law, or long established usage, consuls in civilized countries at the present day have no diplomatic character and enjoy no exemptions or immunities except such as are necessarily incident to the consular office.

Consuls are under the special protection of the law of nations, however, and when an exequatur is granted without express restrictions it is deemed to confer all rights and privileges necessary to the performance of the duties of the consular office.

Among the general privileges and rights appertaining to the office of consul are the following: The right to place the arms of his government over his doors; inviolability and exemption from seizure or examination of archives and of official property; exemption from service on juries and in the militia.

Under the rules of international law, consular officers are subject to the payment of taxes or duties on their property in the country of their residence. They are subject, generally, to the civil and criminal jurisdiction; but it is asserted by some authorities that as consular functions require that the consul should be independent of the ordinary criminal justice of the place where he resides, he should not be molested or imprisoned unless he violates the law of nations by some enormous misdemeanor.

In non-Christian countries consuls still enjoy to a large extent rights of extraterritoriality and the immunities of diplomatic officers, such as exemption from the civil and criminal jurisdiction, and from taxation of personal property, etc.

To determine his treaty rights and privileges the consul should consult the particular treaty involved.

Qualifications and Duties

The duties which consuls are called upon to perform are so numerous, of so varied a character and so important, that they demand a high order of intelligence and ability and a wide range of knowledge. Mr. Gladstone, who was well qualified to speak on the subject, said: "There is no branch of the civil service that calls for such a mass of practical knowledge and general information." Another writer has said: "Consuls stand in so many relations to our government and people that it is doubtful if any other position in our modern civilization calls into service a greater versatility—a wider experience of intellectual capacity."

To be successful, a consul should be a man who has had some practical experience in business. He should have the commercial instinct, a good mind for details and an eagerness for information pertaining to his calling.

The duties of consular officers are elaborately set forth in a formidable volume of nearly 900 pages entitled "United States Consular Regulations," promuigated by the President. Their more important functions are described below.

Certification of Invoices

One of the duties of consuls of most frequent re

currence is that of certifying to the correctness of declarations required by law to accompany invoices of merchandise exported to the United States.

Our laws require that no imported goods exceeding $100 in value shall be admitted to entry without the production of a duly certified invoice, containing a description of the merchandise and stating its actual market value in the country of production or exportation. This invoice must be signed by the purchaser, owner or manufacturer, who is required to endorse thereon a declaration as to the truth of the statements contained therein.

The United States was the first government of importance to utilize its consular service in the enforcement of its tariff laws. The Act of April 20, 1818, required the owners of goods exported to the United States subject to ad valorem duty to make oath before consular officers to the correctness of the invoices thereof. By the Act of July 14, 1862, this function was extended so as to cover invoices of all imported goods whether subject to ad valorem or specific duty. While the present law does not require the declaration of the shipper to be under oath the duties of consuls in the premises are of no less importance than formerly. The consul is not only required to receive the declaration of the shipper, but it is his duty to acquire a special knowledge of the trade in his district and of the actual value of the goods shipped, so that he can judge of the truth of the statements made in the declaration and detect any attempt at undervaluation.

The enforcement of our tariff depends to a large extent upon the fidelity and energy of our consular officers. In the performance of this duty, an intelligent, conscientious, and vigilant officer may save the government many thousands of dollars in duties. The Consul General at St. Gall, Switzerland, James T. Dubois, in 1898, discovered a system of undervaluation of laces and embroideries shipped from his district to the United States by which our revenue was being defrauded of an enormous amount every year. He made a careful study of the cost of manufacture of these goods and by cooperation with the Treasury Department at Washington, effected a reform whereby in a single year the saving to our revenue amounted to over $1,000,000,— nearly enough to pay the total annual expense of the consular service.

Invoice forms, showing the endorsement of the declaration of the shipper and the certification of the consul are included in the appendix at pp. 275-277.

Landing Certificates

Consuls are frequently called upon to verify landing certificates. Where merchandise is exported from the United States to a foreign country under bond, on which duty or allowance is payable, the bond may be discharged upon production within a specified period of a landing certificate, which is a declaration by the consignee (which is confirmed by oath of the master and mate of the vessel on which the goods are shipped)

that the merchandise has been landed at the foreign port.

Where the affidavits of the master and mate are not obtainable, the declaration by the consignee may be confirmed by a certificate from the custom house at the foreign port, showing landing and entry. In either case, the certificate of the consular officer there, declaring that the facts set forth in the consignee's certificate are, to the best of his knowledge, true and correct, is required.

(For Form of Landing Certificate, see appendix p. 280.)

Returned American Merchandise

Another service which consuls are often required to perform is the granting of certificates of goods produced or manufactured in the United States, and returned after having been exported without having been advanced in value or improved in condition, such as barrels, boxes, bags, etc., of American manufacture exported filled with American products or exported empty, and returned as barrels and boxes, etc. These are entitled to entry in the United States free of duty upon the production of a declaration, made before the consul, of the fact that the merchandise was imported from the United States and that it has not been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process of manufacture or other means.

Automobiles taken by their owners from the United States to a foreign country and there used in traveling,