Jurisdiction in the States. Muscat.1 191. The ninth article of the treaty, concluded September 21, 1833, between the United States and the Sultan of Muscat, provides that the President may appoint consuls to reside in the ports of the Sultan, where the principal commerce shall be carried on; which consuls shall be the exclusive judges of all disputes or suits wherein American citizens shall be engaged with each other. They shall have power to receive the property of any American citizen dying within the kingdom, and to send the same to his heirs, first paying all his debts due to the subjects of the Sultan. The said consuls shall not be arrested, nor shall their property be seized, nor shall any of their household be arrested, but their persons and property and their houses shall be inviolate. Should any consul, however, commit any offence against the laws of the kingdom, complaint shall be made to the President, who shall immediately displace him.3 192. It is provided by the important act of June 22, Barbary 1860, to carry into effect provisions of the treaties between the United States, China, Japan, Siam, Persia, and other countries, That the provisions of this act, so far as the same are in conformity with the stipulations in the existing treaties between the United States and Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Muscat, respectively, shall extend to those countries, and 1 Formerly the principal residence of the Imaum was in Zanzibar, in Africa, but since the death of the late ruler, his dominions have been divided between his two sons, the one having his capital at Muscat, and the other at Zanzibar. 2 Statutes at Large, vol. viii. 459. 3 See section 175, supra. 4 Statutes of the United States, vol. xii. p. 78. shall be executed in conformity with the provisions of the said treaties, and of the provisions of this act, by the consuls appointed by the United States to reside therein, who are hereby, ex officio, invested with the powers herein delegated to the ministers and consuls of the United States appointed to reside in the countries named in the first section of this act, so far as the same can be exercised under the provisions of treaties between the United States and the several countries mentioned in this section, and in accordance with the usages of the said countries in their intercourse with the Franks or other foreign Christian nations. Miscellaneous Instructions. encouraged. 193. The increasing commercial intercourse be- Commercial intween the United States and Africa demands atten- tercourse to be tion on the part of the several United States consular officers, and it is especially the duty of these officers, wherever stationed, to cultivate and preserve friendly relations and intercourse between the citizens of their own country and those to which they are respectively accredited. 194. In the great African pashalics, although sub- Official interject to the sovereignty of the Turkish Empire, the course. right is secured by treaty, and it should be strictly maintained, to address, whenever occasion requires it, the highest provincial as well as the local authorities of the place where the consul resides. And to enable the consul the better to discharge his duties, Credentials and he bears with his commission a letter of credence, duties. addressed to the highest authority in the pashalic, requesting him to be received in his official character, and to be duly respected; and also, that full credit Information to may be given to what he shall represent on the part of his government, stating that the consul has been appointed to watch over the interests of the United States, and, by all honorable means, to maintain the harmony existing between the United States and the country to which he is sent. His official duties thus expand of necessity into a large field, because he is called upon to communicate with his own government and with that near which he resides, on matters which would otherwise devolve on a minister. 195. It is expected that consular officers in Africa be transmitted. will make themselves acquainted with the political state of the country in which their consulates are situated, and with the relations of that country with other countries, and communicate whatever they may learn on these subjects to the Department of State. Any commercial, statistical, geographical, or other interesting information, will be very acceptable to the government of the United States, and may greatly promote the interests of American citizens, by opening new avenues for trade and commercial intercourse. Consular officers are requested to make such suggestions, from time to time, as may occur to them for the accomplishment of these objects. Piratical depredations. 196. The depredations which are occasionally committed by barbarians on some parts of the African coast demand unceasing vigilance. Consular officers will impress upon the authorities of the places where they reside, in the event of such depredations, that the United States will hold them responsible for all injuries to the persons and property of American citizens committed or tolerated within their territorial limits in violation of the established laws of civilized nations. 197. Consular officers are reminded that it is the Non-intervenpractice of this government to respect the institu- tion. tions of other countries, and its representatives abroad have on all occasions been instructed to give no countenance to persons who may wilfully violate the existing laws. Adhering strictly to this principle, consular officers will, of course, decline all official interference in cases in which the law of the land is in conflict with the demands of those who may invoke their interposition. Nevertheless, when Claims. claims are made against Mohammedans, under any local custom established among alien residents, although not in accordance with the Mohammedan laws, consular officers may employ their best exertions to bring the contending parties, by mutual agreement between themselves, to a settlement as favorable as possible for any American citizen who may be therein interested; but such claims must never be urged by imprisonment, nor by any other coercive measures, nor must any official proceedings upon them be demanded from the authorities of the place. The special attention of the consular officers of the United States in Africa is directed to the treaty for the suppression of the African slave trade, between the United States and Great Britain, concluded April 7,1862, and to the act of Congress to carry into effect the above-mentioned treaty, approved July 11, 1862; also to the act authorizing the President to appoint diplomatic representatives to the republics of Hayti and Liberia, approved July 2, 1862.1 1 See Statutes at Large, vol. xii. CHAPTER VII. Judicial authority of ministers and consuls. Judicial autho DUTIES OF THE UNITED STATES CONSULS IN PERSIA AND 198. It is provided by the act of June twenty-second, eighteen hundred and sixty, to carry into effect provisions of the treaties between the United States, China, Japan, Siam, Persia, and other countries, giving certain judicial powers to ministers and consuls, or other functionaries of the United States in those countries, and for other purposes, that the minister and the consuls of the United States, duly appointed to reside in each of the said countries, shall, in addition to other powers and duties imposed upon them, respectively, by the provisions of such treaties, be invested with the judicial authority described by the said act, which shall appertain to the said office of minister and consul, and be a part of the duties belonging thereto, wherein the same is allowed by treaty.1 199. It is provided by the twenty-eighth section of rity in Persia. the act that the provisions of the act be, and the same are extended to Persia in respect to all suits and disputes which may arise between citizens of the United States therein; and the minister and consuls who may be appointed to reside in Persia are hereby in 1 Statutes at Large, vol. xii. pp. 72-79. See also chapter iii. of this volume. |