CHAPTER XII. DEPUTY CONSULS AND VICE CONSULS. deputy consul. 280. A DEPUTY consul is a consular officer subordi- Functions of a nate to a consul, exercising consular powers and performing the duties within the limits of a consulate, at the same port or place at which his principal resides.1 He is required to perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the principal consular officer. The appointment of a deputy consul is of unfrequent Deputy conoccurrence, and he can act only in case of the sick- suls, when to be ness of a consul, or of his inability to discharge with promptness such consular business as requires the personal attention of a principal consular officer. appointed. 281. The nomination of a deputy consul must be Mode of apcommunicated to the Department of State, accom- pointment. panied by a statement of the reasons which require the appointment, and proof of the character and ability of the nominee; if possible he should be a citizen of the United States. His appointment does not require a nomination to the Senate. prised of the 282. As soon as the consul receives from the De- Local authoripartment a confirmation of the appointment, he should ties to be apapprise the local authorities of the fact, and request appointment. the recognition of the deputy consul in his official character. Without such recognition it would be 1 Opinions of the Attorneys General, vol. vii. p. 262. Official papers manifestly improper for a deputy consul to communicate officially with the authorities of the place. 283. In all cases it is desirable that official papers to be signed by requiring consular authentication should be signed by the consul. Responsibility cers for the the consul himself. 281. Every consular officer is held by the Departof consular offi- ment responsible for the official acts of his agents, acts of their whatever may be their designation; and he is expected to exercise over them such control as to prevent them from committing any acts of inpropriety, dishonorable to the American name and character. agents. Appointment of vice commer cial agent. 285. A vice consul general, vice consul, or vice vice consul or commercial agent is an officer who is substituted temporarily to fill the places respectively of a consul general, consul, or commercial agent, in the absence of either of these officers. He is appointed in the same manner and subject to the same restrictions as a deputy consul. But in case of any sudden emergency requiring the services of a deputy consul or vice consul, where the interests of the United States or its citizens would suffer from delay, such deputy or vice consul may temporarily discharge consular duties prior to the confirmation of the appointment by the Department of State. Whenever such an emergency occurs it should be communicated without delay to the Secretary of State, and the sanction of the appointment obtained from the Department. Compensation of a subordinate consular officer. 286. The salary of a vice consul general, deputy consul, vice consul or vice commercial agent, is provided by the principal consular officer under whom the appointment is held from his own compensation, subject to the sanction of the President communicated through the Department of State. 287. No draft should be drawn by a subordinate consular officer unless the Department, on which it is drawn, has been previously apprised by the principal consular officer that such authority has been given; otherwise the draft may be protested. be protested. Immediately after receiving his appointment every vice consul should transmit his official bond as required by the sixth section of the act of April fourteen, seventeen hundred and ninety-two.1 1 Statutes at Large, vol. i. p. 256. Deties of com CHAPTER XIII. COMMERCIAL AGENTS.1 288. THE official duties of United States commermercial agents. cial agents resemble, in most respects, those of United States consuls. Similar instructions are given to both, subject to such modifications as are rendered necessary by the local laws or the customs of the places where these officers respectively reside. Mode of appointment. Recognition by 289. Commercial agents are not, like consuls, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; nor do they receive a commission bearing the seal of the United States. They are simply executive agents sent abroad for the promotion and advancement of commercial interests, selected by the Department of State, corresponding with, and instructed and controlled by it; and they receive a certificate of appointment bearing the seal of the Department. Their appointment remains unchangeably one of the organic powers of the Executive, derived from the Constitution and not from an act of Congress. Like other executive officers connected with the Department, they are amenable to it, and subject to regulations issued from it.2 290. Their recognition by the authorities of the local authori- place where they place where they reside, although important, in affording facilities to the proper performance of their ties not abso lutely neces sary. 1 See Halleck's International Law, chap. x. pp. 239–269, “Of Consuls and Commercial Agents." 2 Opinions of the Attorneys General, vol. vii. p. 249. duties, is not always necessary. In some instances, though very rarely, these agencies are conferred upon persons who are directed to keep secret the trust confided to them. Appointments of this character do not necessarily require a recognition on the part of the government of the country, or of the authorities of the place where a commercial agent resides, though such recognition is always desirable. Commercial agents are sometimes appointed, rather than consuls, for the sole purpose of avoiding the necessity of recognizing an authority de facto, by requesting an exequatur, as application is rarely made by the government for exequaturs for commercial agents, except for such as reside in the dependencies of Great Britain. exequatur. 291. Should an official recognition by the supreme Mode of appliauthority of the country in which a commercial agent cation for an resides, or of which his district is a dependency, be thought necessary for the interests of the United States, the commercial agent will request the Depart- A commercial ment of State to apply for an exequatur. In no case agent prohibitwill a commercial agent make such application him- ing for an exeself to the foreign government. ed from apply quatur. commercial 292. Commercial agents, like other consular offi- Restrictions cers, are restricted from performing any official acts imposed on which are forbidden or not tolerated by the govern- agents. ment of the place at which they are appointed, and which have reference solely to such government and the citizens or subjects owing it allegiance.1 1 Manuscript Instructions, September 6, 1854. |