Act of August 18, 1826.

exported to the United States from the port or place in which he shall be located.

825..SEC. 28. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every master and commander of a ship or vessel of the United States, whenever he shall have occasion for any Consular or other official service which any Consular Officer of the United States shall be authorized by law or usage officially to perform, and for which any fees shall be allowed by the said rates or tariffs of fees as aforesaid, to apply to such one of the said Officers as may then be officially located at the Consulate or Commercial Agency, if any there be where such service shall be required, to perform such service, and such master or commander shall pay to such Officer such fees as shall be allowed for such service in pursuance of the provisions of this act; and if any such master or commander shall omit so to do, he shall be liable to the United States for the amount of the fees lawfully chargeable for such services, as though the said services had been performed by such Officers; and all Consular Officers are hereby authorized and required to retain in their possession all the papers of such ships and vessels, which shall be deposited with them as directed by law, till payment shall be made of all demands and wages on account of such ships and vessels.

826..SEC. 29. And be it further enacted, That if any citizen of the United States who shall die abroad shall, by any lawful testamentary disposition, leave special directions for the custody and management, by the Consular Officer of the port or place where he shall die, of the personal property of which he shall die possessed in such country, as contemplated by the act entitled "An act concerning Consuls and Vice-Consuls," approved April fourteen, seventeen hundred and ninety-two, it shall be the duty of such Officer, so far as the law of such country will permit, strictly to observe such directions; and if any such citizen so dying shall, by any lawful testamentary disposition, have appointed any other person or persons than such Officer to take charge of and manage such property, it shall be the duty of such Officer, whenever required by such person or persons so appointed, to give his official aid in whatever way may be necessary to facilitate the proceedings of such person or persons in the lawful execution of such trust, and, so far as the laws of the country permit, to protect the property of the deceased from any interference of the local authorities of the country where such citizen shall die; and to this end it shall be the duty of such Consular Officer to place his official seal upon all or any of the personal property or effects of the deceased, and to break and remove such seal as may be required by such person or persons, and not otherwise.

827..SEC. 30. And be it further enacted, That all fees collected for and in behalf of the United States, in pursuance of this act, shall be collected in the coin of the United States, or at its representative value in exchange.

Act of August 18, 1856.

828..SEC. 31. And be it further enacted, That in the construction, and for the purposes of all other acts and parts of acts which shall remain in force after this act shall take effect, defining any of the powers, declaring any of the rights, prescribing any of the duties, or imposing any penalty or punishment for any act of omission or commission of any Consul, Commercial Agent, Vice-Consul, or ViceCommercial Agent, or allowing or enjoining the performance of any act, matter, or thing, with or before any such Officer, all such acts and parts of acts shall in all these several respects, so far as may be consistent with the subject-matter and context of the same, and with this act and the treaties of the United States, be deemed and taken to include and apply to all Consular Officers as though all such Officers were specially named therein; and the said official designations in contemplation of all such acts and parts of acts, and of this act, shall be deemed and taken to have the respective meanings hereinafter assigned to them; that is to say, "Consul General," "Consul," and "Commercial Agent" shall be deemed and taken to denote full, principal, and permanent "Consular Officers," as distinguished from subordinates* and substitutes; "Deputy Consul" and "Consular Agent" shall be deemed and taken to denote "Consular Officers" subordinate to such principals, exercising the powers and performing the duties within the limits of their Consulates or Commercial Agencies respectively, the former at the same ports or places, and the latter at ports or places different from those at which such principals are located, respectively; and "ViceConsuls" and "Vice-Commercial Agents" shall be deemed and taken to denote "Consular Officers," who shall be substituted, temporarily to fill the places of "Consuls General," "Consuls," or "Commercial Agents," when they shall be temporarily absent or relieved from duty; and the term "Consular Officer," as used in this act, shall be deemed and taken to include all such Officers as are mentioned in this section, and none others; and the term "Diplomatic Officer," as used in this act, shall be deemed and taken to include all the Officers mentioned in the first section of this act, and none others.

829..SEC. 32. And be it further enacted, That if any Consular Officer shall willfully neglect or omit to perform seasonably any duty imposed upon him by this or any other act, or by any order or instruction made or given in pursuance of this or any other act, or shall be guilty of any willful malfeasance or abuse of power, or any corrupt conduct in his office, he shall be liable to all persons injured by any such neglect, or omission, malfeasance, abuse, or corrupt conduct, for all damages occasioned thereby; and for all such damages by any such Officer, he, and his sureties upon his official bond, shall be responsible thereon to the full amount of the penalty thereof, to be sued in the name of the United States for the use of

*See Opinion of Attorney General, July 16, 1860.

Acts of August 18, 1856, and February 7, 1857.

the person or persons so injured: Provided, That such suit shall in no case prejudice, but shall be held in entire subordination to the interests, claims, and demands of the United States as against such Officer, under such bond, for every willful act of malfeasance or corrupt conduct in his office; and if any such Officer shall refuse to pay any draft, order, or warrant which may be drawn upon him by the proper officer of the Treasury Department for any public moneys of the United States in his hands, or for any amount due from him to the United States, whatever the capacity in which he may have received or may hold the same, or to transfer or disburse any such moneys promptly upon the legal requirement of any authorized Officer of the United States, he shall be deemed and taken to be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment not to exceed ten years nor less than one year, or by fine not to exceed two thousand dollars nor less than two hundred dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court; and any such Officer so offending, may be charged, proceeded against, tried, convicted, and dealt with in any district in which he may be arrested or in custody.

