its title. Consular officers are required by section 7 of the act of June 26, 1884, to collect all arrears of wages due to seamen at the time of their discharge.-23 Stat. L., 55, sec. 7. A return of these wages, and of the extra wages collected, should be made quarterly on this form to the Auditor for the State and other Departments and should be accompanied by the seamen's receipts therefor. (Form No. 164.)

560. Ships' bills to be made in duplicate.-All consular bills against vessels of the United States for moneys collected shall be made in duplicate and shall show each item of charge, including all moneys received for wages and extra wages, corresponding in these respects to the entries in the "Ship's daily journal" (Form No. 135). The originals of such receipts are to be delivered to the master of the vessel; and the duplicates, after being countersigned by the master, are to be sent by the consular officer as vouchers to the proper quarterly account to the Auditor for the State and other Departments. In case the signature of the master can not from any cause be obtained, the reasons therefor should be reported to the Auditor at the time of sending the account. (Paragraphs 183 and 523.)

SALARIES, CONSULAR SERVICE.

561. Receiving instructions.-The first salary account will be stated for the time, not exceeding thirty days, during which the consular officer is receiving his instructions. (Form No. 106.) The time can not begin prior to the date of the oath of office. (Paragraph 492.) The draft therefor is drawn before departure. A certificate (Form No. 107) of the number of days occupied in receiving instructions should accompany the account. No allowance of salary, however, on account of time occupied in receiving instructions is made when the appointee is out of the United States at the time of appoint

ment.

562. Drafts and accounts for instruction period.-Drafts and accounts for the instruction period should, when practicable, be made out with the assistance of the accounting officers of the Department of State. This account is to be sent to the

Auditor for the State and other Departments.

563. Transit and awaiting exequatur.-A separate account must be stated for the time occupied in transit from the residence of the consular officer to his post of duty. (Form No. 108.) This account must be accompanied by a certificate (Form No. 109.) The transit must be made in the shortest time in which it can be accomplished by the ordinary routes of travel. In no case can a draft for transit salary be drawn before the journey is completed.

Consular officers coming home after retiring from office will not be allowed transit salary unless the return home takes place within a reasonable time after delivering up the office or being otherwise relieved from its duties. The final or home-transit account must be accompanied by a certificate (Form No. 111.)

If the consular officer, after arrival at his post, is obliged to wait for his exequatur or is delayed in taking charge of the office, the account for the time so occupied should accompany the transit account, and he should certify in regard to the time thus actually and necessarily occupied as in the case of transit.

The Department of State should be promptly advised by consular officers of the time occupied by them in making the transit to and from their posts of duty at the beginning and termination of service, and also of the time while awaiting the receipt of authority to act at their posts.

564. Final account and draft.-It is also a rule of the Treasury Department not to pay any draft for final account until all the accounts of the officer shall have been received and

adjusted. It is therefore unsafe to draw on final account until the letter of advice thereon is received.

565. Salary account current and certificate as to absence. After the consul arrives at his post and enters upon his duties, the regular accounts should be rendered quarterly, the quarters ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31. The first account at his post should embrace the period from the date of entry on duty to the end of that quarter, and after this the accounts should be rendered for the full quarter, except when broken by the changing of the officer's term of service, or by his going away on leave of absence.

Mode of stating.-The mode of stating the salary account current of a consular officer is shown in Form No. 112. If the officer be also minister resident, his salary account should follow form No. 125. The first account rendered after entry upon duty should be accompanied by a certificate (Form No. 110) showing the day on which the consular officer took charge of the office; and that account and all subsequent ones should be accompanied by a certificate as to absence (Form No. 113), showing how many days the officer has been absent from his post and duty during that quarter, and whether by leave or otherwise.

566. Drafts for residue of salary.-When the amount received by any salaried consular officer on account of official fees during the quarter shall be less than his salary for such quarter, he may draw on the Secretary of the Treasury for the difference at fifteen days' sight. It must be stated on the face of the draft that it is for the residue of salary, designating the quarter in which the deficiency occurred for which it is drawn and whether payable in coin or currency. The account of the receipts of the consular officer during the same quarter must precede the draft, so that it may be received and adjusted by the accounting officers prior to the presentation of the draft.

The drafts of consular officers on account of their salaries will not be honored, unless drawn in the manner stated in these Regulations (paragraphs 507, 516, 517, 578, 583) and accompanied with the official statements and certificates herein pointed out. For the form for the draft upon the Secretary of the Treasury for salary, see Form No. 114.

567. General quarterly account current when surplus of fees.— When the quarterly account shows a surplus due the Government, the account should be stated in the return in the manner shown in Form No. 116, instead of in the manner shown in Form No. 112. For the mode of calculating consular salaries, see Form No. 131.-28 Stat. L., 552.

Disposition of fees.-The fees collected during each quarter will be applied: (1) to the payment of the compensation of the consular officer; (2) to the authorized disbursements for office rent and miscellaneous expenses; (3) to the allowance for clerks at consulates; (4) to the relief of destitute seamen; (5) to the expenses of arrest and transportation of persons charged with crime; (6) to any other authorized account, as stated in paragraphs 534-540; (7) to the expenses incurred under special instructions.

If, after the payment at the close of each quarter of the several accounts mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, there shall still remain in the hands of the consul a surplus, he shall deposit the same with Messrs. Brown, Shipley & Co., London, or the Treasurer of the United States, taking a receipt, which must accompany his next salary account.

No authority can be given to a consular officer under which he can be relieved of his liability for fees or other publie moneys in his possession deposited with banks or bankers other than the designated bankers of the United States. All such deposits are made at his own risk; and in the event of loss by failure of the bank, or otherwise, the consul must

make it good, and the sureties on his official bond are liable for such loss. Interest accruing on public moneys voluntarily loaned by a consular officer to a bank or other borrower belongs to the Government and must be accounted for and treated as an official receipt.-133 U. S., 273, 289.

When expenses exceed fees.-In case the fees should exceed the salary and still come short of paying all the several accounts, and the balance of the general account current should be in favor of the officer, it should not be drawn for in one draft, as though it is all for salary; but the draft or drafts should be made for the amount or amounts due on the respective accounts which are not covered by fees, and the account specified, both in the account current and draft. graph 578.)

(Para

OFFICIAL FEES.

568. Return of official fees. All consular officers, whether salaried or unsalaried, will make a quarterly return directly to the Auditor for the State and other Departments, and not through the Department of State, of all official fees received during the quarter for services of whatsoever kind. A separate return must also be made for each consular agency. Each return must be sworn to by the officer who collected the fees. Fees collected by a principal officer in the absence of an agent for official acts which the agent would have performed if he had been present at his post must be included in the principal officer's return, and not as part of the business of the agency. If no fees have been received, that fact must be stated on the return. If the consular officer resides at a sea- . port, the return should be as shown in Form No. 101. If he resides at an inland place, it should be as shown in Form Consular officers will be required to state clearly in their returns the exact nature of each fee, both on account of