48. Consular jurisdiction depends on the general law of nations, existing treaties between the two Governments affected by it, and upon the obligatory force and activity of the rule of reciprocity. Opinion of Sept. 8, 1830, 2 Op. 379.

49. French consular jurisdiction in an American port depends on the correct interpretation of the treaties existing between his most Christian Majesty and the United States, and which limit it to the exercise of police over French vessels, and jurisdiction in civil matters in all disputes which may there arise, and provide that such police shall be confined to the interior of the vessels, and shall not interfere with the police of our ports where the vessels shall be. They also provide that in cases of crimes and breaches of the peace the offenders shall be amenable to the judges of the country. Ibid.

50. The claim of the French envoy, therefore, for the exercise of judicial power by the consul of his Government in the port of Savannah, is not warranted by any existing treaties, nor by a rule of reciprocity which the Executive has power to permit to be exercised. Ibid.

51. The Executive will pay to the widow of a consul, having a salary, who has died in office abroad, upon her return, the amount which it has been customary to pay to consuls themselves upon their recall, viz, his salary for three months. Opinion of May 31, 1832, 2 Op. 521.

52. The funeral expenses of the deceased consul, and the incidental and contingent expenses of the consulate after his death, are a fair item of charge on the fund for the contingent expenses of foreign intercourse. Ibid.

53. And where the son of the deceased consul remains at the port and discharges duties of consul, which are recognized by the Government, he may receive the compensation fixed by law for such services.

Ibid.

54. Foreign consuls in the United States are entitled to no immunities beyond those en

joyed by foreigners coming to this country in a private capacity, except that of being sued and prosecuted exclusively in the Federal courts. Opinion of Sept. 16, 1835, 2 Op. 725.

55. If any foreign consul shall be guilty of any illegal or improper conduct, he will be liable to the revocation of his exequatur, and to be punished according to our laws, or he may be sent back to his own country, at the discretion of our Government. Ibid.

56. Consuls have no authority to order the sale of a ship in a foreign port, either on complaint of the crew or otherwise. Opinion of July 24, 1854, 6 Op. 617.

57. If, on such sale, a consul retains money for the payment of seamen's wages, he acts at his own peril, and is responsible to the owners. Ibid.

58. The United States are not responsible in damages for moneys illegally received by consuls, or for any other act of malfeasance of theirs in office. Ibid.

59. Consuls of the United States have no lawful authority as such to solemnize marriages in countries comprehended within the pale of the international public law of Christendom. Opinion of Nov. 4, 1854, 7 Op. 18.

60. Secus, in countries not Christian, where by convention or in fact the rights of exterritoriality are possessed by citizens of the United States. Ibid.

61. Consuls are officers created by the Constitution and the laws of nations, not by acts of Congress. Opinion of June 2, 1855, 7 Op. 243.

62. All the provisions of the act of March 1, 1855, chap. 133, regarding the duties of consular officers take effect on the 1st of July, 1855. Ibid.

63. The penalty of removal from office, which the act affixes to the non-performance of some duties by consuls, is inoperative, because removal from office cannot be enacted as a statute penalty, it being a matter for the Constitutional discretion of the President. Ibid.

64. Consuls not duly accounting for fees collected for consular service are subject to indictment for the statute crime of embezzlement, in the terms of the act of August 6, 1846, chap. 90. Ibid.

65. In taking charge of the estates of citizens of the United States dying abroad, the power of consuls is limited to collecting the assets abroad, discharging them of local liabili

to the Treasury, subject to the orders, both before and afterwards, of the lawful executor or administrator. Ibid.

66. Consuls-general are the proper persons to hold consular posts in the capitals of the great transmarine dependencies of European powers, and to constitute the medium of communication with the local governor or captaingeneral, and are appointable at the discretion of the President with the consent of the Senate. Ibid.

67. A consul may be authorized to communicate directly with the Government near which he resides; but he does not thereby acquire the diplomatic privileges of a minister. Opinion of July 14, 1855, 7 Op. 342.

68. Nor does he, as consul, acquire such privileges by being appointed, as he may, at the same time chargé d'affaires. Ibid.

69. To the question whether a consul can solemnize marriage or not, as consul, it is wholly immaterial whether he be or not a subject of the foreign Government. Ibid.

the United States in China enjoy complete rights of exterritoriality, and are amenable to no authority but that of the United States. Opinion of Sept. 19, 1855, 7 Op. 496.

