be at the consulate of which he is given charge; and such new appointee will be expressly required on arrival at his post to cause an immediate examination to be made, and to report at once to the Department whether all articles contained in the schedule delivered to him have been found, and whether the same are found to be in a condition materially varying from that described in his schedule, with such explanation as to any discrepancy therein which the person found in charge may desire to be transmitted. A retiring consul will not be given a certificate of nonindebtedness to the Government until the above provisions have been fully complied with. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OFFICE. 434. Consular officers are forbidden to recommend any person for office under the Government of the United States, except for the subordinate positions in their several consulates. They are prohibited by statute, without the consent of the Secretary of State previously obtained, from recommending any person, at home or abroad, for any employment of trust or profit under the government of the country in which they are located.-R. S., sec. 1751; 18 Stat. L., 77. PUBLIC SPEECHES. 435. Consular officers are not allowed to allude in public speeches to any matters in dispute between the United States and any other government, nor to any matters pending in the consulate. It is a still better rule to avoid public speeches when it can be done without exciting feeling in the community in which the officer resides. They will be particularly careful to refrain from unfavorable comment or criticism upon the institutions or acts of the government to which they are accredited; and it is deemed unadvisable for them to make any address abroad which is likely to be published in any other country than that where they officially reside. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE PRESS. 436. The statute prohibits a consular officer from corresponding in regard to the public affairs of any foreign government with any private person, newspaper, or other periodical, or otherwise than with the proper officers of the United States.-R. S., sec. 1751; 18 Stat. L., 77. This prohibition does not extend to literary articles or subjects not connected with politics; but communications to newspapers and their representatives relative to epidemic diseases abroad are forbidden. RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. 437. Official correspondence, etc.-Consular officers ordinarily have no diplomatic position, and must not assume such unless specially instructed by the Department of State, or unless they are regularly presented in that capacity by a diplomatic representative of the United States on his leaving his post. They therefore can not ordinarily correspond directly with the government of the country in which they reside. 438. In absence of diplomatic representative. In the absence, however, of a diplomatic representative, cases may arise in which a consul may be required to correspond directly with the government. All such correspondence, as well as all correspondence with the local authorities and with their colleagues, should be conducted in a courteous and dignified manner. 439. Social relations.—Consular officers will endeavor to cultivate friendly social relations with the community in which they reside, and will refrain from expressing harsh or disagreeable opinions upon the local, political, or other questions which divide the community within their jurisdiction. They are forbidden to participate in any manner in the political concerns of the country. In their dispatches upon such subjects they will confine themselves to the communication of important or interesting public events as they occur, avoiding all unnecessary reflections upon the character or conduct of individuals or governments; and they will not give publicity, through the press or otherwise, to opinions injurious to the public institutions of the country or the persons concerned in their administration. It is at the same time no less their duty to report freely and seasonably to their own Government all important facts which may come to their knowledge touching the political condition of the country, especially if their communications can be made to subserve or may affect the interests and well-being of their own country. PRECEDENCE OF CONSULAR OFFICERS. 440. Relative rank. The order of official precedence in the service is as follows: (1) Consuls-general; (2) consuls; (3) commercial agents; (4) vice-consular officers; (5) deputy consular officers; (6) consular clerks; (7) consular agents. 441. Relative rank with Navy and Army officers.-Consulsgeneral rank with commodores in the Navy or brigadiergenerals in the Army. Consuls and commercial agents rank with captains in the Navy or colonels in the Army. Vice-consular officers, deputy consular officers, consular clerks, and consular agents rank with lieutenants in the Navy or captains in the Army.-1 Halleck, ch. xi, sec. 7, cl. 2. For official etiquette when United States naval vessels visit the port, and for the relations between consular and naval officers, see paragraphs 109, 112. 442. Rank by seniority in same grade.-Consular officers of the United Srates are entitled to enjoy the rank and precedence above stated. This precedence will be determined, among officers of the same rank, by the date of commission. For their relative rank among their colleagues representing other countries at the same place, see paragraph 76. FOREIGN INVENTIONS SUBMITTED FOR EXAMINATION OF 443. Persons in foreign countries desiring to submit inventions of any kind to the consideration or examination of the Government of the United States must address in writing the "Secretary of the Interior (Patent Office), Washington, United States of America." They must give a description of the invention, and must state whether or not they expect, or intend to ask, any compensation whatsoever. No expense incurred in connection with the invention or its presentation will be considered as giving any claim whatever to compensation or to indemnification. The Government of the United States will assume no responsibility whatever, whether for loss of time, for services, for expenses of any kind, for loss or injury to any models, drawings, or other things, or for any cause whatsoever in connection with the invention or its presentation, unless the same may have been specially and distinctly authorized in writing, under the signature of the Secretary of the Interior, and in this case the responsibility of the Government will be limited to the amount named in his letter authorizing the same. No claim for indemnification or for compensation will be entertained, unless accompanied by such letter of the Secretary of the Interior as is above contemplated; and no indemnification or compensation will be allowed to any inventor, or other person presenting an invention, unless there be an appropriation by Congress authorizing such payment. No indemnification or compensation will be made in any case, unless the invention be adopted or some advantage inures therefrom to the public service of the United States; and the Government of the United States, through its appropriate Department, will, in all cases, be the sole judge on these points. INFORMATION AS TO LIGHT-HOUSES, BUOYS, SHOALS, ETC. 444. Consular officers are expected to report all matters that may come to their knowledge affecting the navigation of waters in their districts, or that may be of public interest or advantage. All notices of the erection of new light-houses, removals or changes in those established, the discovery or survey of shoals and reefs, changes in channels, the fixing of new buoys and beacons, and all subjects that concern the interests of navigation should be communicated promptly to the Department of State. If published notices are sent, two copies should be furnished; and if they are in a foreign language, they must be accompanied by accurate and trustworthy translations. USE OF GOVERNMENT DISPATCH BACS. 445. The following matter only may be transmitted by consular officers in Government dispatch bags to the United States, where such bags are used: (1) Letters and packages addressed to the President or Vice-President of the United States, or to the Executive Departments of this Government or the heads thereof, or to the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (2) letters, newspapers, and printed matter intended for the Assistant Secretaries, the Assistant Postmasters-General, or the Assistant Attorneys-General, or for any of the clerks of the Department of State; (3) invoices. required by law to be transmitted to the United States; (4) the private letters to their families and friends in the United States sent by consuls or members of their families. Letters of unofficial persons, not being members of their own families, are not to be sent by consular officers to the |