The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-12-03

xho upon their recall W II find themselves In
debt and unable to pay themselves OUT Of
the country.
The eighth section provides "that no minis
ter. consul, &C., shall absent himself from his
post for longer period than ten days, without
having previously obtained leave from the Pre-
sideDt of the United States, and that during his
absence for any longer period than that time,
either with or without leave his salary shall not
be allowed him. u! Thus every unfortu-
nate consul or commercial agent living
on $500 or $3.50 per annum is to become
a correspondent Of the President Of the United
States! The President viii require at least one
additional private secretary toreply to these APP
pications, and discuss the pros and cons of the
petitions. II the President is to be made .
correspondent Of the Consuls, what's the use OF
the Consular Bureau in the State Department |?
But the worst feature of this section Is, that
salaries are not to be allowed during absence.
Now, some unfortunate Consul in some pestifer-
GUS and horribly hot place, not far from home
say Port au Prince, Panama, OF Vera Cruz
after two or three years faithful service, wishes
to run off for few weeks, to taste the air Of
his native hills, and thus restore health aud
spirits, broken down by the effects of climate
and confinement. Well, after an interesting
correspondence with the President, he may
finally obtain leave Of absence, (though the
necessity for change of climate may have
been imminent). In taking his departure, he
leaves in charge Of the consulate some person
whom he has instructed in its duties, and for
whose official acts he is held responsible. Taar
person cannot perform those duties merely 'for
loven He must be paid for it; and as the Con-
sui gets nothing during his absence (although
the duties are as well attended to as though he
were presently, it must come out Of his own re-
sources, (if he has any,; SO the Consul loses
not merely the salary, whilst the government
still has his services, but, perhaps as much
more in compensation to his deputy. Il this
just?-is it decent and respectable on the part
Of a powerful, rich and highly commercial
nation? The result will be that when Consuls
are compelled to leave temporarily they will
he tempted to do SO clandestinely.
The ninth section prohibits the appointment
of any but American citizens to the posts Of
Minister, Consul, &c. This is all very right
and patriotic; but can American citizens willing
to be charged with laborious and annoying
Office, be found for all those $3.50 and $500
places? We think not, though persons are,
perhaps, to be met with who will, take charge
No. J~a ov,I aft ho Offfcac
tenn pocket the salary, and do nothing.
The tenth section provides . That ministers,
consuls, &c, shall locate their offices in central
places, and keep them open daily from ten
O'Clock in the morning until four o'clock in the
afternoon" The frat part of this is very well,
only we protest against that word "locate" It
sounds like squatter speaking Of his pre-
cmption. The latter part is absurd. 1t shows
that every thing in Washington is measured by
the latitude of Washington. The trainers of
this bill appear to forget that there are eli
mates where, on account OF the intolerable
heat, the business Of the day is over by ten
O'Clock ia the morning." and only partially
resumed late in the afternoon. These would be
ahsard hours, too, for st. Petersburg or an
Archangel winter, as well as in Naples, where
time is counted up to "a o'clock. The long and
short of the matter is that officials must regu-
late their hours by the customs of the country.
There are natural laws that will occasionally
override the wisdom of Washing ton politicians.
The same section authorizes the offices to be
closed on " Sundays and other holidays" If
this were to be strictly obeyed our legations,
consulates, &c., in very pious Roman Catholic
countries would be open on an average Of about
once week.
The twelfth section relates 10 the fees of
consuls, and is reasonable enough, except in
ono small particular, which is, that those fees
shall be accounted for to the government 1T
the expiration Of every three months, and held
subject to its drafts! Here is direct premium
offered to fraudulent concealment. 1t is too
much to expect of poor human nature, esq.,
cially in the case Of halfstarved and dis p
pointed consul The government wishes, then,
to convert all those officers into so many tax
ga,hcreIs abroad. Can there possibly be any
precedent for this in the customs Of any other
nation? This measure is 'raught with numer-
GUS evils, of which we will point out one
or two. In the first place, the bulk Of con-
sular fees at most places arises from no
tarial services, which can as well be performed
by notaries public-requiring to legalize
the documents for the United States, only the
simple certificate and seal Of the Consul, but
which documents it has always been consider
cd the special privilege of COnsuls to extend.
1t is the practice for Consuls to refuse to verify
such papers, when extended by other persons,
without the payment Of full fees. Now, il Con-
suls are to account to government for these
fees, they win at once cease such services, and
thus establish prccedents Of very noxious
character. Evildisposed persons too, will
seize the opportunity Of worrying the Consul,
(should he happen to have offended them,) with
all sorts Of pretended business, merely because
they are making him work Tor nothing. The
world Is full Of people who will gladly spend