75. The act of Congress empowers the commissioners and consuls of the United States in China to exercise judicial authority over their fellow-citizens. Ibid.

76. The several consuls, each in his consular circumscription, have, by express provision of statute, original jurisdiction in all civil cases of contract, or the like sounding in damages, which arise between two or more citizens of the United States, and in all crimes committed by an American. Ibid.

77. In such civil matters of contract, or the like sounding in damages, the consul sits with or without assessors, according to circumstances; and in case of difference of opinion between him and his assessors, an appeal lies to the commissioner. Ibid.

78. In all criminal matters, except certain petty misdemeanors, the consul sits with assessors, and decides subject to appeal as in civil cases to the commissioner. Save that in capi

71. Consuls, as international commercial agents, originated in the colonial municipalities of the Latin Christians in the Levant, which municipalities were self-governing through their "consuls," the ancient title of municipal magistrates in Italy. Ibid.

72. Rights of private exterritoriality having ceased to exist in Christendom, foreign consuls have ceased, mostly, to be municipal magistrates of their countrymen there; but they still continue not only international agents, but also administrative and judicial functionaries of their countrymen in countries outside of Christendom. Ibid.

73. Foreign consuls have no right, on the trial of a person whose acts affect them as accomplices, to interpose by letter; but may appear as witnesses or by counsel in aid of the defense of the party indicted. Opinion of Sept. 17, 1855, 8 Op. 469.

74. In virtue of the treaty of 1844 between

is invalid unless approved by the commissioner. Ibid.

79. In controversies between citizens of the United States and subjects of China, the case is to be tried by the court of the defendant's nation; and so in controversies between citizens of the United States and those of any friendly foreign government. Ibid.

80. The consular court has no authority by the treaty or the statute to entertain jurisdiction of a suit by the Chinese Government for duties. Ibid.

81. In all criminal matters, and in all civil matters of contract, or the like sounding in damages, the commissioner has only appellate jurisdiction. Ibid.

82. As to all other matters, such as probate of wills, divorce, intestacy, copartnership, chancery, admiralty, proceedings de re or in rem, personal or prerogative writs, division of lands, and the like, the statute makes no specific provision, leaving them to regulations of the commissioner and consuls.

Ibid.

83. Vice-consuls are competent to act, when duly appointed or approved as such by the Secretary of State. Ibid.

84. The face of a banker's circular letter of credit, found in the possession of an American dying abroad, is not assets to that amount to be administered by the consul. Opinion of Oct. 10, 1855, 7 Op. 542.

85. Citizens of the United States, who hold foreign consulates in the United States, are not exempt from jury duty or service in the militia by the law of nations, or by the Constitution and laws of the United States, nor unless exempted by the statutes of the State of the Union in which they may respectively reside. Opinion of Nov. 3, 1856, 8 Op. 169.

86. Consuls of the United States in foreign countries are required to see to persons charged with the commission of crimes at sea or in port under circumstances giving jurisdiction to the courts of the United States, and have authority to send such persons home for trial, and in that view to inquire into the facts of the alleged crime. Opinion of Feb. 11, 1857, 8 Op. 380..

87. But the authority of the consul in such case is ministerial, not judicial, in its nature. Ibid.

88. Under the act of August 11, 1848, chap. 150, the United States consuls in Turkey have judicial powers only in criminal cases. Opinion of March 16, 1859, 9 Op. 296.

93. No more than fifty cents can be charged for certifying invoices, and for certifying the place of growth or production of goods made duty free by the reciprocity treaty with Great Britain, although such certificate may be accompanied by an attestation of the official character of a magistrate and of the value of the goods. Opinion of July 16, 1860, 9 Op. 441. 94. Consuls, as well as consular officers and agents, are subject to this restriction. Ibid. 95. It applies to all the British North American Provinces included in the reciprocity treaty. Ibid.

96. A United States consul whose salary exceeds $2,500 is entitled to be paid his fees as commissioner for taking depositions in an admiralty proceeding in a United States district court. Opinion of Oct. 16, 1860, 9 Op. 496.

