Compensation of Consular Officers.

59..They are also entitled, on the presentation of proper vouchers, to be allowed the sums actually paid by them for the rent of an office, solely devoted to the business of the Consulate, to an amount not to exceed ten per cent. on the salary named in the act of Congress.

60..They are also entitled to retain, as compensation for their supervision and responsibility, from the fees which they may receive from the Consular Agencies within their jurisdiction, a sum, not to exceed $1,000 in the aggregate.

61..Their respective Deputies and Clerk are entitled to no compensation from the government; but their services must be paid for by their superior. Each Consular Agent may retain from the fees collected by him such portion as shall be determined by the President, not to exceed $1,000, and an amount sufficient to pay for stationery and postage on official letters; the balance must be accounted for by him.

62..Consuls whose annual salaries, under laws existing prior to March 30, 1868, do not exceed $1,500, and at whose Consulates, without the a encies, fees are collected and paid into the treasury of the United States to the amount of $3,000, shall be compensated at $2,000 per annum.

63.. For such time as a Consular Officer may, under instructions, perform diplomatic functions in the absence of the regular Diplomatic Officer in the country to which he is appointed, he is entitled, in addition to his compensation as such Consular Officer, to receive compensation for his diplomatic services at the rate allowed by law for a Secretary of Legation in such country.

64..A Vice-Consul, acting in the absence of a Consul on leave of absence not exceeding sixty days, and during the term of his chief will, if there be no agreement to the contrary reported to the Department, be entitled to one-half the salary, the other half belonging to the Consul. If the absence be extended beyond sixty days, and the necessary time of transit both ways between the residence and the post of the Consul, the Vice-Consul will be entitled to the whole salary for the time beyond the sixty days; and the Consul shall make no agreement with the Vice-Consul to the contrary.

65..Consuls not mentioned in Schedules B and C are compensated from the fees collected by them respectively, from which they

Compensation of Consular Officers.

may retain a sum not exceeding $2,500 in any one year as an equivalent for a salary. They may also retain the sums actually paid for rent of an office, exclusively devoted for the use of the Consulate, to an amount not exceeding $250. They will not be allowed to retain any sums paid for clerk-hire or for Deputy Consuls unless specially authorized. They are allowed the same compensation that salaried Consuls are allowed from their agencies. They are not entitled to draw on the Department for office rent or clerk-hire. Those expenses are payable only from the fees which they may collect.

ARTICLE IX.

Formalities to be Observed on Arrival at Post.

66..After the arrival of a Consul General or Consul at his post, he will give information thereof to the United States Legation, if there be one accredited to the government of the country in which his Consulate is situated.

67..It is the practice of the Department to send the consular commission to the Legation, with instructions to the Diplomatic Agent to apply for the exequatur by which the Consul General or Consul is officially recognized and enabled to discharge, without interruption, his consular duties.

68..If there be no Legation of the United States in the country, the commission will be sent to the Consul direct, who will, without delay, transmit it to the proper department, and request an exequatur. In either case he will inform, in respectful terms, the authorities of the port or district to which he is sent of his appointment; and if he can obtain their consent to his acting officially before the receipt of his exequatur, he is authorized so to act. As soon as his exequatur is received, he must see that it is made public in the manner usual in the country.

69.. Having obtained either his exequatur or permission to act, he will apply to the person having charge of the consular seal and the archives of the Consulate for their delivery to him; and having made an inventory, jointly with his predecessor, if present, of the papers, books, and other effects, he will transmit a copy of such inventory, signed by both parties, or, in the absence of his predecessor, by himself, to the Department.

Formalities on arrival at Post.

70..He will likewise transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury a certificate of this fact, to be executed jointly by himself and the outgoing Consular Officer, if present, (see Form No. 5;) and he may then take charge of the seal, archives, and effects of the Consulate.

71..If the Consul is not allowed to transact business, he will establish the Consulate at the most convenient central place that the sum allowed for rent will permit, and will keep it open daily during the usual business hours of the place.

72..If there are any public funds in the hands of his predecessor he will take charge of them, unless they are the proceeds of the effects of an American citizen who died intestate more than a year previous, and which, according to the second section of the act of the 14th of April, 1792, should have been remitted to the treasury of the United States; in which case the Consul who received the same shall make the remittance.

