383. Animals subject to quarantine regulations also.—The cattle and other animals to which these regulations of the Treasury Department and the Department of Agriculture apply may also be subject, as importations liable to bring disease injurious to human life, to the operation of the quarantine laws and regulations.

384. Expense, how defrayed.-The expense of executing these regulations is to be borne by the vessels on which the animals are exported.-26 Stat. L., 417.

ARTICLE XXIII.

PERSONAL EFFECTS OF CITIZENS DYING WITHOUT THE UNITED STATES.

385. Duties of consul by statute. It is made the duty of a consular officer, where the laws of the country permit

First. To take possession of the personal estate left by any citizen of the United States, other than seamen belonging to any vessel, who shall die within their consulate, leaving there no legal representative, partner in trade, or trustee by him appointed to take care of his effects. (Paragraphs 390-393.)

Second. To inventory the same with the assistance of two merchants of the United States, or, for want of them, of any others at their choice. (Paragraphs 394-396.)

Third. To collect the debts due the deceased in the country where he died and pay the debts due from his estate which he shall have there contracted. (Paragraphs 398, 399.)

Fourth. To sell at auction, after reasonable public notice, such part of the estate as shall be of a perishable nature, and such further part, if any, as shall be necessary for the payment of his debts, and, at the expiration of one year from his decease, the residue. (Paragraphs 397-400.)

Fifth. To transmit the balance of the estate to the Treasury

of the United States, to be holden in trust for the legal claimant; except that if at any time before such transmission the legal representative of the deceased shall appear and demand his effects in their hands they shall deliver them up, being paid their fees, and shall cease their proceedings.-R. S., sec. 1709. (Paragraph 401.)

386. Deaths to be published and reported.-For the information of the representative of the deceased, the consul or viceconsul, in the settlement of his estate, shall immediately notify his death in one of the gazettes published in the consular district, and also to the Secretary of State, that the same may be notified in the State to which the deceased belonged; and he shall, as soon as may be, transmit to the Secretary of State an inventory of the effects of the deceased taken as before directed.-R. S., sec. 1710.

387. Where there is a will.-—When any citizen of the United States dying abroad leaves, by any lawful testamentary disposition, special directions for the custody and management, by the consular officer of the port or place where he dies, of the personal property of which he dies possessed in such country, such officer shall, so far as the laws of the country permit, strictly observe such directions. When any such citizen so dying appoints, by any lawful testamentary disposition, any other person than such officer to take charge of and manage such property, it shall be the duty of the officer, whenever required by the person so appointed, to give his official aid in whatever way may be necessary to facilitate the proceedings of such person in the lawful execution of his 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 dies; and to this end it shall be the duty of such consular officer to place his official seal upon all of the personal property or

effects of the deceased, and to break and remove such seal as may be required by such person, and not otherwise.-R. S., sec. 1711. (Paragraph 407.)

388. Consul's duty auxiliary.-The administration of the personal effects of the deceased takes place at his domicile; the function of the consul, when he is called upon to act, is auxiliary to that of the domiciliary administrator; and his authority relates only to the property and debts in the foreign country where the decedent died.-7 Op. Att. Gen., 274. 389. In absence of treaty consul to act, unless local authorities object. The authority of consuls with respect to the effects of deceased citizens can be exercised, however, only so far as is permitted by the authorities of the country, or is accorded by established usage, or is provided for by treaty or the laws of the country. The United States have treaties with some countries providing for the exercise by consular officers of the authority conferred by the foregoing statutes. (Paragraphs 410-416.) When there is no treaty, the consular officer, in the absence of a known unwillingness on the part of the local authorities, should act as far as he may be permitted; but he should avoid the appearance of opposing or disregarding actual local requirements.

390. Authority extends to personal property alone. The authority of the consular officer extends, under the statutes, to personal property alone -7 Op. Att. Gen., 270-272. In the absence of special provision by treaty the devolution and transfer of real property are governed by the law of the place where the property is situated as administered by the local officials. For jurisdiction in matter of real estate in non-Christian countries, see Article XXX.

391. Effects of seamen covered by other regulations.-The personal effects of a seaman belonging to an American vessel who dies without the United States are administered under other provisions of law. (Paragraphs 255-258.)

392. Effects of citizen dying on high seas.- -When a citizen of the United States, not a seaman, dies on the high seas, whether on board an American or foreign vessel, and the effects of the deceased are brought within a consular district, it is the duty of the consular officer, when practicable, to take charge of them. He should promptly report the circumstances of the case to the Department of State, informing it at the same time of the kind and amount of effects or money left by the deceased, and of his residence and the names of his relatives, if these can be obtained. The members of his family or near relatives who are with him while traveling may be allowed to take possession of the effects.

393. Where there is a legal representative or partner in trade. If the decedent has left in the consular district a legal representative, partner in trade, or trustee by him appointed to take care of his effects, the intervention of the consular officer is required only to the extent of giving his official aid to facilitate the proceedings of such person, as is directed in paragraph 409.

394. Inventory and appraisement. The inventory required on taking possession of the property should be made with great care and with the assistance of two merchants or other proper persons, who shall also act jointly with the consular officer as appraisers of the articles placed in the inventory, giving the estimated value of each.

395. Inventory includes what.-The inventory should cover all the personal effects of the decedent that have come into the consul's hands, including account books, personal letters, evidences of debt not due and payable in the country of his decease, letters of credit, and other things which may or may not be assets in the consular officer's hands for the payment of debts. Nothing, on the other hand, should be included in the inventory which is not in the consular officer's possession. The commercial books of the deceased are to be placed

in the inventory and particularly described, the number of pages each of the said books contains being mentioned; and the consular officer will place a certificate, signed by himself, at the beginning and the end of each book, in such a manner as to prevent any addition being made to them. The letter books of the deceased are comprehended in the term commercial books.

396. Inventory to be signed and recorded. When completed, the inventory should be signed by all the persons who united in making it and authenticated by the consular seal. It should then be recorded and a copy should be sent to the Department of State.

397. Sale of perishable property.-As soon as the inventory is completed steps should be taken to sell perishable property, if any, at auction after reasonable public notice. Such notice should be given in at least one of the newspapers of the place, if any be printed there, both in English and in the language of the country; and, when practicable, the same notice should be given that is directed by the laws of the country for the judicial sale of property in execution.

398. What debts may be collected. In collecting debts due the decedent the consular officer may collect those due outside his consular district, but he may not go beyond the limits of the country in which the decedent died.-R. S, sec. 1709.

399. What funds applied to debts.-The decedent's debts should be paid out of the cash resources of the estate in the consular officer's hands, viz, the money among the effects, the proceeds of the sale of perishable property, and the money paid by the decedent's debtors. If these funds are insufficient, the consular officer may sell at auction, after proper advertisement, as much of the remaining personal property as may be required to meet the demands, taking care to sell first the articles which are most marketable and at the same