Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

THIRTIETH CONGRESS—FIRST SESSION.
H. R. 17.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
January 3, 1848.
Read, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. John A. Rockwell, on leave, introduced the following bill;
A BILL
To revise the consular system of the United States.

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15 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That after theday of
the President of the United States shall, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, appoint consuls for the
United States to reside at the following places, who shall
receive, during their continuance in office, an annual com-
pensation for their services not exceeding the amount
herein named for each:
BRITISH DOMINIONS.
Liverpool, four thousand dollars;
London, four thousand dollars;
Cowes, (Isle of Wight,) two thousand dollars;
Glasgow, two thousand dollars;
Belfast, two thousand dollars;

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40 Kingston, (Jamaica,) twenty-five hundred dollars;
Nassau, (Bahama islands,) two thousand dollars;
Bermuda, two thousand dollars;
Gibraltar, two thousand dollars;
Sidney, (New South Wales,) two thousand dollars;
Demarara, two thousand dollars;
Hong-Kong, twenty-five hundred dollars;
Bombay, twenty-five hundred dollars;
Calcutta, twenty-five hundred dollars;
Singapore, twenty-five hundred dollars.
RUSSIA.
St. Petersburgh, fifteen hundred dollars;
Odessa, fifteen hundred dollars.
FRENCH DOMINIONS.
Havre, three thousand dollars;
Paris, twenty-five hundred dollars;
Marseilles, two thousand dollars;
Bordeaux, fifteen hundred dollars.
SPANISH DOMINIONS.
Cadiz, fifteen hundred dollars;
Malaga, fifteen hundred dollars;
Havana, four thousand dollars;
Matanzas, fifteen hundred dollars;
Trinidad de Cuba, fifteen hundred dollars;
St. John’s, (Porto Rico,) two thousand dollars;

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64 Teneriffe, (Canary,) fifteen hundred dollars;
Manilla, (Philippine,) fifteen hundred dollars.
PORTUGUESE DOMINIONS.
Lisbon, fifteen hundred dollars;
Fayal, (Azores,) fifteen hundred dollars;
St. Iago, (Cape de Verd,) fifteen hundred dollars;
BELGIUM.
Antwerp, fifteen hundred dollars.
DUTCH DOMINIONS.
Amsterdam, fifteen hundred dollars.
Rotterdam, fifteen hundred dollars;
Batavia, two thousand dollars.
DANISH DOMINIONS.
Elsineur, fifteen hundred dollars;
St. Croix, (West Indies,) fifteen hundred dollars.
SWEDEN AND NORWAY.
Gottenburg, fifteen hundred dollars.
AUSTRIA.
Trieste, fifteen hundred dollars.
HANSEATIC CITIES.
Bremen, two thousand dollars;
Hamburgh, fifteen hundred dollars.
STATES OF THE ZOLL-VERIEN.
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, two thousand dollars.

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89 SWITZERLAND.
Basle, two thousand dollars.
SARDINIA.
Genoa, fifteen hundred dollars.
TUSCANY.
Leghorn, two thousand dollars.
PONTIFICAL STATES.
Rome, fifteen hundred dollars.
KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES.
Naples, fifteen hundred dollars;
Palermo, fifteen hundred dollars.
TURKISH DOMINIONS.
Constantinople, fifteen hundred dollars;
Smyrna, two thousand dollars;
Beyrout, two thousand dollars.
EGYPT.
Alexandria, two thousand dollars.
GREECE.
Athens, two thousand dollars.
BARBARY STATES.
Tangier, two thousand dollars;
Tunis, two thousand dollars;
Tripoli, two thousand dollars.
DOMINIONS OF THE IMAUM OF MUSCAT.
Muscat, two thousand dollars.

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114 CHINA.
Canton, three thousand dollars.
SANDWICH ISLANDS.
Honolula, three thousand dollars.
SOCIETY ISLANDS.
Tahiti, two thousand dollars.
NEW ZEALAND.
Bay of Islands, two thousand dollars.
HAYTI.
Port-au-Prince, two thousand dollars.
MEXICAN REPUBLIC.
Vera Cruz, two thousand dollars;
Monterey, two thousand dollars.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
Guatemala, two thousand dollars.
NEW GRENADA.
Panama, two thousand dollars.
VENEZUELA.
Puerto Cabello, fifteen hundred dollars.
EUCADOR.
Guayaquil, two thousand dollars.
BRAZILS.
Rio de Janeiro, three thousand dollars.
URUGUAY.
Montevideo, two thousand dollars.

