Article 45. It is at all times the duty of Consuls exercising the functions and enjoying the privileges attached to their offices, scrupulously to abstain from all participation whatever, direct or indirect, in the political concerns of the countries to which they are appointed, and by whose Governments they are severally acknowledged and recognised in their public characters; and they should be equally on their guard against the enlistment of their feelings upon the side of any of the political or sectional parties which may divide them. In their letters even to this Department, upon such subjects, they will confine themselves to the communication of important or interesting public events, as they occur, in as concise and succinct a form as may be convenient, avoiding all unnecessary reflections or criticism upon the characters or conduct of individuals; and they will not give publicity, through the press or otherwise, to opinions or speculations injurious to the public 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.

Article 46. Consuls will not, unless the consent of Congress shall have been previously obtained, accept, under any circumstances, presents of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the Consular Uniform.

Article 47. The consular uniform (as prescribed by the circular from this Department, dated August 8, 1815, hereto annexed) must be worn on all visits of ceremony to the authorities of the place, and on all other proper occasions.

CHAPTER VII.

Of the intercourse between the Consuls of the United States and the Officers of the Navy. Article 48. The rules laid down in the circular from this Department of the 25th June, 1830, (hereunto annexed,) are to be observed whenever a vessel of war of the United States visits the consular residence.

CHAPTER VIII.

Of the Fees to be received by the Consuls of the United States.

The following are the fees allowed by law to be taken by the Consuls of the United States for services they may have performed:

1. For authenticating, under the consular seal, every protest, declaration, deposition, or other act, which captains, masters, marines, seamen, passengers, merchants, or others as are citizens of the United States, may, respectively, choose to make, the sum of two dollars, ($2.)

It would appear by the limitation to citizens of the United States, that the fee for this service was not designed to be prescribed where the service was rendered to persons not citizens. In all such cases, therefore, where the service is rendered to an alien, the Consul is at liberty to charge according to the fees allowed to notaries in the country where he resides.

2. For taking into possession, inventorying, selling, and finally settling, and paying or transmitting, according to law, the balance due the personal estate of any citizen who should die within the limits of his consulate, five per centum on the gross amount of such estate.

If part of such estate shall be delivered over before a final settlement, two and a half per cent. is allowed on the part so delivered as is not in money, and five per cent. on the gross amount of the residue.

3. For granting a certificate of the delivery of merchandise under the Revenue laws, one dollar, ($1;) and for administering the oath, twenty-five cents, (25 cts.)

4. For every verification and certificate of an invoice, two dollars, ($2.) But every shipper shall have a right to include all articles shipped by him in the same invoice.

5. For every certificate of discharge of any seaman in a foreign port, fifty cents.

6. And for receiving and paying the amount of wages due on such discharge, 24 per cent.

7. On the deposite of a ship's papers, the Consul shall give a certificate thereof under seal; and, on the delivery

of them, a like certificate; for which he is entitled, as above, to two dollars ($2) each; making the whole of the fees for the deposite and delivery of the papers four dollars, ($4,) which is not to be exceeded.

8. No other or greater fees are to be charged to American citizens for the services above enumerated; but, if American citizens or others require other services, they may be charged at the rate allowed to notaries in the same place for the same services.

9. No charge is to be made for passports; but this prohibition is not intended to prevent the taking of the lawful fee for such certificate as may be necessary to establish the citizenship or identity of the person applying.

CHAPTER IX.

Of the Expenses to be allowed to Consuls.

Article 49. Postage paid on despatches to or from this Department, or expenses incurred for their transmission,

when directed, will be allowed on the rendition of a specific account therefor, accompanied, when practicable, with vouchers; but no allowance will be made for house or office rent, books, stationery, or other ordinary expenses of office. Article 50. No allowance will be made to Consuls for expenses incurred in procuring the defence, in any court of law, of American seamen accused of violating the laws of foreign countries.

CHAPTER X.

Of the Accounts of Consuls.

