those who desire information about events of which

there are no published authorities.

5. All transcripts are made by the employees in the bureau in which the originals are preserved.

If the Secretary of State would study the rules which now govern the archives of France, Prussia, and even Russia, he would probably see that he could be still more liberal, and could greatly facilitate historical research by relaxing some of these restrictions.

It must be admitted, however, that in times past our archives have been very carelessly treated, and many papers are torn and mutilated. They should all be carefully indexed and bound, and many of them copied, so that the original papers need not be handled except on special occasions.

An "Historical Register of the Department of State," published a few years ago, gave valuable information about the history of our diplomatic service. It would be well to complete and republish it, or better still to print the thorough and careful record prepared by Mr. John H. Haswell, the Chief of the Bureau of Indexes and Archives, which gives the official history of every one ever connected with the foreign relations of the United States.

II.

OUR CONSULAR SYSTEM.

Origin of Consuls.-History of our System.-Law of 1856.Consular Duties Invoices.-Accounts.-Reports.-Consular Jurisdiction, Civil and Criminal.-Need of Reorganizing Consular Courts.—Examples of Hard-working Consulates.-Consular Privileges.-Qualifications for Consuls. -Examinations.-Consuls should not be Merchants or Foreigners.-Grades of Consular Officers.—Salaries.Fees. Allowances.-British and French Systems.-Need of Reform.

So far we have considered only the central office, the home management of our foreign relations.

We now find resident at various capitals and ports. abroad agents of the Government, under the control of the State Department, belonging to two classes, those in the consular and those in the diplomatic service.

Consuls differ from diplomatic agents (by whatever name they may be known) that the latter are the representatives of one State or Government to another, while consuls are the representatives of the individuals of the nation sending them, empowered to protect individual interests, and to procure for

their fellow-citizens, so far as possible, the same protection to their rights that they enjoy at home. They represent commercial interests only, and while they can address themselves directly to the local authorities, when the rights of their fellow-citizens are infringed, if redress be not given they cannot apply to the supreme government except in cases specially provided for by treaty. They must refer the matter to their legation or their own government. In other words, they have no diplomatic or representative rights, powers, or privileges.

It is unnecessary to enter into any detail about the origin or history of consular establishments. That forms a part of the history of international law. It is sufficient to say that they began, in somewhat near the present form, after the Crusades and the decay of the Eastern Empire, when the Venetians and other Italian peoples began to establish themselves in the East for the purposes of trade. An officer was appointed, generally from among the number of merchants, to decide the disputes between the members of these little foreign colonies on an infidel shore.

From the East this institution came back to the commercial towns of Southern Europe, where the merchants took up the habit of electing one of their number to decide their commercial disputes, according to custom and usage, without the formalities of a regular court of law. These judges or arbitrators

received the name of Juges-Consuls, Judge-Consuls or Consul-Judges, and their tribunals were the origin of the present commercial or consular courts in France, Italy, and Spain. The name was natural enough, for in those towns that had formerly been Roman colonies, such as Cologne, Lyons, and Marseilles, the title of the great officers of the Roman Republic had descended to the municipal magistrates, such as, indeed, the Roman consuls really were, and in some cases was kept up to the French Revolution and Code Napoleon.* Consul-Judge was therefore a natural term, and the transition to Foreign Consul was easy.

The right of appointing foreign consuls soon passed from the merchant communities to their governments; the Hanse Towns and England saw the advantage of these officers, and before long it became a regular practice for one government to appoint consuls to act in the dominions of another. The first English consul that we know of was Leonardo Strozzi, an Italian by birth, appointed to Pisa in 1175.

The powers of consuls were by degrees enlarged, restricted, and defined. Gradually the legal jurisdiction over disputes was withdrawn in nearly all except non-Christian countries, although for questions

Other civic appellations were also in Roman style, and the inscription S. P. Q. L. appears on many of the public buildings in Lyons.

of wills and intestate property this jurisdiction has been still in some measure kept. With regard to maritime matters the case is different, and here, for the purpose of avoiding protracted disputes in the courts of the country, the consuls are still allowed large jurisdiction. This is nowadays in most cases regulated by special treaties.

Our own country, by means of consular treaties and conventions, has had the greatest influence in settling and determining the rights, powers, and immunities of consuls, and as nearly all existing treaties, whether made by the United States or by foreign powers, are subsequent to the first publication of Wheaton's "Elements of International Law," the present status of consuls is very different from that laid down by Wheaton. Perhaps the best exposition of the subject will be found in the "Commentary on Wheaton" by the late William Beach Lawrence.*

Nevertheless our Government has always maintained that consuls had rights and powers coming to them from the common law of nations, though subject to abridgment by Congress and to enlargement by treaties. Consuls were recognized as existing of

Commentaire sur les Éléments du droit international et sur l'histoire des progrès du droit, des gens de Henry Wheaton, par William Beach Lawrence. 4 vols. Leipzig, 1868-1880. This excellent work was based on the author's notes to his edition of Wheaton, greatly expanded. Unfortunately it extends only to the end of Part II., Chap. ii.