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10 BUENOS AYRES.
Buenos Ayres, fifteen hundred dollars.
CHILI.
Valparaiso, two thousand dollars.
PERU.
Paita, two thousand dollars.
No person shall be appointed to either of the con-
sulates aforementioned who is not a citizen of the United
States, and a resident thereof, unless abroad in the em-
ployment of the government at the time he is nominated
by the President; nor shall any consul engage either di-
rectly or indirectly in commercial or mercantile pursuits,
or be connected with ship brokers or ship agencies un-
der the penalty of being recalled, and fined in a sum not
less than two thousand dollars.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the consuls who
shall be appointed to Tangier, Tunis, Tripoli, Athens, Al-
exandria, Leghorn, Rome, Basle, Hamburgh, Bremen,
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, Honolula, Muscat, Bay of Islands,
Montevideo, Guayaquil, Guatemala, and Port-au-Prince,
shall, in addition to the consular duties hereinafter men-
tioned, be invested with diplomatic powers, and authorized,
when necessity may require, to communicate with the gov-
ernment of the country in which they reside, through the
proper department.

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19 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That no person
shall be permitted hereinafter to hold the appointment of con-
sul for a longer period than ten years; nor shall any one
be recalled under four years, unless for good and suffi-
cient cause, which must be satisfactory to the Senate of the
United States.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That no consul
shall be permitted to absent himself from his consulate
longer than thirty days in every twelve months, without
having obtained permission to do so from the State De-
partment; and that, even with such permission, which in
nowise shall extend beyond ninety days, his salary shall
be discontinued during the time he is away from his con-
sular residence; and furthermore, he shall not at any time
leave the office in charge of any person but an American
citizen, and one who is in no way connected with com-
mercial houses, and for whose official acts he will be held
accountable. The consular office shall be located invaria-
bly in as central business position as can conveniently be
procured, and designated by the arms of the United States
over its entrance; and shall be kept open daily, (Sundays,
other holidays, and anniversaries, which are observed in
the United States, and in the country wherein it is estab-
lished, excepted,) from ten o’clock in the morning until
three o’clock in the afternoon. The salary of consuls

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2 shall commence with the day upon which they shall be at
their consulates ready to enter upon the discharge of their
duties, after receiving their exequators or obtaining a pro-
visional recognition from the local authorities.
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That, as soon as a
consul is officially notified of his appointment, he shall
execute a bond, with two or more sureties, in a sum of not
less than two nor more than ten thousand dollars, for the
faithful discharge of every duty relating to his office, which
bond shall be satisfactory to the United States marshal for
the district in which the consul resides, and be transmitted
to the Secretary of State for his approval. If the consul
is not in the United States at the time he is commissioned,
as soon as he is apprized of the face he shall sign, and
transmit by the most expeditious conveyance, a bond like
the aforesaid, which shall afterwards be undersigned by
two or more sureties, who are permanent residents of the
United States, and approved by the State Department.
Where there is a United States legation in a country to
which a consul is appointed, application shall be made
through it to the government for an exequator; but, where
there is none, the application shall be made direct to the
proper department.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That consuls shall,
as the most important of their numerous duties, corres

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6 pond regularly with the Department of State once in every
three months, and more frequently if occasion requires.
Any neglect to do so, when satisfactorily ascertained, shall
be ample cause for their dismissal from office. They shall
imbody in their letters all information that can in any man-
ner be useful to their country, concerning the power or
state to which the are accredited, such as the condition of
agriculture, manufactures, the arts and sciences, education,
commerce, navigation, new laws and edicts bearing di-
rectly or remotely upon the interests of the United States,
together with an account of such public events that trans-
pire as may be deemed worthy of notice. While it shall
be imperative upon them to watch vigilantly over the in-
terests of the United States, they shall take great care not
to give offence to the authorities or to the people of the
consular district in which they reside, scrupulously abstain-
ing from all participation in political and other exciting
questions which may be agitated from time to time.
Sec. 7 And be it further enacted, That it shall be
the duty of consuls to charge the following fees for per-
forming the services specified, which they shall account
for to the government at the expiration of every three
months, and hold the proceeds at all times subject to its
drafts: For receiving and delivering ship’s papers, one