Article 51. All accounts transmitted must be enclosed in a separate communication, the subject of which must be confined exclusively to such accounts. They will in all cases be accompanied by vouchers, and, as a precaution against their miscarriage, duplicates will be transmitted by a different conveyance. Disbursements, authorized by law for the relief and protection of American seamen in foreign countries, are to be included in one account, distinct from all other disbursements, and enclosed to the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury Department. Those for expenses authorized by directions from this Department will be likewise stated in one distinct account, and enclosed to the Department. The drafts for the amount of either of the above classes of accounts, and for no other, are to be on the Secretary of State. Care should be taken that the accounts, with their vouchers, in all cases precede or accompany the drafts, and that they be drawn payable at least thirty days after sight, in order that there may be time to adjust the accounts previously to their maturity. To prevent the necessity of their drafts being dishonored, Consuls will be careful not to draw upon this Department, except for such disbursements as are directed by law or authorized by the Department.

Disbursements for keeping, &c., of persons charged with crimes against the United States, (see art. 35, section 5th, of General Instructions to Consuls,) should be charged in an account separate from all others, and, with the necessary vouchers, be transmitted to the Treasury Department; on which the drafts for their reimbursement should be made. JOHN FORSYTH.

[Here follow, in the original, the acts of 14th April, 1792, and 28th February, 1803, concerning Consuls and Vice Consuls, which may be found in the Laws.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, August 8, 1815.

The consular uniform, prescribed in the standing consular instructions, is abolished, and the following substituted, viz:

Single-breast coat of blue cloth, with standing cape or collar, and ten Navy buttons in front; one button on each side of the cape, four on each cuff, four under each pocket flap, and one on each hip and in the folds; two on each side in the centre, and one on each side of the same, at the lower extremity of the skirts.

The front, (from the cape down to the lower extremity of the skirts,) cuffs, cape, and pocket flaps, to be embroidered in gold, representing a vine composed of olive leaves, and the button holes to be worked with gold thread; the button-holes corresponding with the width of the embroidery, which is not to exceed two inches in any part. Vest and small clothes of white, and Navy buttons; the former to have ten in front, and four under each pocket flap. With this dress, a cocked hat, small sword, and shoes and buckles are to be worn; the hat to be furnished with gold loop, gold tassels, and black cockade, with gold eagle in the centre; added to which, it is to be understood that the mountings of the sword, and shoe and knee buckles, are to be gold; otherwise gilt.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 25, 1830.

SIR: I have the honor to subjoin the copy of a circular letter from the Secretary to the captains of the Navy, prescribing the rules of etiquette to be observed by them in relation to their intercourse with the Consuls of the United States resident at foreign ports where they may arrive, and to state that these rules entirely coincide with the views of this Department upon the subject.

According to the first, the Consul of the United States, residing at a foreign port which is visited by a ship of war of the United States, is to receive the first visit from such ship, in the person of an officer belonging to it, deputed and sent for that purpose by the commander; and this officer is then to tender to the Consul a passage to the said ship. In such cases you will accordingly avail yourself of the proposed accommodation whenever occasion may require, as well for the purpose of making the first visit to the commanding officer of the ship in question, (this being a mark of courtesy due to the commission and rank he holds in the Navy of the United States,) as for that of offering to him any services which your official situation may enable you to render for the convenience of his ship or those belonging to it; and you will accordingly receive and execute any such commission as may be entrusted to you for these ends by him, as far as this may be compatible with your sense of public duty.

According to the second and last, "it shall be the duty of the commander of any of our ships of war (commanders of squadrons excepted) to visit the Consul General, and offer him a passage to the ship of war." The Consuls General of the United States, where there are such officers, will, accordingly, reciprocate these attentions on the part of the commanders of the ships of war, or will pay the first honors to the commanding officers of squad

rons, as the case may be; and they will of course employ their good offices, as far as it may be useful or proper on their part, to promote the good and convenience of the service in which such vessels are engaged. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

NAVY DEPARTMENT, June 23, 1830. SIR: I have the honor to present herewith a copy of the regulations of this Department, prepared by the direction of the President, for the government of the commanders of our ships of war in their intercourse with the Consuls of the United States residing in foreign ports.

Should it meet your approbation, it will be communicated to the commanders of the national vessels of war, and I will be obliged to you, when convenient, for a copy of the corresponding regulations of the State Department to our Consuls abroad. I am, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, The Hon. MARTIN VAN BUREN, Secretary of State.

JNO. BRANCH.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, June 22, 1833.