830..SEC. 33. And be it further enacted, That the fifth, sixth, and seventh sections of the act herein before mentioned, approved July twenty, eighteen hundred and forty, and all of the act entitled "An act to remodel the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States," approved March first, eighteen hundred and fifty-five, and all acts and parts of acts whereby any such fees as are contemplated by the seventeenth section of this act are fixed or allowed, and any usage or law whereby any Attaché is or may be allowed to any Legation other than such as are provided in this act, or requiring any Secretary of Legation to be employed otherwise than as provided by this act, and all other acts and parts of acts, so far as the same are inconsistent with this act, be, and the same are hereby, annulled and repealed; and no Attaché shall be allowed in any case, nor any Secretary of Legation, otherwise than as provided by this act.

831..SEC. 34. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect on the first day of January next, and not before.

AN ACT making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the government for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fifty.. eight. Approved February 7, 1857. [Statutes at Large, vol. xi, p. 160. ]

[Extract.]

832..SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the seventh section of "An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States," approved eighteenth August, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, be and the same is hereby repealed.

Acts of March 3, 1859, and June 22, 1860.

AN ACT making appropriations for the consular and diplomatic expenses of the government for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty. Approved March 3, 1859. [Statutes at Large, vol. xi, p. 404.]

[Extract.]

833..SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the salary provided be the third section of "An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States," approved August eighteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, as compensation for the Consul General of British North America, as by Schedule B, shall be in full of all compensation allowed to that officer; and all fees received by any ViceConsul or Commercial Agent in British North America, exceeding the amount allowed by the President as compensation for his services, and all fees received by said Consul General, shall be accounted for by such officers, respectively, to the Treasury of the United States.

834..SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the fee for certifying invoices, and for certifying the place of growth or production of goods made duty free by the Reciprocity treaty, to be charged by the Consul General for the British North American provinces and subordinate Consular Officers, or Agents in said provinces, shall be fifty cents for each certificate and no more. And no such certificate of the growth or production shall be required for goods not exceeding in value the sum of two hundred dollars.*

AN ACT to carry into effect provisions of the treaties between the United States, China, Japan, Siam, Persia. and other countries, giving certain judicial powers to Ministers and Consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in those countries, and for other purposes. Approved June 22, 1860. [Statutes at Large, vol. xii, p. 72. J

835.. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, to carry into full effect the provisions of the treaties of the United States with the Empires of China, Japan, and Siam, respectively, the Minister and the Consuls of the United States, duly appointed to reside in each of the said countries, shall, in addition to other powers and duties imposed upon them, respectively, by the provisions of such treaty, respectively, be invested with the judicial authority herein described, which shall appertain to the said office of Minister and Consul, and be a part of the duties belonging thereto, wherein the same is allowed by treaty.

836..SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That, in regard to crimes and misdemeanors, the said public functionaries are hereby fully empowered to arraign and try, in the manner herein provided, all

* See Opinion of Attorney General, dated July 16, 1860, in relation to the construction of these sections, and the meaning of "subordinate Consular Officers."

Act of June 22, 1860.

citizens of the United States charged with offenses against law, which shall be committed in such countries, respectively, and, upon conviction, to sentence such offenders in the manner herein authorized; and the said functionaries, and each of them, are hereby authorized to issue all such processes as are suitable and necessary to carry this authority into execution.

837..SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That, in regard to civil rights, whether of property or person, the said functionaries are hereby invested with all the judicial authority necessary to execute the provisions of such treaties, respectively, and shall entertain jurisdiction in matters of contract at the port where, or nearest to which, the contract was made, or at the port at which, or nearest to which, it was to be executed; and in all other matters at the port where, or nearest to which, the cause or controversy arose, or at the port where, or nearest to which, the damage complained of was sustained, any such port above named being always one of the ports at which the United States are represented by Consuls; which jurisdiction shall embrace all controversies between citizens of the United States, or others, provided for by such treaties, respectively. 838..SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That such jurisdiction in criminal and civil matters shall, in all cases, be exercised and enforced in conformity with the laws of the United States, which are hereby, so far as is necessary to execute such treaties, respectively, extended over all citizens of the United States in the said countries, (and over all others to the extent that the terms of the said treaties, respectively, justify or require,) so far as such laws are suitable to carry the said treaties into effect; but in all cases where such laws are not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions necessary to furnish suitable remedies, the common law, including equity and admiralty, shall be extended in like manner over such citizens and others in the said countries; and, if defects still remain to be supplied, and neither common law, including equity and admiralty, nor the statutes of the United States, furnish appropriate and suitable remedies, the Ministers in the said countries, respectively, shall, by decrees and regulations which shall have force of law, supply such defects and deficiencies.

839..SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That in order to organize and to carry into effect the system of jurisprudence demanded by such treaties, respectively, the said Ministers, with the advice of the several Consuls in each of the said countries, respectively, or so many of them as can be conveniently assembled, shall prescribe the forms of all processes which shall be issued by any of said Consuls; the mode of executing and the time of returning the same; the manner in which trials shall be conducted, and how the records thereof shall be kept; the form of oaths for Christian witnesses, and the mode of examining all other witnesses; the costs which shall be allowed to the prevailing party, and the fees which shall be paid for judicial services to defray necessary expenses; the manner in