The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1846-12-22

before the House during last week -
adopted by tho House OF Representatives the 10th of
August last referring to him the bill to revise the
to make report to the House at the Of
the next session on our consular system generally with
range upon the subject has the honor to submit the
tits due both to the House and to himself to state In
the commencement that 1t has been impossible for him,
without neRlectng the current and urgent business of
the Department to devote tho time necessary to comply
with their resolution In satisfactory manner To col
lect the requisite information and to prepare wrdi.
gested plan Tor the reconstruction Of very imperfect
tipusi labor Of competent person well versed in CON.
snlar duties during period Of several months
extended foreign commerce, ought to be embraced In
single law, to which our consus could upon all
sons refer.
! These officers are spread over tho whole foreign
world. They often citizens who, however respscia
ble are not from their previous pursuits well qualified
to exemine and investigate great number OF detached
laws scattered statute hook from the origin OF
the government At distance from their country they
do not possess the means OF obtaining legal advice
what provisions Of previous acts, sccount OF their
inconsistency with those of subsequent date, have
been thereby repealed For this and other obvious
the Secretary would respectfully suggest that the
whole consular system ought to be included In single
bill and all former acts upon the subject repealed
l. For the number. appointment and compensation, Of
all consuls general s conssIs and vice consuls
and specify the fees to be received for their per-
J Torrance.
beyond what Is necessary This has resulted
4 from the mode Of their appointment and the number
law Under the practice which has always pre- vailed
appointing now consus at the discretion OF the Pres
Impossible TO sooano 'nS hess an
point ncns within proper limits When respectable
ciizea abroad to establish himself n mercantile
] business, at any place whore consulate had pre-
vou,ly existed, Immediately became dssirsbls
ect for him TO obtain the appointment of consul his
new residence This would give him rank and increase
his business In such cases difficult resist his
own solicitations and those Of his friends and thus OPP
poinments have been made in many instances without
necessity The policy limiting the number of consul
ates adopted by the b certainly entitled
| appreciation. Their number is now ons hundred and
sixty eight independently Of ten commercial agencies
statement No l, attacked to this report This bill
provides for the appointment OF seventyour ,nsuls
hundred and twenty nine and even this number might
the appreciation Of the Secretary of State might
permitted 10 appoint consular agents, for whom they
would be held responsible, at any place within the
bounds Of thc consulate OF sufficient importance to
quire the services OF such agents.
coHsULs-eESEAAL.
No act Of Congress authorses the appointment of
suls general Ii may be well worthy Of consideration
however whether would not be proper to establish
whilst it is certain that this would be expedient with
respect to the Barbary States and Of the potts
importance and our simple consus have no
enjoy ed the privileges there, and for this
had 10 their power to serve their government
and their country to the extent with COZ
suis general Of other nations To refer to single in
stance our consul at Alexandra 10 de prved Of the nd.
vantage Of holding personal intercourse with the Vice
roy OF Egypt simply because he does not bear The title
Of consul. general No objection be perceived to
comforting upon consns. in few proper cases,
eciay sembarbarous countries the tle Of consul
general II would only TO change the name without
increasing the expense TO the government.
MODE 0 coMrEssATINo coNsyLs.
SO much has written and said in favor Of changing
the mod. compromising consuls that it
sary the Secretary to enlarge upon the subject
very clearly Of opinion that they ought be compensa
present bill proposes by salaries from the
He is folly convinced that until change shall be e
ected and until consuls at those ports with which
conduct large foreign trade shall be prohibited from
engaging in mercantile pursuits can never have such
system due to the vast interests
tended commerce
Great Britain pays fixed salary to all her consu,sre
neral consuls ard viceconsuls and in addition author.
them receive certain moderate fees for their
vices The French sysem Is understood 10 be the
except that the fees received not for the benefit
these officers thcmselvss but appropriated other
purposes connected with their consuates
At present our consulates are generally held by com
mission merchants residents abroad The fees attached
~bov q he consul an snS Ii.
family. They therefore, sought aor merely give
the consul rank and as means Of increasing the con
signmenis ado to him Q commission merchant. The
consulate is thus rendered subsidiary to his private bust
ness and the temptation is great abuse his public
for the purpose Of ayoring his customers II he should
proof against this temptation which Is believed to be
generally the still he Suspected Merchants who
DO not make consgnmens to him, and the masters OF
their vessels will always be jealous Of his conluct
consul is under the strongest obligations officer OF
the Government to extent equal protection to all Ameri
engaged In foreign commerce.; and he ought there
FORE to have pecnniary inducement TO swsrve from
this line of duty in favor Of any individual He 10 en-
trusted with important public concerns, and mis- time
sught to be exclusively devoted them. This would
give consideration and influence with the authori
the place of his residence for the beneat OF his
country men, which he can enjoy long hi.
once shall continue to be incident to hs
tile business Many evils which not be enum GRATED
resulted from tho present mode of compromising
oonsuls
In tha m marro
ought not be I'd with any consular fees II to
sustain competition with tne whole world, and through
lis agency collect the greater part ofthe
the support Of the federal government To relieve II
ftom the payment Of consular fees would, therefore
not be- deemed propiiiots moment to cast the whole
yssem upon the public treasury. In accordance with
this visw the bill provides that consular fees shall
nue to be collected for the purpose Of ndemnying the
treasury 10 part for the payment OF tho salaries Of
us and vice c0Dsu also wisely =. 80 to ezu
them between corsus ard the persons requiring Their
services These charges may probably be rendered sill
more spec6c but this could be better done
In sonal conference with the chairman Of the pro
per committee than by entering upon such details in h
Under tho rrcsen. regulations the subject Il involved
in such obscury that different charges levied a,
pu,es especially between shpmasters and consuis in
regard TO hs taxation OF isa greatly to the dscred o.
would, in greet degree be rsmsdied BY that provision
OF the present bill which requires tho payment TO tho
consul Of one CEN pcr ton on the tonn g Of each YES
ships papers" For the sake Of greater precision, II
might DO expressed for receiving the deposite OF
ships papers and granting certificate thereof under
seal ami Tor returning the with like certificate,
and full Tor all official services whatever respecting
the entry and clearance Of vessel"
with such provision no disputes about fees for the
entry aud clearance OF vessels could hereafter srsc.
Besides this the tonnage Of the vessel
would be much fsirer than the existing charge At pre-
vcsie Thousand pays more fees that vessel
Of hundred burden II ought TO be observed no
ever that one cent FER would In the aggregate
be equal to the existing chsrges though cent and
halt per would be sufficient TO collect this amouot
wide table Nos and g. attached to this reporfJ
A CONSULAR CODE.
But, after the number, appointment and compensation
of consular SCENTS shall have been detcmined and
the organization OF the in these particulars shall
have been completed the Important task would still
main Of nirg by law the powers and duties Of consuls
This will prove TO be task Of great difficulty and dell
cacy the performance Of which, oper manner, will
require much knowledge and patient investigation