FRANCE.

Convention concluded February 23, 1853 (Consular privileges).

786.. ARTICLE I.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the United States and France, shall be reciprocally received and recognized on the presentation of their commissions, in the form established in their respective countries. The necessary exequatur for the exercise of their functions shall be furnished to them without charge; and on the exhibition of this exequatur, they shall be admitted at once and without difficulty, by the territorial authorities, Federal or State, judicial or executive, of the ports, cities, and places of their residence and district, to the enjoyment of the prerogatives reciprocally granted. The government that furnishes the exequatur reserves the right to withdraw it on a statement of the reasons for which it has thought proper to do so.

787.. ARTICLE II.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents of the United States and France shall enjoy in the two countries the privileges usually accorded to their offices, such a personal immunity, except in the case of crime, exemption from military billetings, from service in the militia or the national guard, and other duties of the same nature; and from all direct and personal taxation, whether Federal, State, or municipal. If, however, the said Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents are citizens of the country in which they reside; if they are, or become, owners of property there, or engage in commerce, they shall be subject to the same taxes and imposts, and, with the reservation of the treatment granted to Commercial Agents, to the same jurisdiction as other citizens of the country who are owners of property or merchants. They may place on the outer door of their offices, or of their dwellinghouses, the arms of their nation, with an inscription in these words: "Consul of the United States," or "Consul of France"; and they shall be allowed to hoist the flag of their country thereon.

They shall never be compelled to appear as witnesses before the courts. When any declaration for judicial purposes, or deposition, is to be received from them in the administration of justice, they shall be invited, in writing, to appear in court, and if unable to do so, their testimony shall be requested in writing, or be taken orally at their dwellings.

Consular Pupils shall enjoy the same personal privileges and immunities as Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents.

In case of death, indisposition, or absence of the latter, the Chancellors, Secretaries, and Consular Pupils attached to their offices shall be entitled to discharge ad interim the duties of their respective posts; and shall enjoy, while thus acting, the prerogatives granted to the incumbents.

788.. ARTICLE III.

The Consular offices and dwellings shall be inviolable. The local authorities shall not invade them under any pretext. In no case shall they examine or seize the papers there deposited. In no case shall those offices or dwellings be used as places of asylum.

789.. ARTICLE IV.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, of both countries, shall have the right to complain to the authorities of their respective governments, whether federal or local, judicial or executive, throughout the extent of their Consular district, of any infraction of the treaties or conventions existing between the United States and France, or for the purpose of protecting informally the rights and interests of their countrymen, especially in cases of absence. Should there be no Diplomatic Agent of their nation, they shall be authorized, in case of need, to have recourse to the general or federal government of the country in which they exercise their functions.

790.. ARTICLE V.

The respective Consuls-General and Consuls shall be free to establish, in such parts of their districts as they may see fit, Vice-Consuls or Consular Agents, who may be taken indiscriminately from among Americans of the United States, Frenchmen, or citizens of other countries. These Agents, whose nomination, it is understood, shall be submitted to the approval of the respective governments, shall be provided with a certificate given to them by the Consul by whom they are named, and under whose orders they are to act.

791.. ARTICLE VI.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, shall have the right of taking at their offices or bureaus, at the domicile of the parties concerned, or on board ship, the declarations of captain, crews, passengers, merchants, or citizens of their country, and of executing there all requisite papers.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have the right also to receive at their offices or bureaus, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country, all acts of agreement executed between the citizens of their own country and the citizens and inhabitants of the country in which they reside, and even all such acts between the latter, provided that these acts relate to property situated, or to business to be transacted, in the territory of the nation to which the Consul or the Agent before whom they are executed may belong.

Copies of such papers, duly authenticated by the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, and sealed with the official

seal of their Consulate, or Consular Agency, shall be admitted in courts of justice throughout the United States and France in like manner as the originals.

792.. ARTICLE VII.

In all the States of the Union whose existing laws permit it, so long and to the same extent as the said laws shall remain in force, Frenchmen shall enjoy the right of possessing personal and real property by the same title and in the same manner as the citizens of the United States. They shall be free to dispose of it as they may please, either gratuitously, or for value received, by donation, testament, or otherwise, just as those citizens themselves; and in no case shall they be subjected to taxes on transfer, inheritance, or any others different from those paid by the latter, or to taxes which shall not be equally imposed.

As to the States of the Union by whose existing laws aliens are not permitted to hold real estate, the President engages to recommend to them the passage of such laws as may be necessary for the purpose of conferring this right.

In like manner, but with the reservation of the ulterior right of estab lishing reciprocity in regard to possession and inheritance, the Government of France accords to the citizens of the United States the same rights within its territory, in respect to real and personal property and to inheritance, as are enjoyed there by its own citizens.

