Consular Agents, Qualifications Consular Agents, Consul-General, Vice-Consul, or Vice-Commercial Agent, as the case may be. It is preferable, accordingly, to avoid a multiplication of officers as well as the difficulty of obtaining the recognition of two subordinate officers at one port, which has sometimes occurred, that the offices of Vice and Deputy should be united in one person wherever it is practicable to do so. CONSULAR AGENTS. 17.. Consular Agents are defined to be Consular Officers, also subordinate to their principals, exercising their powers and performing the duties within the limits of the several Consulates, but at ports or places different from those at which the principals are located. Their functions are not, in all respects, as extensive as those of the principal officer. While they act at places different from those of the latter, and while their duties are in substance the same toward persons desiring Consular services, they act only as the representative of the principal, and are subject and subordinate to him. They are not authorized to correspond with the Department of State, unless through the principal or under exceptional circumstances; they make no returns or reports directly to the Department, and they are not permitted to render accounts or make any drafts for expenditures on the Departments of the Government unless under express instructions. 18.. In all cases where it is practicable, Consular Agents should be citizens of the United States, and none other should be recommended for appointment unless citizens of proper character and standing cannot be found. No Consular Agent has authority to appoint a sub-agent. In case of emergency, or in the absence of the Consular Agent on leave, the principal Consular Officer may designate, with the approval of the Department of State, a suitable person to perform the duties. 19.. Consular Agents are subject, like other Consular Officers, to the provisions of law and the instructions of the Department. As soon as a Consular Agent has entered upon his duties, a specimen of his signature and an impression of his official seal should be sent to the Department. CONSULAR CLERKS. Consular Clerks. R. S., secs. 1704, 20..These Clerks, to the number of thirteen in all, are appointed by the President after examination, and can be 1705. removed only for cause stated in writing and submitted to Congress at the session first following such removal. Applicants must be over eighteen years of age, and citizens of the United States at the time of their appointment, and must pass examination before an examining board, who shall report to the Secretary of State that the applicant is qualified and fit for the duties of the office. They may be assigned to different Consulates at the pleasure of the Secretary of State; and, when so assigned, they are subordinate to the principal Consular Officer, or the Vice or Deputy at the post, as the case may be. 21..Applicants for the office of Consular Clerk must be citizens of the United States and not less than eighteen years of age. If the candidate is in a foreign country, he may be examined by a series of written questions by the Minister of the United States in that country, and two other competent persons to be named by him. The result of the examination, with the answers of the candidate in his own handwriting, will then be transmitted to the Secretary of State. Consular Clerks are required to discharge such clerical and other duties of the Consulate as may be assigned to them by the principal Officer, whose instructions in all respects they are carefully to observe and obey. Punctual daily attendance at the Consulate during office hours, diligence in the discharge of the Consular duties, a cheerful obedience to the directions of their superiors, a courteous bearing toward all persons having business with the Consulate, and uprightness of conduct in all respects will be expected from them. Disobedience, want of punctuality, neglect of duty, the abuse of their credit in pecuniary transactions, or exceptionable moral conduct will be followed by the revocation of their commissions. Manner of appointment. INTERPRETERS. 18 Stats., 70. 22.. Interpreters in the Consular Service are stationed only Interpreters. at Consulates in non-Christian and semi-civilized countries. Marshals. R. S., sec. 4111. Provision has been made for the appointment by the President of salaried interpreters at the Consulates-General at Shanghai and Kanagawa, and at the Consulates at Foochow, Tien-Tsin, Hankow, Amoy, Canton, and Hong-Kong, and for other Consulates in China, and in Japan, Siam, and Turkey. They are appointed directly by the President, and those at the more important posts receive a commission. For obvious reasons, the selection of persons for these appointments is usually made from residents of the particular country, whose acquaintance with the language and customs may have qualified them for the office. The nomination is most generally intrusted to the Consul, with the approval of the Consul-General, or of Minister if there be no ConsulGeneral, and preference is given in all cases to American citizens, if they can be found, who are willing and competent to accept the office. When nominations are made they should be accompanied by information, as full as possible, as to the nationality, character, antecedents, and qualifications of the persons nominated. MARSHALS OF CONSULAR COURTS. 