97. The penal provisions of the seventeenth section of the act of August 18, 1856, chap. 127, only apply to the taking of greater fees than are allowed by the act itself, and do not therefore extend to the taking of greater fees than are allowed by the third section of the act of March 3, 1859, chap. 75. Opinion of Nov. 22, 1860, 9 Op. 500.

98. No law or regulation requires an American consul to certify to the official character and acts of a foreign notary public. Opinion of Aug. 1, 1866, 12 Op. 1.

99. Consuls of the United States are authorby the twenty-fourth section of the act of August 18, 1856, chap. 127, to perform any notarial acts; but a certificate as to the official' character of a foreign notary is not a notarial act. Ibid.

100. The third section of the act of July 25, 1866, chap. 233, is limited to unsalaried consuls and commercial agents. Opinion of Nov. 22, 1866, 12 Op. 97.

101. Consular agents are entitled to the compensation allowed them under the fifteenth section of the act of August 18, 1856, chap. 127. Ibid.

102. The fees of consular agents receivable under the act of 1856 are not returnable in the accounts of the consuls to whom they are subordinate under the act of 1866. Ibid.

103. The fees collected by consular agents which are payable under the act of 1856 to their principals are returnable in the accounts of such principals. Ibid.

104. The act of February 28, 1867, chap. 99,

forbidding the payment of compensation to any consul or commercial agent of the United States who is not a citizen of the United States, does not apply to deputy consuls, consular agents, vice-consuls, and vice-commercial agents. Opinion of March 6, 1867, 12 Op. 124.

105. Consuls may retain $1,000 out of the aggregate moneys received from consular agencies or vice-consulates. Opinion of Nov. 21, 1868, 12 Op. 527.

106. The action of a consul, in the exercise of the discretion given him by sections 4580, 4581, 4583, and 4584, respecting the discharge of seamen in a foreign port, is not reviewable otherwise than by some competent court. Opinion of Feb. 20, 1879, 16 Op. 268.

107. Where a consul has collected extra wages of the master of a vessel in a foreign port, or requested collection of such extra wages on the arrival of the vessel in the United States, it is not competent to the Secretary of the Treasury or any bureau of the Treasury Department, in the examination of the accounts of the consul, to do anything more than revise the amount of the collection and determine its arithmetical accuracy. Ibid.

DIRECT-TAX LAW.

1. Under the acts of July 22, 1813, chap. 16, and January 9, 1815, chap. 21, minors have the right to redeem their lands sold for direct taxes at any time within two years from the removal of the disability by payment of the purchase money with 10 per cent. thereon, and compensation for improvements, whether deeds have been given to the purchasers or not; for no deed is valid unless given in pursuance of law, and the law does not authorize the giving of a deed until the time of redemption shall have expired. Opinion of July 3, 1820, 1 Op. 378.

2. Where lands liable for a direct tax are not divisible the whole must be sold. Opinion of Aug. 10, 1820, 1 Op. 401.

3. Lands sold therefor may be redeemed by the former owners within two years upon payment of the amount paid by the purchaser with 20 per cent. interest. Ibid.

4. Property cannot lawfully be sold for direct taxes while in the custody of the mar

shal under proceedings for confiscation. Opinion of Aug. 14, 1865, 11 Op. 318.

5. The direct-tax commissioners are not required to give the Freedmen's Bureau possession of any lands purchased for the United States at direct-tax sales which are subject to redemption under the law, and the Commissioner of the Bureau has no authority to set apart those lands, or any of them, for the uses mentioned in the statute of March 3, 1865, chap. 90. Opinion of Sept. 6, 1865, 11 Op. 344. 6. A certificate of sale issued to the United States upon a purchase by them of property under the direct-tax act of June 7, 1862, chap. 98, should be signed by the commissioners who constituted the board at the time of the issuing of the certificate. Opinion of Sept. 3, 1866, 12 Op. 30.

7. Such certificate should bear date as of the day it is actually signed. Ibid.

8. The patent authorized to be issued by the second section of the act of March 3, 1865, chap. 87, for lands sold for direct taxes, is to be issued by the General Land Office, and not by the Treasury Department. Opinion of Sept. 13, 1866, 12 Op. 45.

9. The Secretary of the Treasury has no power, on the application of the trustees of the Florida Railroad Company, to issue repayment drafts to the purchasers of lands of the company, sold for direct taxes, upon a claim that the lands have been duly redeemed. Opinion of Oct. 26, 1868, 12 Op. 517.

