portance to the same officer. The Consuls in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand will send their correspondence directly to the Department, except that which relates to leaves of absence and the nomination of subordinate officers, and will send copies of all dispatches of importance to the Consul-General at Melbourne. The Consuls at Chihuahua, Guerrero, Monterey, Nuevo Laredo, Paso del Norte, Saltillo, Tampico, and Piedras Negras will send their correspondence, under open cover, through the Consul-General at Matamoros. The Consuls-General at Calcutta and Mexico are not charged with any supervision of the Consular Officers within their jurisdiction, either as to the correspondence or the approval of applications for leaves of absence or of nominations of subordinate officers. 11. In Cuba the correspondence with the Spanish officials In Cuba, at Havana will be conducted through the medium of the 12. In the Dominion of Canada the Consul-General at Ottawa exercises a supervision over the Consulates in the Province of Ontario; the Consul-General at Montreal over the Consulates in the Province of Quebec, and the Consul-General at Halifax over the Consulates in the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland; but the Consular correspondence is to be addressed by the Consuls by mail to the Department, except nominations for subordinate Consular Officers and requests for leaves of absence, which are to be submitted to the respective Consuls-General for approval. The Consulates in British Columbia and Manitoba are excepted from the jurisdiction of any Consul-General. The Minister-Resident and Consul-General in Hayti is also accredited as Chargé d'Affaires to Santo Domingo. Of these Officers, the Consuls-General in Greece, Hayti, and Roumania, only are charged with supervisory powers. All nominations for subordinate officers in these countries and requests for leave of absence must be submitted to them for approval. 14. The directions contained in the foregoing paragraphs Instructions to in regard to correspondence will be carefully observed by be observed. Consuls-General Consular Officers, except in those cases in which special instructions have been, or shall be, given by the Department prescribing a different course. Vienatione by 15. Upon application to the Department, and if it shall be deemed proper, authority will be given to the ConsulsGeneral at Berlin, Frankfort, London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and St. Petersburg to visit the several Consulates and Commercial Agencies in their respective jurisdictions for the purposes of inspection and report. These visits will, however, not be authorized to be made more frequently than once a year, and only upon the permission of the Department previously obtained. A like permission may also be granted to other Consuls-General, if circumstances shall at any time seem to require it. The actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred in these visitations will be paid. Consuls. R. S., secs. 1700 and 1730. Commercial Apt. CONSULS. 16. Consuls are of two classes: 1st, Those who are not allowed to engage in business, and whose salaries exceed one thousand dollars per annum; 24, Those who are allowed to engage in business. The former class is known as those embraced in Schedule B. The occupations in which they may not engage are the same with those forbidden to ConsulsGeneral. The latter class of Consuls is again subdivided into-1st, Those who are salaried (known as Consuls in Schedule C), and, 2d, Those who are compensated from the fees which they receive for their services. COMMERCIAL AGENTS. 17. Commercial Agents are full, principal, and permanent IL. 8, aec. 1674. Consular Officers as distinguished from subordinates and substitutes. As respects their powers and duties in the Consular Service of this Government, no distinction is made by statute between them and other principal officers. They differ from the latter only in rank or grade, except as to the supervisory powers conferred upon Consuls-General. They derive their functions from the same statutes as ConsulsGeneral and Consuls, and they are accordingly to be distin guished from the officer described in public law by the same title. The latter is not usually regarded by other powers as entitled to the full rank or privileges of a Consular Officer. The exigencies of the public service of the Government have from time to time made necessary the appointment of Commercial Agents of the character and with the restricted functions and privileges of such officers as known to international law, and this right is at all times reserved. In those instances, however, in which officers of this title and character have been appointed, the appointments have usually been made to countries the Government of which had not been recognized by the United States, or into which it was desired to send a confidential agent whose recognition need not be asked from the local Government. Previous to the act of Congress of August 1, 1856, which recognized the Consular Service, the officers appointed with the title of Commercial Agent were usually of this limited character. That act, however, not only established their rank as a Consular Officer, but also superadded to their former powers the functions that appertain to the office of Consul. 