thereof, if sold, shall be disposed of in the same manner as is directed in Article XX of these instructions respecting the estates of persons dying intestate; provided, in the case of salvage, that the court deciding the same will permit the Consular Officer to receive the effects and remainder of the property after the salvage is paid. Art. XVI. panies. 211..In some countries chartered companies have Wrecking comthe privilege of taking possession of all property wrecked; in others, it may be vested in particular magistrates or officers. In such cases the Consular Officer is not to interfere with the legal function of the proper officer, but he may ask leave, as the representative of the absent master or owner, or as his official adviser, if he be present, to assist at the taking of the inventory, the sale, and all other proceedings in relation to the property. It is his duty to protect the interest of the owner, and, if his reasonable requests are not complied with, to take the necessary evidence of the facts in the case, and transmit it to the Department of State. 212.. When any American vessel is wrecked within his jurisdiction, the Consular Officer is to give notice to the Department of State, naming the vessel and her owners or master, and giving the circumstances attending the loss. If there is an agent of the American underwriters in his jurisdiction, he will co-operate with him. Wreck to be reported. 213.. When there is no impediment from the laws of Proceedings. the country, all proceedings in relation to property wrecked are to be the same as those prescribed in the case of property of intestates, and so also with regard to the taking possession and disposing of whatever effects, whether wrecked, abandoned, or otherwise unrepresented within a Consulate, belonging to any citizen of the United States. 214..A Consular Officer is allowed to institute proceedings for the recovery of property in behalf of citizens of his own country, although they may be unknown to Restitution property. of him; yet restitution cannot be decreed without specific proof of the individual proprietary interest. 215..Whenever a Consul or Commercial Agent shall receive authentic intelligence of the rescue from shipwreck of seamen or citizens of the United States by the master or crew of any foreign vessel, he will, without delay, transmit to the Department a statement of the facts, including the name of the master of the foreign vessel and of the country or port to which he may belong, and also the names of such of the crew as may have especially distinguished themselves. This statement will be laid before the President, who is expressly authorized by Congress to make suitable acknowledgments to the masters and crews of foreign vessels for their services in rescuing from shipwreck citizens and vessels of the United States. The Consular Officer will state in his report the names of the passengers and crew who may have perished, and also of the survivors and what disposition has been made of them. 216.. He will promptly render such assistance as may be in his power to his shipwrecked countrymen, and institute, whenever it is practicable, energetic proceedings for the protection of their property; but this instruction gives no authority to incur any expense therefor in the expectation of its being defrayed by the Department of State; the appropriation for the relief and protection of American seamen in foreign countries which is made by Congress not being applicable to any purpose except the relief of persons who are actually "seamen." Whenever it is necessary for the safety of the property, the Consular Officer will apply to the local authorities for assistance. 217.. He will carefully collect and preserve all the papers and documents relating to the ship or its cargo, or to the passengers, and deliver them to the parties to whom they belong, or to the representatives of such parties, or, in the event of their death or non-appearance, he will transmit them to this Department. 218.. Treaties affecting proceedings concerning wrecks have been made with Austro-Hungary, the Argentine Confederation, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Co- Art. XVI. ARTICLE XVII. Duties of Consular Officers in Respect of American or Foreign-built Vessels Transferred to Citizens of the United States within their Jurisdiction. 219.. No register, enrollment, license, or other marine documents prescribed by the laws of the United States can be lawfully issued by a Consular Officer to vessels which are sold and purchased at a foreign port, whether those vessels are American or foreign built. Art. XVII, Marine docu ments. Rights, how pro tected. 220.. To enable, however, the owners of a vessel so situated to protect their rights, if molested or questioned, a Consular Officer, though forbidden by law to grant any marine document or certificate of ownership, may lawfully make record of the bill of sale in his office, authenticate its execution, and deliver to the purchaser a certificate to that effect; certifying, also, that the owner is a citizen of the United States. Before granting such certificate, the Consular Officer will require the tonnage of the vessel to be duly ascertained in pursuance of law, and insert the same in the description of the vessel in his certificate. (See Form No. 35.) These facts, thus authenticated, if the transfer was in good faith, entitle the vessel to protection as the lawful property of a citizen of the United States; and the authentication of the bill of sale and of citizenship will be prima facie proof of such good faith. 221..In all cases where the evidence of the purchase Evidence of of a foreign vessel by a citizen of the United States, with proof of citizenship and of the bona-fide character of the purchase, shall be furnished to a Consular Officer, he will if the proof be satisfactory, and purchase deemed fair, record the bill of sale in his office, and deliver purchase. Art. XVII. 1ssue of sea-let ters. Disabilities of such vessels. Forfeiture on arrival in United States. Protection. Carrying American flag. to the party the original, with a certificate indorsed thereon. 222.. It has been the practice of some Consuls in case of the purchase of an American or foreign vessel by a citizen of the United States to issue sea-letters to the vessel after the purchase. Such a practice has no authority in law, and will not be repeated. The forms are consequently omitted in these regulations. 223..It is to be distinctly understood, however, that such foreign-built vessels not registered, enrolled, or licensed under the laws of the United States, although wholly owned by citizens thereof, cannot legally import goods, wares, or merchandise from foreign ports, and are subjected in the coasting trade to disabilities and exactions from which documented vessels of the United States are exempt. 224..On arrival from a foreign port, such undocumented foreign-built vessels, if laden with goods, wares, or merchandise, will, with their cargoes, be subjected to forfeiture. If in ballast only, or with passengers without cargo, they will be subject to a tonnage-duty of $1 per ton. 225..The right of American citizens to acquire property in foreign ships has been held to be a natural right, independent of statutory law, and such property is no more nor less entitled to protection by the United States than any other property of an American citizen. 226.. The privilege of carrying the American flag is under the regulation of Congress, and the statutes have not made that privilege practicably available to any ships except those duly registered or enrolled at some custom-house. A certificate of American ownership of a foreign-built vessel issued by any Federal officer would be extra-official, and not entitled to recognition in foreign courts; and moreover, it is not a correct practice for the executive officers of the United States to issue or sign papers which are informal or not authorized by law, or not required by law, in the regular course of business. ARTICLE XVIII. Duties as to American Vessels Engaged in the Art. XVIII. of coolies forbid 227..It is made illegal by statute for citizens of the Transportation United States to participate with their vessels in the den. transportation of coolies, and the provisions of two obsolete acts were revived, and were made to apply to vessels of the United States engaged in the transportation of passengers from one port without the United States to another port without the United States. Consuls will at once report all violations of these statutes coming to their notice. It is understood that British courts at Hong-Kong have held that the traffic in coolies is the slave-trade in another form, and therefore piracy. The courts of the United States probably could not find justification in the statutes for adding it to the list of acts punishable as piracy; but the statute warrants this Department in urging upon Consuls to endeavor in every way to prevent it, not only by pro ceeding against every American citizen engaged in it, but by using their influence in every possible manner to prevent it. 228..The statute is not intended to apply to the free and voluntary emigration of Chinese subjects. 229.. It is made the duty of the Consular Officer of Consul's duties. the United States residing at the port from which a vessel with such voluntary emigrants takes her departure to give to the master of such vessel a permit or certificate, containing the names of such persons, and setting forth the fact of their voluntary emigration from such port or place. 230.. Such certificate will not be given until the Consular Officer has personally satisfied himself, by evidence produced, of the truth of the facts therein contained. Evidence of facts. tion. 231..Consuls will be rigid in exacting a compliance Rigid examinawith these provisions. It is not necessary to point out to Consuls how easily the crime of transporting involuntary emigrants may be veiled under the form of a |