If any citizen of either of the two high contracting parties shall die without will or testament in any of the territories of the other, the Consul-General or Consul or the nation to which the deceased belonged, or the representative of such Consul-General or Consul in his absence, shall have the right to nominate curators to take charge of the property of the deceased, so far as the laws of the country will permit, for the benefit of the lawful heirs and creditors of the deceased, giving proper notice of such nomination to the authorities of the country.

It shall be free for each of the two high contracting parties to appoint Consuls for the protection of trade, to reside in any of the territories of the other party; but before any Consul shall act as such, he shall, in the usual form, be approved and admitted by the Government to which he is sent; and either of the high contracting parties may except from the residence of Consuls such particular places as they judge fit to be excepted. The Diplomatic Agents and Consuls of Honduras shall enjoy in the territories of the United States whatever privileges, exemptions, and immunities are or shall be granted to agents of the same rank belonging to the most favored nation; and in like manner the Diplomatic Agents and Consuls of the United States in the territories of Honduras shall enjoy, according to the strictest reciprocity, whatever privileges, exemptions, and immunities are or may be granted in the Republic of Honduras to the Diplomatic Agents and Consuls of the most favored nation.

Treaty concluded May 8, 1878 (Rights, Privileges, and Immunities of

Consular Officers).

1476. ARTICLE I.

Each of the high contracting parties pledges itself to admit the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of the other in all its ports, places, and cities, with the exception of those in which it may not be deemed proper to recognize such functionaries.

This reservation, however, shall not be applied to one of the high contracting parties without being applied in like manner to all the other Powers.

1477. ARTICLE II.

Consular Officers shall receive, after presenting their commissions. and according to the formalities established in the respective countries, the exequatur required for the exercise of their functions, which shall be furnished to them free of cost; and on presentation of this document they shall be admitted by all the authorities of their place of residence to the enjoyment of the rights, prerogatives, and immunities, granted them by this convention.

1478. ARTICLE III.

Consular Officers, citizens of the State by which they were appointed, shall be exempt from arrest or imprisonment in civil cases and from preliminary arrest in penal cases, except in the case of offenses which the local law qualifies as crimes and punishes as such, and they shall be exempt from military billetings, and from the performance of service in the army, in the militia, or national guard, and in the navy.

The aforesaid Consular Officers shall be exempt from all national. State, or municipal taxes imposed upon persons, either in the nature of capitation tax or in respect to their property, unless such taxes become due on account of the possession of real estate or for interest on capital invested in the State in which they reside. If they are engaged in trade, manufactures, or commerce, they shall not enjoy such exemption, but shall be obliged to pay the same taxes as are paid by other foreigners under similar circumstances.

1479. ARTICLE IV.

Consular Officers, citizens of the State which appointed them, and who are not engaged in trade, professional business, or any kind of manufactures, shall not be obliged to appear as witnesses before the courts of the country in which they reside. If their testimony should be neces sary, they shall be requested in writing to appear in court, and in case of impediment their written deposition shall be requested, or it shall be received viva voce at their residence or office.

It shall be the duty of the aforementioned Consular Officers to comply with such request without unnecessary delay.

In all the criminal cases contemplated by the VIth article of the amendments of the Constitution of the United States, by virtue of which the right is guaranteed to persons charged with crimes of obtaining

witnesses in their favor, Consular Officers shall be required to appear, all possible regard being paid to their dignity and to the duties of their office.

Consuls of the United States in Italy shall receive the same treatment in similar cases.

1480. ARTICLE V.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents may place over the outer door of their office the arms of their nation with this inscription: Consulate or Vice-Consulate or Consular Agency of the United States or of Italy.

They may also hoist the flag of their country over the house in which the Consular Office is, provided they do not reside in the capital in which the legation of their country is established.

1481. ARTICLE VI.

The Consular Offices shall be at all times inviolable. The local authorities shall not be allowed to enter them under any pretext, nor shall they in any case examine or sequestrate the papers therein deposited. These offices, however, shall never serve as places of asylum.