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10 cent on every ton, registered measurement, of the vessel for
which the service is performed; for every seamen who
may be discharged or shipped before them, or in the port
at which they reside, one dollar, which shall be paid by
the master of the vessel; for every other certificate, inclu-
ding passports, authenticated by the consular seal, two dol-
lars. Consuls shall grant passports to American citizens,
but they shall require satisfactory evidence from persons
applying for them that they are not aliens. In cases where
this fact is not clearly established, they shall not be grant-
ed. In any instance where a consul shall, under the con-
sular seal, grant a certificate to an alien as an American
citizen, he shall be forthwith dismissed from office, and
ever afterwards rendered ineligible to any office of profit
or trust under this government.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That, any law to
the contrary notwithstanding, no commission shall in future
be charged by consuls for receiving or disbursing the wages
or extra wages to which seamen may be entitled who are
discharged by the masters of vessels in foreign countries,
or for moneys advanced to such as may be found in dis-
tress, seeking relief from the consulate; nor shall any con-
sul be directly or indirectly interested in any profits deriv-
ed from clothing, boarding, or sending home such sea-
man.

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25 Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That no consul,
vice consul, or commercial agent of the United States shall
discharge any mariner, being a citizen of the United States,
in a foreign port, without requiring the payment of the two
months’ wages to which said mariner is entitled under the
provisions of the act of February twenty-eighth, eighteen
hundred and three, unless upon due investigation into the cir-
cumstances under which the master and mariner have joint-
ly applied for such discharge, and, on a private examination
of such mariner by the consul or vice consul, separate and
apart from all officers of the vessel, the consul, vice consul,
or commercial agent shall be satisfied that it is for the in-
terest and welfare of such mariner to be so discharged;
nor shall any consul, vice consul, or commercial agent dis-
charge any mariner as aforesaid, without requiring the full
amount of three months’ wages, as provided by the above-
named act, unless under such circumstances as will, in his
judgment, secure the United States from all liability to ex-
pense on account of such mariner: Provided, That in the
cases of stranded vessels, or vessels condemned as unfit
for service, no payment of extra wages shall be required.
And where any mariner, after his discharge, shall have in-
curred expense at the port of discharge before shipping
again, such expense shall be paid out of the two months’
wages aforesaid, and the balance only be delivered to him.

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15 Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That every con-
sul, vice consul, and commercial agent of the United States
shall keep a detailed list of all mariners discharged by
them, respectively, specifying their names, and the names
of the vessels from which they were discharged, and the
payments (if any) which were required on the discharge of
each, and the amount of public money (if any) which was
afterwards expended on account of each, and shall make
official returns of said lists half-yearly to the Treasury
Department.
Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That every con-
sul, vice consul, and commercial agent of the United States,
shall make an official entry of every discharge which they
shall grant, respectively, on the list of the crew and ship-
ping articles of the vessels from which such discharge shall
be made, specifying the payment (if any) which has been
required in each case; and if they shall have remitted the
payment of the two months’ wages to which the mariner
is entitled they shall also certify on said shipping list and
articles that they have allowed the remission, upon the
joint application of the master and mariner therefor, after
a separate examination of the mariner, after a due investi-
gation of all the circumstances, and after being satisfied
that the discharge so allowed without said payment is for
the interest and welfare of the mariner; and if they shall

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15 have remitted the payment of the one month’s wages to which
the United States is entitled, they shall certify that they
have allowed the remission, after a due investigation of all
the circumstances, and upon being satisfied that they are
such as will, in their judgment, secure the United States
from all liability to expense on account of such mariner;
and a copy of all such entries and certificates shall be an-
nually transmitted to the Treasury Department by the
proper officer of the customs in the several ports of the
United States.
Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That if any con-
sul, vice consul, or commercial agent of the United States,
upon discharging a mariner without requiring the payment
of the one month’s wages to which the United States is
entitled, shall neglect to certify in the manner required in
such case by the third section of this act, he shall be ac-
countable to the Treasury Department for the sum so re-
mitted. And in any action brought by a mariner to recover
the extra wages to which he is entitled under the act of
February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and three, the
defence that the payment of such wages was duly remitted
shall not be sustained without the production of the certifi-
cate in such case required by this act, or, when its non-
production is accounted for, by the production of a certified
copy thereof; and the truth of the facts certified to, and