10. It is competent to the officer of internal revenue, designated by the Secretary of the Treasury under the third section of the joint resolution of March 26, 1867, to perform the duties of tax-commissioner in South Carolina, to enter upon and sell lands that may have been previously sold partly for cash and partly on credit by the tax-commissioners in that State pursuant to the provisions of section 11 of the act of June 7, 1862, chap. 98, in cases where default in the deferred payments has been made by the purchasers of such lands. Opinion of Jan. 5, 1872, 13 Op. 559.

11. That officer can receive, at any time before the entry and sale, the amount due on the deferred payments, including interest, and such payment will perfect the title of the purchaser so far as the Government is concerned. Ibid.

12. The assignee of a certificate of sale

issued by the tax-commissioners to a purchaser stands in the same situation as the latter, and upon payment by him of the amount in arrears, at any time prior to entry and sale by the aforesaid officer, becomes entitled to the property. Ibid.

13. The purchase of lands sold by the taxcommissioners for taxes, under the direct-tax law, is not within the prohibition of the eighth section of the act of September 2, 1789, chap. 12, which forbids the purchase by certain officers of "public lands or other public property." Opinion of Dec. 19, 1873, 14 Op. 352.

14. The proviso in section 6 of the act of March 3, 1865, chap. 87, requiring bills for expenses incident to proceedings of the directtax commissioners to be submitted to and approved by the Secretary of the Treasury before payment, does not withhold from the action of the Secretary cases in which his approval is asked after such bills have been paid by the commissioners. Opinion of May 27, 1876, 15 Op. 106.

15. The authority exercised by the Secretary under section 14 of the same act, in fixing the rates of compensation to be allowed the clerks, &c., there mentioned, is distinct from that exercisable under section 6, and does not amount to an approval of payments to such persons within the meaning of the latter section. Ibid.

ment, it is for their own indemnity, for if it be lost by force, theft, hazard of the elements, or any other cause, they are responsible. The transportation is never at the will of the Government, but always at that of the officer. Ibid.

4. Antecedent authority to insure cannot charge the Department for a loss. Ibid.

5. Under section 3620 Rev. Stat., as amended by act of February 27, 1877, chap. 69, the Treasurers and Assistant Treasurers of the United States may be authorized to pay the checks of disbursing officers, where the same are drawn in favor of the persons to whom payment is made, but are payable to order or bearer. Whether such checks shall be made payable only to the persons entitled to payment, or to bearer, or to order, is a matter to be regulated entirely by the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. Opinion of June 4, 1877, 15 Op: 288.

6. It is competent to the Secretary of the Treasury, under section 3620 Rev. Stat., as amended by the act of February 27, 1877, chap. 69, to permit disbursing officers to draw, and the assistant treasurers and public depositaries to pay, checks made payable to themselves or bearer or order, for such sums as may be necessary to make payments of small amounts, to make payments at a distance from a depositary, or to make payments of fixed salaries due at a certain period (as authorized by Treasury regulations of August 24, 1876), provided such

MONEYS.

See also CHECKS.

1. The superintendent for construction and repair of the Cumberland road may be allowed to disburse funds committed to his care by turning over the same to officers employed under him; yet he must be held personally accountable at the Treasury for the correct disbursement thereof. Opinion of July 15, 1836, 3 Op. 140.

2. Disbursing officers of the Government, in accepting their offices, assume the risk and trouble of exchanges and transportation of funds, and cannot charge for insurance, but only for the actual expenses of transportation. Opinion of May 23, 1849, 5 Op. 104.

3. If they insure the amount received upon a draft to cover their liability to the Govern

persons to whom the sums are to be paid, or the claim upon which they are to be paid, or are accompanied by a list or schedule, made a part of the check, containing the same information. Opinion of June 8, 1877, 15 Op. 303. 7. Under section 5 of the act of June 20, 1874, chap. 328, it is the duty of disbursing officers, with whom funds have been placed for disbursement, when the time arrives at which unexpended balances of the appropriations from which such funds were drawn lapse, to repay the funds remaining in their hands, in order that they may be carried to the surplus fund and covered into the Treasury. Opinion of Aug. 10, 1877, 15 Op. 358.

8. Where previous to that time, these officers have issued certificates by which claims upon such appropriations have been definitely ascertained, and payment thereof has not actu