73.. Having entered on the duties of his office, the Consul must immediately give notice thereof to the Department of State, to the Consul General to whom he may be subordinate, or if there be no such Consul General, then to the Minister of the United States in the country in which such Consul is appointed, and to the Consuls of the United States residing in the same country, and the Consuls of other countries in the neighboring ports. He will also, before the expiration of ninety days after entering upon the duties of his office, nominate to the Department, through his immediate superior, suitable persons to fill all the agencies in his jurisdiction, and a suitable person to act as Vice-Consul in case of his temporary absence or relief from duty.

74.. The arms of the United States should be placed over the entrance of the Consulate, unless prohibited by the laws of the country; and wherever such custom prevails, the national flag should be hoisted daily for his protection, and as the emblem of his authority.

ARTICLE X.

Correspondence of a Consular Officer with the Department of State.

75..All communications addressed to the Department, as well as inclosures, must be written on cap paper, in a fair, round hand,

Correspondence with Department of State.

leaving an inch margin on each side of the page, and the distance between the written lines must correspond with that of the ink lines sent to every Consular Officer with the notice of his appointment.

76..Consuls will instruct their agents to observe the same form. 77..All dispatches must be numbered consecutively, beginning with the acknowledgment of the receipt of the commission and the acceptance of the office, and continuing, consecutively, during the term of the incumbent.

78..Each dispatch is, as far as possible, to be confined to one subject, and to be divided into paragraphs when treating of more than one.

79..In transmitting inclosures in dispatches, the contents of those inclosures are to be briefly stated in the body of the dispatch, and attention is to be directed to such points contained in them as may appear to be particularly deserving of notice. In each case, following the signature, the Consul should give a "List of Inclosures," showing the names of the persons by and to whom the inclosure is written, and the date.

80..All extracts from newspapers, sent as inclosures, must be neatly cut out and pasted upon cap paper, corresponding in size with the dispatch.

81.. Should such inclosures be in any foreign language, exact copies of the originals are to be forwarded, and also translations of them, if convenient. Whenever it is mentioned in a dispatch that a paper is inclosed, an oblique line is to be made in the margin, (thus, 1) and above such line is to be placed the number corresponding to the number of inclosure.

82..Each series of inclosures is to be numbered anew in each dispatch, commencing with No. 1; and when there are more inclosures than one in a dispatch, each inclosure is to be numbered in the order in which it is to be read.

83.. When printed papers are sent as inclosures in dispatches, two copies, if they can be conveniently obtained, should be forwarded. It is not necessary to cut out the duplicate.

84..In transmitting copies of correspondence with dispatches, Consuls are requested to use half sheets of paper in all cases where they will suffice to contain the text of the note to be copied. This

Correspondence with Department of State.

will save unnecessary waste of paper, and largely diminish foreign postage.

85.. When Consuls write upon any subject upon which they have previously written, they will refer to the number of such previous dispatches.

86.... All dispatches should commence upon the third page of the first sheet. The second line on the first page should show the number and date of the dispatch; the second and third line, the name and station of the Consul; the fourth line the general subject of the dispatch; the fifth and subsequent lines of that and the following page a synopsis of the contents.-(See Forms 6 and 7.)

87..In making copies of correspondence, the blank space on a leaf at the end of one communication should not be used to commence another. Each document should be on its own sheet, or, if brief, on its own half sheet.

88..All dispatches are to be folded like those sent from this Department. Gum, sealing wax, or wafers are not to be put upon the dispatches or the inclosures, but only on the envelopes which cover them.

89.. Correspondence from Consulates within the dominions of Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, North Germany, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Norway, and Switzerland, is included in the First Consular Bureau, and will be addressed in the inside to the Assistant Secretary of State.

90.. Correspondence from Consulates in the dominions of the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Brazil, Chili, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Hawaiian Islands, Hayti, Honduras, Italy, Liberia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Salvador, Turkey, Venezuela, and other Consulates not included in the First Consular Bureau, will be addressed in the inside to the Second Assistant Secretary of State.

91.. All envelopes covering consular dispatches will be addressed to the Secretary of State, as shown in Form No. 8.

92..Dispatches of Consuls in Great Britain, France, Italy, Egypt, and Cuba, should be forwarded unsealed through the respective Consulates General.

93.. Dispatches are never to be antedated; and when returns which are ordered to be transmitted "quarterly," "half-yearly," or