immunities that are enjoyed by officers of the same rank and quality of the most favored nation. The said officers, before being admitted to the exercise of their functions and the enjoyment of the immunities thereto pertaining, shall present their commissions in the forms established in their respective countries. The Government of each of the two high contracting Powers shall furnish them the necessary exequatur free of charge, and, on the exhibition of this instrument, they shall be permitted to enjoy the rights, privileges, and immunities granted by this convention.

711. ARTICLE III.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, citizens of the State by which they are appointed, shall be exempt from preliminary arrest except in the case of offenses which the local legislation qualifies as crimes and punishes as such; they shall be exempt from military billetings, from service in the regular army or navy, in the militia, or in the national guard; they shall likewise be exempt from all direct taxes, national, state, or municipal, imposed upon persons, either in the nature of capitation tax or in respect to their property, unless such taxes become due on account of the possession of real estate, or for interest on capital invested in the country where the said officers exercise their functions. This exemption shall not, however, apply to Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents engaged in any profession, business, or trade, but the said officers shall in such case be subject to the payment of the same taxes that would be paid by any other foreigner under the like circumstances.

712. ARTICLE IV.

When a court of one of the two countries shall desire to receive the judicial declaration or deposition of a Consul-General, Consul, ViceConsul, or Consular Agent who is a citizen of the State which appointed him, and who is engaged in no commercial business, it shall request him, in writing, to appear before it, and in case of his inability to do so, it shall request him to give his testimony in writing, or shall visit his residence or office to obtain it orally.

It shall be the duty of such officer to comply with this request with as little delay as possible.

In all criminal cases, contemplated by the sixth article of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, whereby the right is secured to persons charged with crimes to obtain witnesses in their favor, the appearance in court of said Consular Officer shall be demanded, with all possible regard to the Consular dignity and to the duties of his office. A similar treatment shall also be extended to the Consuls of the United States in Belgium, in the like cases.

713. ARTICLE V.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents may place over the outer door of their offices the arms of their nation, with this inscription: Consulate-General, or Consulate, or Vice-Consulate, or Consular Agency of the United States or of Belgium.

They may also raise the flag of their country on their offices, except in the capital of the country when there is a legation there. They may in like manner raise the flag of their country over the boat employed by them in the port for the exercise of their functions,