To promote harmony and concert of action between the commanders of our ships of war and Consuls of the United States residing in foreign ports, the following regulations have been established by direction of the President of the United States, and are promulgated for the government of the officers concerned:

1. Upon entering a foreign port, where a Consul of the United States resides, the commander of our ships of war shall send a boat on shore with an officer on board, who shall visit the Consul, and tender to him a passage to the ship of war.

2. Where a Consul General resides, it shall be the duty of the commander of any of our ships of war (commanders of squadrons excepted) to visit the Consul General, and offer him a passage to the ship of war. 3. The commander of a squadron will send a boat on shore, as prescribed in the first regulation, tendering to the Consul, or Consul General, a passage on board to the flag ship of war. JNO. BRANCH.

[The following are the Consular instructions which, having been mislaid, were inadvertently superseded by the foregoing:]
Standing instructions to Consuls and Vice Consuls of the United States.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

SIR: In addition to the special duties pointed out in the act of Congress relative to Consuls, passed on the 14th of April, 1792, which you will find in the second volume of the laws of the United States, I must beg the favor of you to communicate to me, every six months, a report of the vessels of the United States which enter at the ports of your district, specifying the name and burthen of each vessel, of what description she is, to wit, (ship, snow, brig, &c.,) the names of the master and owners, the number of seamen, the port of the United States from which she cleared, places touched at, her cargo outward and inward, and the owners thereof, the port to which she is bound, and times of arrival and departure; the whole arranged in a table under different columns, and the reports closing on the last days of June and December.

We wish you to use your endeavor that no vessel enter as an American in the ports of your district which shall not be truly such, and that none be sold under that name which are not really of the United States; that you give to me, from time to time, information of all military preparations, and other indications of war, which may take place in your ports; and when a war shall appear imminent, that you will notify thereof the merchants and vessels of the United States within your district, that they may be duly on their guard; and, in general, that you communicate to me such political and commercial intelligence as you may think interesting to the United States.

The Consuls and Vice Consuls of the United States are free to wear the uniform of their Navy, if they choose to do so. This is a deep blue coat, with buff facings, linings, and cuffs, the cuffs slashed, and a standing collar; a buff waistcoat, (laced or not, at the election of the wearer,) and buff breeches, yellow buttons, with a foul anchor, a black cockade, and a small sword.

Be pleased to observe that the Vice Consul of one district is not at all subordinate to the Consul of another. They are equally independent of each other.

It is understood that Consuls and Vice Consuls have authority, of course, to appoint their own agents in the several ports of their district, and that it is with themselves only those agents are to correspond.

It will be best not to fatigue the Government in which you reside, or those in authority under it, with applications in unimportant cases. Husband their good dispositions for occasions of some moment; and let all representations to them be couched in the most temperate and friendly terms, never indulging, in any case whatever, a single expression which may irritate. You will observe that the consular act requires certain bonds, with sureties, to be entered into by the Consuls and Vice Consuls of the United States, previous to entering on the execution of their respective trusts. I therefore commit to you, herewith, two blank forms, one of which to be filled up and transmitted to this office, the other to be retained by yourself.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, your most obedient servant,

To the Consul and Commercial Agents of the United States.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, August 1, 1801. SIR: It is a considerable time since our Consuls originated the practice of providing with certificates foreign vessels purchased abroad by citizens of the United States; and it is even understood that some such vessels have been supplied with consular registers and sea-letters. To secure the bona fide property of our citizens is an important duty of the Government; but to repress or regulate a course of proceedings, the tendency of which is to blend it in appearance with foreign property, by rendering the evidence of its legitimacy suspicious or uncertain, ought equally to demand its attention.

Accordingly you will, in no case whatever, issue to any such vessel either a register or sea-letter, or any document of a similar nature, except the one hereinafter prescribed.

