Art. XX.

If several claimants, &c.

shall deliver effects.

notice to the Department of State, designating the amount in money, or the effects, as the case may be, which have been delivered to the representative of the deceased or to the Treasury Department.

271..If there should be several parties, each claiming to be the representative of the deceased, and demanding the effects, the Consular Officer must direct the parties to determine their rights before the proper judicial tribunals.

When Consul 272..The Consular Officer should at all times be prepared, and he is expressly required, to deliver over the effects and papers of the estate in his possession at any stage of the proceedings, after deducting the fees and expenses, to any legal representative of the deceased, or appointed trustee, who presents unquestionable evidence of authority to act as such.

Will to beproved.

fects.

273..In the case where, by a testamentary disposition of the deceased, some person other than the Consul is appointed to take charge of and manage the property, the Consul has a right to require, before intervening officially, that the will should be proved so as to give it legal effect.

274..In all cases where jurisdiction is not distinctly Custody of ef and by due authority conferred upon the Consul, it will be safer for him to confine his acts to the custody of the property and its preservation for the purpose of being surrendered into the hands of those who are legally entitled to it, but in such a way as not to involve him in legal liability to them.

Art. XXI.

When valid.

ARTICLE XXI.

Miscellaneous Instructions.

MARRIAGES.

275..It is enacted that all marriages celebrated in the presence of any Consular Officer in a foreign country, between persons who would be authorized to marry if residing in the District of Columbia, are valid to all intents and purposes as if the said marriage had been

solemnized in the United States. In the District of Art. XXI. Columbia at the time of the passage of the act, males who had arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and females who had reached the age of sixteen, were held competent to marry; and every minister of the Gospel, appointed or ordained according to the rights or ordinances of his church, whether his residence was within the District of Columbia or not, could be licensed to perform the ceremony.

given.

276..In all cases of marriage before any Consular Certificate to be Officer, the officer shall give to each of the parties a certificate of such marriage, and shall also send a certificate thereof to the Department of State, there to be kept.

277.. This certificate must be under the official seal and must give the names of the parties, their ages, places of birth and residence, the date and place when and where the ceremony was performed, and that the marriage took place before the Consular Officer giving the certificate. (For a form, see Form No. 87.)

Contents of certificate.

perform ceremony,

countries, &c.

278.. The statute does not authorize the Consul to Consul not to perform the ceremony. It is not to be supposed that unless in oriental Congress intended to authorize a Consul to perform the ceremony of marriage, or to countenance the doing of any act which would be or even seem to be a violation of the laws of the country in which he resides. Marriage is a contract which each State regulates for itself by its own laws. Inasmuch as rights of inheritance may depend upon the validity of marriages, Consuls cannot be too cautious in satisfying themselves, when their presence is asked at a proposed marriage, not only that the parties may lawfully intermarry according to the laws of the country in which the ceremony is to take place, but also that all requirements of law necessary to give validity to the marriage have been had. In no case should the Consul himself assume to perform the ceremony, unless authorized by the laws of the country to do so. The statute contemplates that the ceremony is to be performed in his presence, but it should be done according

to local laws. These considerations, however, do not apply to oriental countries, such as China, Japan, Turkey, &c., more especially named and referred to in the statute. There the Consul will have to determine only whether the parties would be authorized to intermarry if residing in the District of Columbia.

EXTRADITION AND RETURN OF CRIMINALS.

279.. Consular Officers are sometimes instructed to assist in the arrest and detention of criminals, with a view to their extradition and return to the United States.

280..They will take no part in such arrest or detention without specific instructions in each case from the Department of State, or from the principal Diplomatic Representative of the United States in the country in which they reside.

TAXES.

281..Consuls are requested to inform the Department whether, in the countries in which they respectively reside, they are required to pay taxes of any description; and, if so, the rate and amount of such taxes. If in any country or city they are exempted from taxation, through courtesy, or by law or local regulation, they will communicate the fact, with a copy of the law or regulation, if such exist. They will also state whether any distinction is made in respect of taxation between Consuls who are permitted to trade or engage in business and those who are prohibited from so doing.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OFFICE.

282..Except for the subordinate positions in his Consulate, no Consular Officer will, in his official correspondence, recommend any person for office under the Government of the United States. He will also carefully abstain from recommending to the government of the country in which he resides any person for appointment to office, such an act being an offense against the law.

NEW INVENTIONS, DISCOVERIES, ETC.

Art. XXI.

plants, &c.

283..If he sees new inventions or improvements in Machinery, seeds, machinery, which he thinks may be used, or new seeds or plants, which he thinks may be propagated with advantage in the United States, he will give the Department such information about them as may be within his reach. And in case of seeds or plants, he will, as opportunity offers to do so without cost, send specimens to the Department of Agriculture.

284..He will communicate any useful and interest- Consul's duties. ing information relating to agriculture, manufactures, population, and public works. In all that relates to scientific discoveries, to progress in the useful arts, and to general statistics in foreign countries, Consular Officers are expected to communicate freely and frequently with the Department; and to note all events occurring within their consular districts which affect beneficially or otherwise the navigation and commerce of the United States; the establishment of new branches of industry. the increase or decline of those before established; and communicate all the information which they may be enabled to obtain calculated to benefit our commerce and other interests, and the best means of removing any impediments that may have retarded their advancement.

tions.

285..Persons in foreign countries desiring to submit, Foreign inventions of any kind to the consideration or examination of the Government of the United States, must address in writing the "Secretary of the Interior, (Patent-Office,) Washington, United States of America." They must give a description of the invention, and must state whether or not they expect, or intend to ask, any compensation whatsoever. No expense incurred in connection with the invention, or its presentation, will be considered as giving any claim whatever to compensation, or to indemnification. The Government of the United States will assume no responsibility whatever, whether for loss of time, for services, for expenses of any kind, for loss or injury to any models, drawings, or other things, or for any cause whatsoever

inven

Art. XXI.

Consul to protest.

in connection with the invention or its presentation, unless the same may have been specially and distinctly authorized in writing, under the signature of the Secretary of the Interior, and in this case the responsibility of the Government will be limited to the amount named in his letter authorizing the same. No claim for indemnification or for compensation will be entertained, unless accompanied by such letter of the Secretary of the Interior as is above contemplated; and no indemnification or compensation will be allowed to any inventor, or other person presenting an invention, unless there be an appropriation by Congress authorizing such payment. No indemnification or compensation will be made in any case, unless the invention be adopted, or some advantage inures therefrom to the public service of the United States; and the Government of the United States, through its appropriate Department, will, in all cases, be the sole judge on these points.

Public speeches.

Better to avoid.

PAUPERS AND CRIMINALS.

286..If the Consul has reason to think that any person, society, or corporation, municipal or otherwise, in the country in which he resides, contemplate shipping paupers or criminals as emigrants to the United States, he will at once forcibly protest to the local authorities, and will also immediately notify the Diplomatic Representative of the United States, (or the Consul-General, as the case may be,) and the Department of State. Such an act is regarded by the United States as a violation of the comity which ought to characterize the intercourse of nations. (See anteparagraph 241.)

PUBLIC SPEECHES.

287.. 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.

288..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.