793.. ARTICLE VIII.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall have exclusive charge of the internal order of the merchantvessels of their nation, and shall alone take cognizance of differences which may arise, either at sea or in port, between the captain, officers, and crew, without exception, particularly in reference to the adjustment of wages and the execution of contracts. The local authorities shall not, on any pretext, interfere in these differences, but shall lend forcible aid to the Consuls when they may ask it to 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 the local authority, and supported by an official extract from the register of the ship or the list of the crew, and shall be held, during the whole time of their stay in the port, at the disposal of the Consuls. Their release shall be granted at the mere request of the Consuls made in writing. The expenses of the arrest and detention of those persons shall be paid by the Consuls.

794.. ARTICLE IX.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents may arrest the officers, sailors, and all other persons making part of the crews of ships-of-war or merchant-vessels of their nation who may

be guilty or be accused of having deserted said ships and vessels, for the purpose of sending them on board, or back to their country. To that end, the Consuls of France in the United States shall apply to the magistrates designated in the act of Congress of May 4, 1826-that is to say, indiscriminately to any of the Federal, State, or municipal authorities; and the Consuls of the United States in France shall apply to any of the competent authorities, and make a request in writing for the deserters, supporting it by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel and list of the crew, or by other official documents, to show that the men whom they claim belonged to said crew. Upon such request alone, thus supported and without the exaction of any oath from the Consuls, the deserters, not being citizens of the country where the demand is made, either at the time of their shipping or of their arrival in the port, shall be given up to them. All aid and protection shall be furnished them for the pursuit, seizure, and arrest of the deserters, who shall even be put and kept in the prisons of the country at the request and at the expense of the Consuls until these Agents may find an opportunity of sending them away. If, however, such opportunity should not present itself within the space of three months, counting from the day of the arrest, the deserter shall be set at liberty, and shall not again be arrested for the same cause.

795.. ARTICLE X.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains of vessels of their nation in reference to injuries experienced at sea; they shall examine and take note of the stowage; and when there are no stipulations to the contrary between the owners, freighters, or insurers, they shall be charged with the repairs. If any inhabitants of the country in which the Consuls reside, or citizens of a third nation, are interested in the matter, and the parties cannot agree, the competent local authority shall decide.

796.. ARTICLE XI.

All proceedings relative to the salvage of American vessels wrecked upon the coasts of France, and of French vessels wrecked upon the coasts of the United States, shall be respectively directed by the Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls of the United States in France, and by the Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls of France in the United States, and until their arrival by the respective Consular Agents wherever an agency exists. In the places and ports where an agency does not exist, the local authorities, until the arrival of the Consul in whose district the wreck may have occurred, and who shall be immediately informed of the occurrence, shall take all necessary measures for the protection of persons and the preservation of property.

The local authortities shall not otherwise interfere than for the maintenance of order, the protection of the interests of the salvors if they do not belong to the crews that have been wrecked, and to carry into effect the arrangements made for the entry and exportation of the merchandise saved.

It is understood that such merchandise shall not be subjected to any custom-house duty if it is to be re-exported; and if it be entered for consumption a diminution of such duty shall be allowed in conformity with the regulations of the respective countries.

797.. ARTICLE XII.

The respective Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, as well as their Consular Pupils, Chancellors, and Secretaries, shall enjoy in the two countries all the other privileges, exemptions, and immunities which may at any future time be granted to the agents of the same rank of the most favored nation.

GERMAN EMPIRE.

Consular Convention concluded December 11, 1871 (Consuls and trade-marks).

798.. ARTICLE I.

Each of the contracting parties agrees to receive from the other Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, in all its ports, cities, and places, except those where it may not be convenient to recognize such officers. This reservation, however, shall not apply to one of the contracting parties without also applying to every other power.

799.. ARTICLE II.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents shall be reciprocally received and recognized, on the presentation of their commissions, in the forms established in their respective countries. The necessary exequatur for the exercise of their functions shall be furnished to them free of charge, and, on the exhibition of this instrument, they shall be admitted at once, and without difficulty, by the territorial authorities, Federal, State, or communal, judicial or executive, of the ports, cities, and places of their residence and district, to the enjoyment of the prerogatives reciprocally granted. The government that furnishes the exequatur reserves the right to withdraw the same on a statement of the reasons for which it has thought proper to do so.

800. ARTICLE III.

The respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents, as well as their Chancellors and Secretaries, shall enjoy in the two countries all privileges, exemptions, and immunities which have been granted, or may in future be granted, to the agents of the same rank of the most favored nation. Consular Officers, not being citizens of the