date of delivery, both of which should be sent to the principal officer, to be by him communicated to the Department of State.

61. Location of office and residence.-Consular officers who are prohibited from engaging in business will be expected to establish their offices at the most convenient central location that the sum allowed for office rent will permit, and to keep them open daily during the usual business hours of the place. No subordinate or branch office will be permitted in the same place with the consulate. (Paragraphs 64-67.)

62. Residence.-Consular officers are expected to live in the towns in which their offices are located by their commissions, and a disregard of this requirement will not be countenanced, except in those cases that have, for special reasons, been expressly exempted. In no case will a consul be permitted to reside outside of his consular district.

63. Office hours.—Consular officers of the United States should be ready and willing to perform the duties of their office at any time; and although it is proper and right to have fixed office hours, in order that the public may know at what hours they may be sure to find the consular officer at the consulate, such fixed hours must not be considered as the limit of the time within which consular officers may be called upon to perform their official duties. (Paragraph 61.)

64. Office rooms. -The selection of office rooms and the amount to be paid for office rent are intrusted to the consular officer. The actual expense of rent, within the statutory limit of 20 per cent of the salary, is allowed to him for that purpose; but all arrangements and obligations respecting the leasing of premises and the amount and terms of payment are made by the consular officer, and the Government assumes no responsibility therefor. When suitable offices have been obtained, they should not be changed, except for good cause, to be reported to the Department of State; and it is expected

that the same offices will be retained by successive consular officers whenever it is practicable to do so. Suitable offices can not usually be had except upon a lease for one or more years. The recall or retirement of a consular officer during the pendency of such a lease not infrequently results in embarrassment and loss if the incoming officer refuses to continue the occupancy. Under these circumstances it will be required that the same offices should be retained until the lease expires, unless a change can be made without loss to the outgoing officers, or unless there exists some controlling reason justifying the change, the nature of which should be reported to the Department. (Paragraphs 61, 67.)

65. Report regarding office.--Consular officers are required, at the earliest opportunity, to prepare and forward to the Department of State a brief report in relation to the offices occupied by them. This report must embrace the following particulars:

1. Give the street and number of the premises, stating whether they are in a residential or business quarter of the town. State whether the offices are separate and selfcontained, or whether office or desk room only is occupied in the officer's residence or in premises used for other business purposes. State the actual rental and to whom and how paid. Scrupulous exactness is enjoined in reporting the circumstances under which the offices are rented.

2. Give the number, size, arrangement, and employment of the rooms devoted to the public business. A diagram will probably be the most convenient mode of showing these particulars, and its utility will be enhanced if it shows the means of access from the street and the window lighting, whether on the street or on internal courts or wells.

3. State the manner in which the offices are protected when not open for business, whether by a janitor or porter in charge of the building or by the residence on the premises of

any official dependent whose wages are paid by the Department of State. In the latter case, state the accommodations assigned to such dependent.

Though it is not desired that this report should be accompanied by a full inventory of the property of the Government in the offices, it would be serviceable to describe generally the furnishing of each office room. (See as to furniture report, paragraph 431.)

It is expected that any change in the official quarters will be likewise reported in detail.

66. Report when new office rented. Before a new office is rented consular officers are required to report the following facts to the Department of State:

(1) The amount per annum to be expended for office rent. (2) The number, dimensions, and location of the rooms to be paid for out of the rent allowance, with diagram.

(3) Whether consul proposes to occupy as a residence or for private purposes any part of the rooms paid for out of the allowance, and if so, what part.

(4) Whether consul's residence is in the same building or is owned by the same landlord as the consular office; and, if so, what his contract for the rent of his residence is. Give number of rooms, dimensions, and location, as in case of the office rooms.

(5) Any remarks that may be necessary in explanation of the direct answers to these questions.

The approval of the Department must be awaited before closing the lease.

67. Consulate to be separate from business offices.-Consular officers, especially in important commercial and manufacturing districts, are not permitted to have their offices in the counting rooms or places of business of merchants, manufacturers, agents, solicitors, or brokers. The appropriate business of the consular officer must not fail to receive his

personal attention nor be left to be performed by such merchants or other persons or their clerks, so that the contents of invoices, which are in all cases to be regarded as confidential, become known to interested parties, to the serious injury of the persons to whom the invoices properly belong. Such practices are highly reprehensible, and are ground for serious complaint. The consular office, whether the consular officer is prohibited from trading or not, must be in a respectable location and devoted exclusively to the consular business; and no one but a duly authorized officer must be permitted to have access to the consular papers or to use the consular seals.

68. Public moneys.-If there are any public funds in the hands of his predecessor, the consular officer may take charge The outgoing officer, however, is responsible to the Government for them, and they can not be demanded as a matter of right. It is expected in any case that sufficient funds, if in the hands of the outgoing officer, will be left for the immediate needs of the office. For any moneys so transferred the outgoing officer should be careful to take proper receipts, to be transmitted with his accounts. If the funds held by the predecessor are the proceeds of the effects of an American citizen who died intestate more than a year previous to the transfer of the office which should have been remitted to the Treasury as provided by law, it is not usual to deliver them to the successor; but they should be remitted by the outgoing officer, who is responsible therefor. (Paragraph 406.)

69. Notice on entering on duties. Having entered on the duties of his office, the consular officer, if a consul-general, should immediately give notice thereof to the Department of State and to the diplomatic representative; if a consul or commercial agent, he will give like notice to the Department and to the consul-general to whom he may be subordinate,

or, if there be no consul-general, then to the diplomatic representative, if there be one. He will also inform the principal consular officers of the United States in the country, and will also send his official card to, or call personally upon, the proper local officers and the consular officers of other countries in the place, as the custom may be. He will also, before the expiration of ninety days after entering on his duties, nominate to the Department of State, through his immediate superior, or directly, agreeably to the instructions of paragraphs 97-100, suitable persons for appointment to the consular agencies in his jurisdiction and a suitable person to be vice-consul or vice-commercial agent to act in case of his temporary absence or of his relief from duty from any cause. As subordinate officers are not to be removed without cause (paragraph 44), the foregoing direction applies only to cases in which the consul determines after examination that a change is required for the good of the service.

70. Use of arms and flag.-The arms of the United States should be placed over the entrance to the consulate or commercial agency, unless prohibited by the laws of the country. Only one coat of arms will be permitted to be exposed in each port where a consular office is located, and that will be placed over the office devoted to consular business. Wherever the custom prevails, the national flag should be hoisted on such occasions as the consular officer may deem appropriate, or when it may be required for his protection or as the emblem of his authority. It is not usually necessary that it should be unfurled daily. The occasions for its display are within the judgment of the consular officer; but its use will be suggested on all national holidays of his own country and whenever it would indicate a becoming respect to the customs, festivals, or public ceremonies of the country to which he is accredited. (Paragraph 73.)