18. The Commercial Agent of the statute and of these regulations is, therefore, deemed to be a full Consular Officer, and entitled to enjoy all the powers, immunities, and privileges that under public law or otherwise are accorded to the Consular Office. The title of the office as representing a distinct grade in the Consular Service is peculiar to the service of the United States, and usage has established the appointment directly by the President. It is usual to ask the formal recognition and an exequatur for a Commercial Agent, from the Government to which he is accredited, as in the case of other principal officers. VICE-CONSULS-GENERAL, VICE-CONSULS, AND VICE-COMMER- 19. Vice-Consuls General, Vice-Consuls, and Vice-Commercial Agents are defined to be Consular Officers who shall be substituted temporarily to fill the place of Consuls-General, Consuls, and Commercial Agents, respectively, when they shall be temporarily absent or relieved from duty. Are Consular Officers. Vice-Consuls. Deputy Consuls. Consular Agents They have accordingly no functions or powers when the principal officer is present at his post. Their functions, however, are coextensive with those of the principal when the latter is absent from his district, and in all cases where they are lawfully in charge of the office. DEPUTY CONSULS-GENERAL, DEPUTY CONSULS, AND DEPUTY COMMERCIAL AGENTS. 20. Deputy Consuls-General, Deputy Consuls, and Deputy Commercial Agents are Consular Officers subordinate to their principals, and exercising the powers and performing the duties within the limits of the respective offices at the same ports or places where the principals are located. They may perform their functions when the principal is absent from his district as well as when he is at his post; but they are not authorized, in the former case, to assume the responsible charge of the office, that being the duty of the ViceConsul-General, Vice-Consul, or Vice-Commercial Agent, as the case may be. CONSULAR AGENTS. 21. Consular Agents are defined to be Consular Officers, also subordinate to their principals, exercising their powers and performing the duties within the limits of the several Consulates, but at ports or places different from those at which the principals are located. Their functions are not, in all respects, as extensive as those of the principal officer. While they act at places different from those of the latter, and while their duties are in substance the same toward persons desiring Consular services, they act only as the representative of the principal, and are subject and subordinate to him. They are not authorized to correspond with the Department of State, unless through the principal or under exceptional circumstances; they make no returns or reports directly to the Department, and they are not permitted to render accounts or make any drafts for expenditures on the Departments of the Government unless under express instructions. Consular Agents. 22. In all cases where it is practicable, Consular Agents Qualifications of should be citizens of the United States, and none other should be recommended for appointment unless citizens of proper character and standing cannot be found. No Consular Agent has authority to appoint a sub-agent. In case of emergency, or in the absence of the Consular Agent on leave, the principal Consular Officer may designate, with the approval of the Department of State, a suitable person to perform the duties, under the title of Acting Consular Agent. Consular Officers should at the moment of the change report to the Department the names of the persons whom they may designate to act as Consular Agents during the temporary absence of the latter from their posts, and accompany the report with the signatures of the substitutes and the impression of the official seal of the agency. 23. Consular Agents are subject, like other Consular Officers, to the provisions of law and the instructions of the Department. As soon as a Consular Agent has entered upon his duties, a specimen of his signature and an impression of his official seal should be sent to the Department. CONSULAR CLERKS. Consular Clerks. 24. These Clerks, to the number of thirteen in all, are appointed by the President after examination, and can be 1705. removed only for cause stated in writing and submitted to Congress at the session first following such removal. Applicants must be over eighteen years of age, and citizens of the United States at the time of their appointment, and must pass examination before an examining board, who shall report to the Secretary of State that the applicant is qualified and fit for the duties of the office. They may be assigned to different Consulates at the pleasure of the Secretary of State; and, when so assigned, they are subordinate to the principal Consular Officer, or the Vice or Deputy at the post, as the case may be. 25. If the applicant for the office of Consular Clerk is in a foreign country, he may be examined by a series of written questions by the Minister of the United States in that country, and two other competent persons to be named by him. Manner of ap pointment. |