be carefully drawn, with due regard to economy, and should cover as far as possible a supply for a year or half year.

Blank passport and other forms, record books, seals, coats of arms, and other articles not mentioned on the schedule should be added at the end of the requisition, or, if necessary, on a separate sheet accompanying the same.

No dispatch is necessary in transmitting these requisitions to the Department, and they should not be given a serial number.

INVOICES OF SUPPLIES.

430. Supplies sent to consulates for official use are accompanied by an invoice, under the seal of the Department of State, showing that the articles named therein are the property of the United States and are intended for the consul's use in conducting the public business of his office. This invoice may be used in obtaining free entry of the supplies. Upon receipt of the supplies the consul is required to sign the acknowledgment on the back and return the invoice so indorsed to the Department.

ANNUAL FURNITURE SCHEDULES.

431. At the end of each fiscal year every consular officer shall transmit to the Department of State a schedule to be known as the "Annual furniture schedule," which shall contain item by item the furniture and office equipment of said office, together with a statement as to each item or group of items, showing the number, the date of purchase, cost, name of person or firm from whom purchased, and a description thereof sufficient to enable the same to be easily identified. The schedule shall especially include the following articles: Carpets, rugs, curtains, window shades, mats, awnings, hangings, mattings or other floor coverings, framed pictures, unframed pictures, framed charts, unframed charts, busts, statues, tables, desks, bookcases, bookshelves, cabinets, clocks,

washstands, screens, towel racks, cuspidors, swivel chairs, armchairs, chairs, stools, lamps, gas or electric fixtures, telephones, sofas, lounges, divans, settees, benches, typewriters, toilet articles, pitchers, bowls, basins, towels, consular or legation presses, seals, letter-presses, rubber or other stamps, atlases, gazetteers, directories (with date), dictionaries, encyclopedias, other bound books, unbound books; inkstands, mucilage pots, blotting-paper holders, sponge holders, penracks, penholders, paper cutters, scissors, erasers, and other desk fixtures; flags, flag poles, flag ropes, and flag holders; consular arms and consular signs.

The separate pieces of a suit of furniture when purchased as a suit need not be severally described, but the number of pieces and a general description, as "Oak, covered with green leather," will suffice. All other items must be sepa

rately set forth.

432. Supplementary schedule. From time to time as new purchases are allowed and made, a supplementary schedule covering same shall be transmitted to the Department of State, to be annexed to the "Annual furniture schedule." These shall follow the same plan as to number, date of purchase, price, vendor, and description.

The "Annual furniture schedule" and all other furniture schedules shall be signed and certified as correct by the person making the same; and when made up by other than the official in charge of the office, the signature of the person making the schedule shall be attested by such official and be by him transmitted to the Department of State to be filed with the schedules hereinbefore referred to. (Paragraphs 64-66.) 433. Department's schedule. The Department of State will make up from the records thus received a new schedule in the same form, to be delivered with his commission to each new official appointed to take charge of a consular office, setting forth all furniture and equipment shown by said schedules to

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