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1 the property of the remission, shall be still open to inves-
tigation.
Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That if, upon the
application of any mariner, it shall appear to the consul,
vice consul, or commercial agent, that he is entitled to his
discharge under any act of Congress, or according to the
general principles of the maratime law, as recognized in the
United States, he shall discharge such mariner, and shall
require of the master the payment of three months’ wages,
as provided in the act of February twenty-eighth, eighteen
hundred and three, and shall not remit the same, nor any
part thereof, except in the cases mentioned in the proviso of
the ninth clause of the first section of the act of July
twentieth, eighteen hundred and forty, and in the proviso
of the first section of this act.
Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That every con-
sul, vice consul, commercial agent, for any neglect to per-
form the duties enjoined upon him by this act, shall be lia-
ble to any injured person for all damage occasioned there-
by; and for any violation of the provisions of the ninth
and thirteenth sections of this act, shall also be liable to
indictment, and to a penalty, in the manner provided by the
eighteenth clause of the first section of the act of July
twentieth, eighteen and forty
Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That the act of

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26 April fourteenth, seventeen hundred and ninety-two, con-
cerning consuls, &c., is hereby so amended, that if any
American citizen dying abroad shall, by will, or any other
writing, leave special directions for the management and
settlement by the consul of the personal or other property
which he may die possessed of in the country where he
may die, it shall be the duty of the consul, where the laws
of the country permit, strictly to observe the directions so
given by the deceased. Or, if such citizen so dying shall,
by will or any other writing, have appointed any other
person than the consul to take charge of and settled his af-
fairs, in that case it shall be the duty of the consul, when
and so often as required by the so appointed agent or trus-
tee of the deceased, to give his official aid in whatever way
may be necessary to facilitate the operations of such trus-
tee or agent, and, where the laws of the country permit, to
protect the property of the deceased from any interference
of the local authorities of the country in which he may
have deceased; and to this end, it shall also be the duty of
the consul to place his official seals on all or any portions
of the property of the deceased as may be required by the
said agent or trustee, and to break and remove the same
seals when required by the said agent or trustee , and not
otherwise; he, the said consul, receiving therefor the fees
prescribed by law, viz: two dollars for each and every

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1 seal; which last-mentioned fees, together with such other
fees and commissions as are now allowed by existing laws
on settlement of estates of American citizens by consuls,
vice consuls, and commercial agents, may be received and
retained by consuls, vice consuls, and commercial agents,
in addition to their respective salaries as provided for by
this act.
Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That the follow-
in record books shall be kept in each consulate, which
under no circumstances shall be subject to the inspection of
foreigners: A letter book, into which shall be copied, in
the English language, all official letters and notes, in the
order of their dates, which are written by the consul; a
book for the entry of protests, and in which all other offi-
cial consular acts likewise shall be recorded; and, at sea-
ports, a book wherein shall be recorded the list of crew
and the age, tonnage, owner or owners, name and place to
which she belongs, of every American vessel which arrives.
Consuls shall make quarterly returns to their government,
specifying the amount of fees received; the number of ves-
sels, and the amonnt of their tonnage, which have arrived
and departed; the number of seamen, and what portion of
them are protected; and, as nearly as possible, the nature
and value of their cargoes, and where produced.
Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That the Presi