23.. The President is authorized by law to appoint marshals to Consular Courts, not to exceed seven in number. Of these, four are provided for Consulates in China and one each to a Consulate in Japan, Siam, and Turkey. The appointments are made directly by the President, and a commission is issued from the Department of State. It has, however, not unfrequently been deemed of advantage to the service to permit the Consul to nominate from his post a suitable person to the Department for appointment in preference to making the appointment of persons in the United States who are unacquainted with the usages and customs of the country. Nominations should bear the approval of the Consul-General, or, if there be no Consul General, then that of the Diplomatic Representative, and should set forth the antecedents, nationality, character, and qualifications of the persons nominated. As in the case of Interpreters a preference is given to American citizens for employment in these offices, if such can be found worthy and competent to discharge the duties. An appropriation is also made under which the employment of constables is authorized at Consulates in China, Japan, Siam, and Turkey in connection with the Consular Courts. No formal certificate or commission is granted in these cases; but it is required that their names shall be submitted to the Department of State for approval. OFFICE CLERKS. 24.. The Department is authorized by law to allow for the hire of clerks, when actually expended therefor, as follows: To the Consul at Liverpool, sum a not exceeding the rate of two thousand five hundred dollars for any one year; and to the Consuls-General at London, Paris, Havana, Shanghai, and Rio de Janeiro, each a sum not exceeding the rate of two thousand dollars for any one year; to the Consuls-General at Berlin, Frankfort, Vienna, and Kanagawa, and for the Consuls at Hamburg, Bremen, Manchester, Lyons, HongKong, Havre, and Chemnitz, each a sum not exceeding the rate of one thousand five hundred dollars for any one year; to the Consul-General at Montreal, and the Consuls at Bradford and Birmingham, each a sum not exceeding the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars for any one year; to the Consuls-General at Calcutta and Melbourne, and to the Consuls at Leipsic, Sheffield, Sonneberg, Dresden, Marseilles, Nuremberg, Tunstall, Antwerp, Bordeaux, Colon (Aspinwall), Glasgow, and Singapore, each a sum not exceeding the rate of one thousand dollars for any one year; to the Consuls at Belfast, Barmen, Leith, Dundee, and Matamoras, each a sum not exceeding the rate of eight hundred dollars for any one year; to the Consul-General at Mexico, and to the Consuls at Beirut, Naples, Stuttgart, Florence, Mannheim, Prague, Zurich, Panama, and Demerara, each a sum not exceeding the rate of six hundred dollars for any one year. The allowance to be made from this appropriation to the several Consulates named being within the discretion of the Department of State, the amount of the allowance will be determined by the requirements of each office. No Clerk will be employed without special instructions authorizing it, and the name and nationality, as well as the proposed Office C.erks. Employment of American citizens. Consular districts. R. S., sec. 1695. amount of compensation of each Clerk, will be reported to the Department. The places above named at which allowances are provided for clerk-hire are taken from the annual appropriation act for the year ending June 30, 1881, and are subject to such changes in this respect as Congress may from time to time deem proper to make. Except at these Consulates no appropriation has been provided by Congress for the payment of clerk-hire. No allowance for that object, therefore, can be authorized to other Consulates. 25.. The liberal amount which is provided for clerk-hire suggests the employment of American citizens in the several Consulates whenever it is practicable to do so. The presence of clerks of foreign nationality has, in some instances, led to much inconvenience and abuse. Apart from the propriety of employing those who owe allegiance to this Government, it is believed that many young men of worth and ability, both at home and abroad, who are anxious of acquiring a knowledge of the Continental languages of Europe—a knowledge which in after years would be valuable to the Government and people—would make equally efficient and more trustworthy assistants. It is therefore recommended by the Department that the preference should be given to them in every case where such persons can be found. In this view the Department reserves the right to fill such clerkships by appointments directly from this country, or from such citizens abroad, whenever it shall be deemed proper. LIMITS OF CONSULAR DISTRICTS. 26..The statute authorizes the President to define the extent of country to be embraced within any Consulate or Commercial Agency. The Consular Commission usually describes these limits as including all places nearer to the official residence of a Consul than to the residence of any other Consul within the same allegiance. This rule has very seldom been departed from, and, except when special instructions are given defining a different district, it is to be regarded as the rule by which the limits of the respective districts are to be determined. In no case, however, is a Consular Officer authorized to take jurisdiction of Consular |