If, as is mostly the case, the vessels for which you are requested to issue papers, be a prize vessel, you will require the exhibition of the condemnation and bill of sale, as well as proof that the purchaser is a citizen of the United States. If the ship, whether a prize vessel or not, is alleged to be purchased on account of an absent citizen, you will require the authorization of the agent making the purchase to be produced. In addition to these documents, the purchaser should, in every case, make an affidavit, "that he is the bona fide proprietor of the vessel; that no other person has any part or interest in her, and that he does not hold her, or any part of her, in trust for any other person." And if purchased for any absent citizen, the agent should make the same affidavit, mutatis mutandis, adding to its qualification, "to the best of his belief." These requisites being completed, it may be concluded that the vessel is really American, unless their authenticity is diminished by other peculiar circumstances which may come to your knowledge. They are conditions which, in a genuine transaction, are easily performed, and they are absolutely necessary to form the basis of your official act in granting the certificate hereafter mentioned. It is moreover unsafe for a vessel to be put to sea without them in time of war.

If, in any case, the adroitness of individuals should impose upon you, notwithstanding the above precautions, there is one security left, which will probably defeat the fraud. The certificate must be limited to the vessel's return to the United States, and her destination to some port therein must be specified in it. No certificate is to be granted to a vessel having once been in the United States since the purchase, unless it be sufficiently made to appear that her sea-letter, there obtained, has been lost by accident. The form of the Certificate may be as follows:

"A. B., Consul of the United States of America-To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting:

"It appearing from the documents hereto annexed, (annexing the condemnation, if the case be such, bill of sale, "authorization of the owner, if the case be such, copy of the proof of citzenship and the owner's or agent's affidavit, "and repeating their titles,) that C. D., a citizen of the said States, is the sole proprietor of the ship (naming and de"scribing her,) now lying in the port of —, whereof E. F., another citizen of the said States, is master, being "bound to the port of within the said States, I have granted permission that the said ship may depart and "proceed on her voyage to the port aforesaid. This permission to continue in force only during the said voyage. "Given under my hand and consular seal at, &c."

In many of the ports of Europe our vessels have been subjected to a ruinous and oppressive quarantine. It has generally been imposed without much attention to the state of health in the port of the vessel's departure in the United States. Thus, whilst the port of Charleston, S. C., may be unhealthy, a vessel arriving from Boston, where good health may prevail, is subject to an indiscriminating quarantine. In the winter months, also, it is considered impossible that a vessel can carry from this country any dangerously infectious disorder; the epidemics which have, within these eight years past, been so fatal in some of our sea-ports, breaking out about mid-summer, and totally disappearing with the setting in of the frost in November.

We are encouraged to expect, that by sending with our vessels authentic certificates of health, granted by the most respectable municipal officers of our ports, under a vigilant precaution, and with a scrupulous regard to truth, we shall experience a relaxation of this burthensome imposition. Accordingly, the Secretary of the Treasury has given directions to the Collectors of the Customs to carry this plan into effect. Certificates of health will, therefore, be occasionally sent to the consuls in Europe, who, after communicating them to the officer on board in the place of their residence, charged with the superintendence of health, will transmit copies, or if needful, the original, to the American minister, if any such is established in the country.

Enclosed are copies of the circular letter addressed to the Collectors of the Customs on this occasion, by the Secretary of the Treasury, and of the form of a certificate of health. It is proper for me here to mention to you that there are but thirteen ports, viz: Portsmouth, N. H., Newburyport, Salem, Boston, Newport, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk, Wilmington, N. C., Charleston, S. C., and Savannah, in which naval officers are established by law, and that in all other ports the bill of health can only be certified by the Collector; a circumstance with which, perhaps, foreign agents, to whom the circular may be communicated, should be acquainted, in order to prevent any injury abroad to vessels sailing from these ports, on account of the unavoidable omission of a naval officer's signature.

Whilst we are led to expect a benefit from this arrangement, we think it will not be confined to ourselves. When real danger exists, other nations will be timely and candidly alarmed; and when there is none, they as well as we will be absolved from the disadvantages of a suspended intercourse.

As it becomes us as well as others to guard against contagion, I have to request you, and more especially those who reside in the West Indies, and on the Mediterranean, to report to this Department, as often as it may be necessary, the most speedy information of the prevalence of epidemics in the ports of your districts. As soon as they have subsided, you will give information of it.

In the consular instruction you are requested to make semi-annual returns of the American trade at your ports. This is of great importance, as it keeps us exactly informed of the channels in which our commerce flows; and you will pay the most pointed attention to the regular transmission of them. To make you acquainted with the nature of the cargo, and the ports of departure or destination, has been considered as hazarding the benefit expected from the sale of the cargo, and therefore refused in some instances by the masters and supercargoes of our vessels. no law requires them to give the information, you are not to demand it as a right, and you will supply the defect happening from a refusal by some other means, when it is practicable.

