any claim, not reduced to a judgment, for damages for any wrongful act of the deceased. When there is no consular officer present, the local authorities are to receive the property and notify the nearest consular officer of the United States

416. In non-Christian countries.-In China, Japan, Madagasear, Siam, Turkey, and other non-Christian countries the property of decedents, both personal and real, is administered under the probate jurisdiction of the consular courts in those countries, without interference in any respect by the local governments.

ARTICLE XXIV.

MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUCTIONS.

MARRIAGES.

417. Consuls not to celebrate.—A consular officer of the United States has no power to celebrate marriages in a Christian country between citizens of the United States unless specifically authorized by the laws of the country to do so. In nonChristian countries his authority to perform this rite is not sufficiently well established and defined in the jurisprudence of the United States to justify action upon it. It is deemed safer to forbid consular officers, and they are hereby forbidden, to solemnize marriages in any case.-7 Op. Att. Gen., 23, 30, 31, 342, 346; 1 Halleck, Ch. XI, sec. 14; 1 Bishop, Marriage and Divorce, 298.

418. May act as witnesses.-A consular officer may, when requested, be an official witness of the ceremony of marriage where one of the contracting parties is a citizen of the United States. In all cases of marriage in the presence of a consular officer he shall give to each of the parties a certificate of such marriage, and shall also send forthwith a certificate thereof to the Department of State.

419. Certificate. This certificate must be under the official seal of the consulate, and must give the names of the parties, their ages, places of birth and residence, the date and place of the marriage, and must certify that the marriage took place in the presence of the consular officer giving the certificate. (Form No. 87.) *

420. Effect of marriage in presence of consul.-It is provided by statute that "Marriages in presence of any consular officer of the United States in a foreign country, between persons who would be authorized to marry if residing in the District of Columbia, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, and shall have the same effect as if solemnized within the United States."-R. S. sec. 4082. The statute does not exclude modes of solemnization other than that in presence of a consular officer. Marriages abroad, when not in the presence of a consular officer, if otherwise valid, are not invalidated by the above statute. The statute does not authorize the consular officer to perform the ceremony, but simply prescribes the legal effect which will be given to a marriage performed in his presence. In view of the exclusive authority of the States in such matters, this statute would probably not be operative outside of the District of Columbia and the Territories.

421. General principles as to solemnization.-It is a principle of international law that the law of the place of solemnization shall, whenever this is practicable, determine the mode of solemnization. When consuls are requested to act as official witnesses of marriages, they should see that the requirements of the law of the place of celebration have been, as far as practicable, complied with. It is not intended, however, in these instructions in any way to question or modify the principle of international law that, while the form of solemnizing marriage is determined ordinarily by the law of the place of solemnization, exceptions are recognized, (1) when it is impossible to use such form, (2) when it is repugnant to the

religious convictions of the parties, (3) when it is not imposed on foreigners by the sovereign prescribing it, (4) when the ceremony is performed in a non-Christian or semicivilized country.-7 Op. Att. Gen., 18.

422. Not to certify as to laws of marriage in United States.-Consular officers are not competent to certify officially as to the status and ability to marry of persons domiciled in the United States and proposing to be married abroad; nor as to the laws of the United States, or of the States or Territories, touching capacity for marriage or the solemnization thereof. The power to make a certificate as to the legal requisites in the United States for a valid marriage abroad is not conferred on consular officers by the laws of the United States nor by international law, and they have no official powers which are not derived from any of these sources. Whatever private knowledge a consular officer may have respecting the laws of marriage, he is not authorized to certify the same officially.

EXTRADITION OF FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE.

423. Requisitions for extradition. The United States have treaties with most foreign powers providing, within specified limitations, for the extradition of fugitives from justice upon the demand of the state from which the fugitive has fled. The demand, or requisition, for extradition is usually presented by the diplomatic representative of the demanding government, where there is such a representative in the country of refuge. In the absence of a diplomatic representative, it is provided by some of the treaties that the requisition may be presented by "consular officers," "superior consular officers," or "the superior consular officer." (Paragraph 92.)

424. Act only upon instructions of Department. When a consular officer is required to make requisition for the extradition of a fugitive from justice, full instructions adapted to the particular case will be given him. In the absence of instruc

tions from the Department of State, a consular officer is not authorized to intervene in extradition matters, nor to ask for the arrest and detention of a fugitive.

425. Authenticating foreign extradition papers.-The act of August 3, 1882, prescribes the manner in which documentary evidence offered by foreign governments in support of requisitions for the extradition of criminals from the United States shall be authenticated. The language of the statute is as

follows:

That in all cases where any depositions, warrants, or other papers, or copies thereof, shall be offered in evidence upon the hearing of any extradition case under title sixty-six of the Revised Statutes of the United States, such depositions, warrants, and other papers, or the copies thereof, shall be received and admitted as evidence on such hearing for all the purposes of such hearing if they shall be properly and legally authenticated so as to entitle them to be received for similar purposes by the tribunals of the foreign country from which the accused party shall have escaped, and the certificate of the principal diplomatic or consular officer of the United States resident in such foreign country shall be proof that any deposition, warrant, or other paper, or copies thereof, so offered, are authenticated in the manner required by this act.-22 Stat. L., 216 sec. 5; 22 Fed. Rep., 699; 30 Id., 57; 33 Id., 165; 44 Id., 422; 136 U. S., 330.

The greatest care should be exercised in making the authentication provided for in the act above quoted. The form of such certificate (Form No. 36) has been tested by actual use and found to be legally sufficient.

TAXES AND DUTIES.

426. Taxes.-Unless exempt by treaty, consular officers are subject to local taxation in the country and city in which they reside. (Paragraph 83.) As a matter of courtesy or comity they are often excused from personal tax and more rarely from the payment of customs duty on their personal effects.

427. Reports. Consuls will inform the Department of State whether, in the countries in which they respectively reside, they are required to pay taxes of any description, and, if so, the rate and amount of such taxes. If in any country or city they are exempted from taxation, through courtesy, by law, or local regulation, they will communicate the fact, with a copy of the law or regulation, if such exist. They should also report whether any distinction in respect of taxation is made between consuls who are permitted to engage in trade and those who are prohibited from so doing.

428. Duties on official importations.-Consuls should inform the Department of State, whether they are required to pay customs duties or other public charges upon supplies of stationery, flags, furniture, and other articles sent to them for official use. It is customary for this Government to admit free of customs duties and charges at its custom-houses all articles for the official use of the consular officers of foreign states when similar privileges are granted to its officers. If these privileges are refused in any instance, the refusal should be reported to the Department of State for such proceedings as may be deemed proper; or, in the case of consular officers of the United States in Mexico, to the United States minister in that country, who, on being satisfied that the foregoing articles are detained at the customs office, will at once apply to the Mexican authorities for their free entry.

REQUISITIONS FOR SUPPLIES.

429. A form of requisition for office supplies is given in the appendix (Form No. 100), also a schedule of the articles usually furnished by the Department of State. The requisitions should describe the articles called for by schedule number, as well as by name, and the quantities desired are to be stated in figures, as per schedule, and in the order indicated therein. If less than an original package is required, the quantity should be stated in fractions thereof. The requisition should