When the Consular Officer is engaged in trade, professional business, or manufacturers, the papers relating to the business of the Consulate must be kept separate.

1482. ARTICLE VII.

In case of death, incapacity, or absence of the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, their Chancellors and Secretaries, whose official character shall have been previously announced to the Department of State at Washington, or to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Italy, shall be permitted to discharge their functions ad interim, and they shall enjoy, while thus acting, the same rights, prerogatives, and immunities as the officers whose places they fill, on the condition and with the reserves prescribed for those offices.

1483. ARTICLE VIII.

Vice-Consuls or Consular Agents may be appointed by the respective Governments or by the Consuls-General or Consuls, with the approval

of said Governments, in the cities, ports, and places of each Consular District. These agents may be selected from the citizens of the United States, or from Italian citizens or other foreigners, and they shall be furnished with a commission by the Government or by the Consul appointing them under whose orders they are to discharge their functions.

They shall enjoy the privileges provided in this convention for Consular Officers, subject to the exceptions and reservations provided for the same.

1484. ARTICLE IX.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents may have recourse to the authorities of the respective countries within their district, whether federal or local, judicial or executive, for the purpose of complaining of any infraction of the treaties or conventions existing between the United States and Italy, as also in order to defend the rights and interests of their countrymen. If the complaint should not be satisfactorily redressed, the Consular Officer aforesaid, in the absence of a Diplomatic Agent of their country, may apply directly to the Government of the country where they reside.

1485. ARTICLE X.

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, and their Chancellors or Consular Clerks, shall have the right to take in their offices, at the residence of the parties, in their own dwelling, and even on board ship, the depositions of captains and crews of the vessels of their nation, of passengers on board of the same, and of any other citizen or subject of their country.

They shall also have the right to receive at their offices, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country, any contract between citizens or subjects and other inhabitants of the country in which they reside, and also any contract between these latter, provided it relates to real estate situated in the territory of the nation to which the Consular Officer belongs, or to business which is to be transacted in said country.

Copies of papers relative to such contracts and official documents of all kinds, whether originals, copies, or translations, duly authenticated by the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, and sealed with the seal of office of the Consulate, shall be received as evidence in the United States and Italy.

1486. ARTICLE XI.

(Substituted by treaty concluded February 24, 1881).

The eleventh article of the Consular Convention of May 8, 1878, between the United States of America and Italy, is hereby annulled, and in its place the following article is substituted, namely:

Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall have exclusive charge of the internal order of the merchant vessels of their nation, and shall alone take cognizance of differences which may arise, either at sea or in port, between the captains, officers, and crews, without exception, particularly in reference to the adjustment of wages and the execution of contracts. In case any disorder should happen on board of vessels of either party, in the territorial waters of the other, neither the Federal, State, or municipal authorities or courts in the United States nor any court or authority in Italy, shall on any pretext interfere except when the said disorders are of such a nature as to cause, or be likely to cause, a breach of the peace or serious trouble in the port or on shore; or when, in such trouble or breach of the peace, a person or persons shall be implicated, not forming a part of the crew. In any other case, said Federal, State, or municipal authorities or courts in the United States, or courts or authority in Italy, shall not interfere, but shall render forcible aid to Consular Officers, when they may ask it, to search, arrest, and imprison all persons composing the crew whom they may deem it necessary to confine. Those persons shall be arrested at the sole request of the Consuls addressed in writing to either the Federal, State, or municipal courts or authorities in the United States, or to any court or authority in Italy, and supported by an official extract from the register of the ship or the list of the crew, and the prisoners shall be held, during the whole time of their stay, in the port at the disposal of the Consular Officers. Their release shall be granted at the mere request of such officers made in writing. The expenses of the arrest and detention of those persons shall be paid by the Consular Officers.

1487. ARTICLE XII.

According to the act of Congress of March 5, 1855, to regulate the carriage of passengers in steamships and other vessels, all disputes and questions of any nature that may arise between captains and officers on the