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2 dent of the United States shall, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, appoint vice consuls of the United
States, to reside at the following ports and places, who
shall receive, from the day on which their exequators are
dated by the state to which they are accredited, an annual
compensation of five hundred dollars each, and who shall
be permitted to transact commercial and other business:
Bristol, Falmouth, Plymouth, Kingston-upon-Hull, Dub-
lin, Londonderry, Cork, Galway, Island of Malta, Cape
Town (Cape of Good Hope,) St. Helena, St. John’s, Hal-
ifax, Pictou, Turk’s Island, Hobart-Town, Riga, Archan-
gel, Stettin, Nantes, St. Pierre, (Martinique,) Point-a-Petre,
(Guadaloupe,) Cayenne, Algiers, Barcelona, Port Mahon,
St. Iago de Cuba, Funchal, (Maderia,) Curacoa, (W. I.,)
Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, Venice, Ancona, Messina, Zan-
zibar island, Apia, (Navigator islands,) Ovelau, (Fejee is-
lands,) Aux Cayes, Cape Haytien, Tampico, Matamoras,
Tabasco, Santa Martha, Maracaibo, Laguayra, Marenham
island, Pera, Pernambuco, Santos, St. Catherine’s island,
Bahia or St. Salvador, Rio Negro, Talcahuano, Coquimbo,
Ponce.
Sec. 18. And be it further enacted, That no other
than citizens of the United States shall be appointed con

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12 suls thereof, nor shall they be continued in office for a
longer period than twelve years, or removed therefrom un-
less for dereliction of duty, under six years. They shall
demand no other or larger fees than those permitted to be
received by consuls for a similar service, and they shall
report the nature and amount of them semi-annually to the
State Department, holding the proceeds at all times subject
to the drafts of the government. They shall enter into a
bond, with one or more sureties, to be approved by the Sec-
retary of State, in a sum of not less than five hundred
dollars nor exceeding two thousand dollars, for the faithful
performance of their duties.
Sec. 19. And be it further enacted, That vice con-
suls shall, and they are hereby empowered to, do all offi-
cial acts which consuls may, under the provisions of this
act, or any other existing act, do, (except granting pass-
ports,) subjecting themselves to the same penalties that con-
suls are subjected to for any abuse of the trusts conferred
upon them, or those who in their absence may act for them.
Vice consuls shall write semi-annually, at least, and more
frequently if occasion requires, to the State Department,
and communicate such information as is required to be
communicated by consuls. The vice consular books shall
be kept with the other archives of the office in a secure

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6 place, where no one can examine them but the vice consul
himself, or such person as he shall intrust them with, when
necessarily away from his post.
Sec. 20. And be it further enacted, That as soon as
a consul has received his exequator, or been provisionally
recognised, he shall apply to his predecessor for the ar-
chives of the consulate, and make an inventory of the pa-
pers, and such other articles as they may contain, for which
he shall pass a receipt and transmit a copy thereof to the
State Department. If there are any funds in the office be-
longing to the government, he shall demand and receive
them.
Sec. 21. And be it further enacted, That five per cen-
tum upon their salaries shall be allowed annually by the
United States to consuls and vice consuls, upon and in ad-
dition to their annual compensation, to defray the expense
of postage, stationary, and flag, arms, and seal of the Uni-
ted States.
Sec. 22. And be it further enacted, That hereafter
no new consulate shall be established, except such as are
herein mentioned, unless by act of Congress; but hte Pres-
ident, whenever it may appear to him necessary, is hereby
authorized to enlarge any consular district, or add to it
other allegiances.

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10 Sec. 23. And be it further enacted, That the Secre-
tary of State shall, as soon as a consul or vice consul is
confirmed by the Senate, furnish him with a copy of this
act, accompanied by all acts of the United States now in
force which relate to the masters of vessels and seamen,
together with such instruction as shall seem necessary to
enable him to understand distinctly the nature and extent
of his duties. And such consuls and vice consuls shall be
subject to, and shall implicitly obey and follow, all general
rules and orders of the Department of State which may
hereafter be made, not inconsistent with this act; and the
Secretary of State is hereby authorized and empowered to
make such general orders and regulations as, in his judg-
ment, may be necessary to give this act efficiency.
Sec. 24. And be it further enacted, That there shall
be organized, under the direction of the Secretary of
State, a bureau to be known as the Consular Bureau,
which shall consist of a chief of said bureau, who shall
receive a salary not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars,
and such clerks, not exceeding two, as may be found ne-
cessary; and that all correspondence, to and from the con-
suls and vice consuls, shall be carried on through said bu-
reau. And it shall be the duty of said chief of said bureau
to make up an annual statement of the transactions of the

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16 consular establishment, and which shall contain a full and
complete summary of the information derived by, or
through, said consuls and vice consuls; and which annual
statement and summary shall, on or before the first day of
January in each year, be communicated by the Secretary
of State to Congress.