Record Books and Archives.

receipt given by him therefor, and numbering the same according to the number of the receipts, respectively, so that the receipts and register shall correspond with each other. The Consular Officer will specify the name of the person for whom and the date when he shall verify any passport, certify any invoice, or perform any other official service, in the entry of the receipt of the fees therefor in such register; and also number each consular act so receipted for with the number of such receipt as shown by such register. The fee book is to be ruled and kept in accordance with Form No. 94 or 95. 402..A passport book, in which are to be registered all passports issued or visaed by the Consular Officer. (No. 122.)

403..An invoice book, to be ruled and kept in accordance with Form No. 110, and with the instructions prescribed in the chapter on verification of invoices.

404..A miscellaneous record book, for the entry of those official papers and records which cannot conveniently be classified and entered in the record books above named.

405..A register of official letters received at the Consulate, which shall embrace the following information: name of the writer, number and date of letter, when received, its import, and remarks thereon, as prescribed in Form No. 111.

406..A register of official letters sent from the Consulate, stating the date and import of the letter, and the name of the person to whom sent, as prescribed in Form No. 112.

407..In seaports the following additional books will be used: 408..A record book of commercial returns, to be kept in accordance with Form No. 113, in which must be stated, in respect of vessels, the number, date of arrival, class, name, and tonnage of all American vessels, where belonging, whence from, whither bound, when and where built, master and owners' names; and in respect of cargoes, both inward and outward, under distinct heads, as nearly as possible, the description, quantity, and value of the same, and where produced or manufactured.

409..A seamen's register, in which shall be recorded a detailed list of all seamen shipped, discharged, or deceased at the Consulate or Commercial Agency, and the payments made on account of each, according to Form No. 118.

Record Books and Archives.

410..A relief book, showing the number and names of all seamen relieved, from what vessel discharged, date and cause of discharge, and date of leaving the Consulate; embracing also the several amounts disbursed on their account, as particularly described in Form No. 87.

411..A quarterly account current book, in which shall be recorded the account current furnished quarterly to the Fifth Auditor, as per Form No. 93.

412..A protest book, for the entry of notes of marine protests, in accordance with Form No. 30.

413..A book for the entry of extended protests. (See Form No. 31.) 414..A daily journal is to be kept, as prescribed in Form No. 123. 415.. When a paper of any description shall be entered or recorded in either of the said books, the same shall be indexed by a reference both to the name of the author and the subject of the paper.

416..The answers received to official letters, and all other papers transmitted to the Consulate, intended to be permanently kept there, shall be put in a proper place, labelled according to their subject-matter, until a sufficient number shall accumulate to form a volume; when they shall be bound and indexed in the same manner as is directed with respect to other records.

417.. All the consular books must be regularly paged; but where blanks occur, (as in the book of original letters, from the covers and unwritten pages,) a cross must be made over the blank page, and it is not to be numbered.

418..The consular books are to be kept distinct from those of the Consul's private affairs; and if the Consul is at liberty to transact business, his consular business should, if possible, be transacted in a separate apartment from that in which his ordinary commercial or other affairs are carried on, designated by the arms of the United States exhibited at its entrance wherever such an exhibition of the arms is not prohibited by the local regulations.

419.. All Consular Officers are instructed to take care that the archives are kept in proper order; and with this view, as well as to facilitate reference to previous correspondence, they will keep in their offices registers of all the documents, papers, letters, and books which have been or which may be at any time received, and also of

Record Books and Archives.

those forwarded by them on matters connected with their official duties. (See Forms 111 and 112.)

420..The originals of all dispatches and letters addressed to a Consular Officer, and copies of all that are written by him in his official capacity, including all official reports and returns, all books presented to the Consulate, or sent to it by the Department, also all the record books, as described in this chapter, are to be considered as official documents, and are to be deposited among the consular archives, after being duly registered, and transferred with the effects of the Consulate, together with the seal, press, arms, and flag, and all other property belonging to the United States, to his successor in office.

ARTICLE XXVI.

Judicial Powers in Oriental and African Consulates, and Consulates in Uncivilized Countries.

421..It has already been stated that the Consular Officers of the United States in China, Japan, Siam, Borneo, Madagascar, Turkey, Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco, enjoy exceptional and exclusive judicial powers. Reference is made to the former statements on this subject and to the several treaties in the appendix, for the particular jurisdiction conferred in each case.