As

After the receipt of this letter, you will consider yourselves no longer authorized to expend moneys on account of the public, without the special direction of a Minister of the United Sates, except it be for the relief of seamen; in doing which you are to use economy and discernment, in distinguishing our own from foreign seamen, the profligate and idle from the meritorious in distress; in every case where you can, instead of paying their passages, you will find them berths where they may work for them.

We have reason to believe that it too often happens that seamen engaged in the United States are discharged by masters of vessels in foreign countries where they can procure new crews at lower wages. By these means, besides the inducement the seamen have to engage in foreign service, or even in privateering, they frequently fall a burthen on the consuls. This evil cannot be completely cured without a legislative remedy; but you will take pains to rectify it whenever the usages of the place may admit of it, and give this Department advice of its extent, so that, should the matter be laid before Congress, it may be properly explained and its existence verified.

The Consuls in Great Britain are, as usual, to settle their accounts for the relief of seamen with David Lenox, esq., the agent for seamen. All others established in Europe, north of the Pyrenees, except those who reside in Italy, are to settle them with our Minister at Paris; and those south of the Pyrenees, in Europe or in Italy, are to settle them with our Minister at Madrid. This mode of settling accounts is not to embrace charges already incurred, which are to be transmitted as heretofore to the Department of State.

We have to lament that our sea-letters have been forged and assumed by foreign vessels in various instances. Whilst no laws exist to oblige the masters of American vessels to present their papers to the Consuls, it is difficult to suggest the means of detecting and counteracting the abuse, in any great degree. Enclosed you will receive a copy of the sea-letter as now issued. The types will in future remain the same; the paper will be sometimes varied. Besides the means of comparison afforded by the signatures, seal, and typography, we have caused a stamp* to be impressed upon them.

Should the authorities of your port be willing to co-operate in detecting the counterfeits, you may, perhaps, be enabled to obtain a view of all the sea-letters brought to it; and by marking those which plainly appear not to be genuine, you may, either by your own authority, or that of the place, according to the limits of power permitted to the Consuls therein, procure their suppression.

It is evident that the admission of the existence of forged papers should be delicately made, so as not to excite a magnified opinion of their extent.

I have the honor to be, sir, with much respect, your most obedient servant,

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, April 9th, 1803.

Circular to the Consuls, &c., of the United States.

Annexed you will find a copy of the "act supplementary to the 'act concerning Consuls and Vice Consuls,' and for the further protection of American seamen.

This act, containing such complete means of remedying the abuses formerly practised by masters of vessels in discharging their seamen, but few remarks are necessary upon that subject. The first section, rendering the consent of the Consuls and commercial agents requisite for this purpose, might seem to require general rules to be laid down for regulating your discretion in granting it; but as the third section makes their discharge so burthensome to the vessel, and the means of their return so certain and liberal, no case is foreseen in which it would be necessary for you to withhold your sanction, unless it be in a port very remote from the United States. Doubtless others may

exist, and a reliance is placed on your discretion, when they happen, to act as the benefit of the seamen and the public require.

When discharges take place, you will be careful to return the seamen to the United States as soon as possible, that their health and morals may be preserved by employment, and that they may be ready for the service of their country in the line of their profession. Though the act allows a discretion as to vessels in which they return, it will be safest and most expedient to give the preference to those of our own country.

It is

To enforce a compliance with the terms of this and the former act, and to enable you to inspect the genuineness of marine papers, used as those of the United States, are the object and effect of the second section. conceived that you will have a right to detain any such papers bearing clear marks of fraud and forgery; but it must be discreetly and attentively used, to avoid personal responsibility, and to preclude complaint. It will be advisable to confirm your act, when the offenders are foreigners, by drawing such cases into the courts of the country where you reside, that they may be punished; provided a fair trial of the merits, as it respects both parties, can be had. As far as our own citizens are concerned, another law of the last session prescribes a penalty, but it must be applied by our own tribunals.

In relation to the provision you are to make for destitute seamen, as enjoined in the fourth section, I refer you to The stamp for the present omitted.