422..The Consuls and Commercial Agents of the United States at islands or in countries not inhabited by any civilized people or recognized by any treaty with the United States, are also invested by statute with the power to hear and determine cases in regard to civil rights where the debt or damage does not exceed $1,000, exclusive of costs; and also to issue warrants to arrest offenders, to arraign, try, and convict them, and to punish them to the extent of $100 fine, or to imprisonment not to exceed sixty days.

423..The modes of proceedings in these cases and the laws by which Consular Officers are to be governed, are prescribed or provided by the statute of June 22, 1860, and July 1, 1870, which will be found in the appendix.

424..The provisions of the statute of 1860 apply directly to the Consulates in China, Japan, and Siam.

425..They apply in terms to Turkey, (see section 21 of the act of

Judicial Powers.

1860,) so far as they relate to crimes and offenses; and as to civil cases, so far as the laws of Turkey permit.

426..It has, however, been recently discovered that there is a discrepancy between the Turkish and English drafts of the fourth article of the treaty of May 7, 1830, with the Ottoman Porte. The nature of this discrepency is explained in the appendix. The Consular Officers in the Ottoman Dominions will be careful to make no issue which will impose upon this government the necessity of maintaining the correctness of the English version of that draft until the questions raised have been more fully considered.

427..The statute of 1860 is extended (section 28) to Persia. By the act of July 1, 1870, it is also extended to Madagascar and to other countries with which treaties may hereafter be made. By the act of July 20, 1860, it is extended to Alexandria; but the Agent and Consul General will be governed by the instructions already given to Consular Officers in the Ottoman Dominions.

428..By the 29th section of the act of 1860, the provisions of the act are extended to the Barbary States so far as in conformity with existing treaties.

429..Consuls are referred to the text of the laws for detailed instructions. Some of the leading provisions only will be noticed in this connection.

WHAT LAWS TO GOVERN PROCEEDINGS.

430..The jurisdiction is to be exercised in conformity with, 1st, the laws of the United States; 2d, with the common law, including equity and admiralty; and 3d, with decrees and regulations, having the force of law, made by the Ministers of the United States in each country respectively, to supply defects and deficiencies in the laws of the United States, or the common law as above defined.

431.. This power of the Ministers to make laws and regulations is limited, by construction of the Department, to acts necessary to organize and give efficiency to the courts created by the act.

FORMS OF PROCEEDING.

432..The forms and practice in each Consular Court have now become settled by usage. Each Consul will conform to them. Should he find defects in any part of the existing system, he will call the

Judicial Powers.

attention of the Diplomatic Representative of the United States to them. The power or directing a change is vested in that officer by law.

LIMITATION OF CONSULAR JURISDICTION.

433..The power of commencing original, civil, and criminal proceedings is vested in Consular Officers exclusively.

434.. They can also, sitting alone, determine all criminal cases where the fine imposed does not exceed five hundred dollars, or the term of imprisonment does not exceed ninety days; and may impose fines to the extent of fifty dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding twenty-four hours, for contempt committed in the presence of the court, or for failure to obey a summons.

435..They may also, when of opinion that legal questions may arise in which assistance may be useful, or that a severer punishment is required, summon associates, not more than four in number, taken by lot from a list to be previously approved by the Minister, to sit with them on the trial, each of whom is to enter upon the record his judgment and opinion, and to sign the same; but the Consul himself gives the judgment in the case, whether it accords with that of his associates or not.

436..In trials for capital offenses, there must be four associates, who must all agree with the Consul in order to convict, and the opinion must be approved by the Minister before there can be a conviction.

437..They have exclusive jurisdiction in civil proceedings where the damage demanded does not exceed five hundred dollars.

438..When the amount demanded exceeds five hundred dollars, or when the Consul thinks the case involves legal perplexities, and that assistance will be useful, he may summon to his aid not less than two nor more than three associates, to be selected from a list of persons nominated by the Consul for the purposes of the act to the Minister, and approved by him. They shall hear the case with him. The Consul, however, is to give the judgment. If they agree with him, the judgment is final. If they or any of them disagree, the opinions of all are to be noted on the record and subscribed by them, and the judgment of the Consul is then subject to appeal.

439..One of the first duties of a Consular Officer after arrival at