The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-06-12
Our Consular Service.

i lfaye lately had long talK WIFI
Honorable ID. s. Alexander, the Fifth
Auditor of the Treasury, in regard to
our Consular service. From it | COM
pile the following. giving the facts and
figures as nearly as [ can remember.
Our consular officers number 89l, and
they are scattered all over the world.
Many of the positions do not pay enough
to make the expenses of the officer and
| but few of them are very desirable.
The Consuls are divided into three
! classes. First, those who have fixed
salaries and are not permitted to do
| business; second, those who have fixed
! salaries and are permitted to do other
| business; and third, those who are paid
entirely bv fees and are permitted to do
other business. All of the prominent
Consulates and nearly all of the desira-
BILE ones are in the first class. 1t is
made up of Consulates, Consulates gen.
eral, and commercial agencies, and its
salaries range from $4,000 to 81, 500
year. The only $4,000 Consulates are
Paris, Havana, Rio de Janeiro, and
those paying $1,000 are Cairo, Calcut-
ia and Shanghai. Then come Berlin,
Kanagawa, Montreal, Honolulu and
Hong Kong, $4,000, and then the sew
eral Chinese Consulates which are paid
So, 500, and then the three other classes
at $4,000, $1,000. $4,000 and $1,000.
This first class of Consuls is obliged to
send in all of its official fees to the Gov
ernment, but there is class of private
business which they are permitted to
d,, and this in certain cases amounts
tn considerable In the majority of
| L 1lc OfI I'M
but their salaries, and it is only in
the manufacturing centers OF England,
Scotland, France and Germany that
these private fees amount to anything
About ven-eleventhS of the Consu-
lates are of the first class. In the
second class, which gets less than
81, 800, there arssone-eleventh, and the
third paid entirely by fees, numbers
three-elevenths of the whole. In the
second class there is no salary above
: 81, 900, and in the third all of the fees
. above $500 must be turned into the
Government.
The fees collected by the Consuls
= more than support the service. Las
! wear the excess of receipts over expendi
: lures was $44,549, and the receipt;
amounted to nearly million dollars
Of this sum nearly $4,000 was re
ceived from certifying invoices at fec
of $3.50 per invoice. From this yol
see the only Consuls who can make an.
. large returns are those of the large
= manufacturing and commercial centers
!. Paris pays the United States bette
!, than any other Consulate. The fee
: collected there last year amounted t.
!, S63. 900. These fees, with the excep
9 ton of S56.72, were received for inyoic
certificates, which show that over 25,00
. invoices of goods were sent from Parl
I to the United States in single year.
The fees collected at London for thi
- same time were nearly $50, 600. an
y = those at Liverpool SAT 1000. All of th
= London fees, with the exception c
$1,000, were for the certifying of in
- voices, but of those at Liverpool $40, 90
- were received for other than invoic
~ fees. Fifteen thousand dollars of thi
was made up of shipping fees, shown
,. that more American ships are repre-
i sented at Liverpool than at any othe
- - port in the world.
= Many people believe that Consuls al
,. not responsible for their collection
and that great frauds are perpetrate'
a. This is not so now, and the checks al
~ ~ such that dishonesty is easily disco
=, cred. The invoices must now be issue
:. in triplicate. One copy is filed in Il
archives of the Consulate, second
sent to the collector where the goot
are to be entered, and third is sent
the eonsignee of the goods. At Il
es end of each quarter the collectors NAL
. an abstract of all invoices received
them, which is sent to the Fifth Audito
of and these are there charged up to Il
'st Consul issuing them. At the end
ly each quarter the Consul makes his r
ok turns, and he is credited with the i
tn voice fees that he has reported. Ii
in Consul is found not to have reported
nd many fees as are charged to him it
d. evident that something is wrong, al
rs the matter is investigated
nd 1t is the same with the 1885, 900 ]
ed ceived from shipping fees. Duplica
as certificates are made out to ships, o
?" of which is given into the hands of
.ly Captain to be handed to the Collect
re- of the first American port at which
ne touches, and this is through him sent
ne the Fifth Auditor The Consul, in MAXI
he up his report, is required to accou
nd for each paper SO made out, and if
nd does not report the fact is at once d
- covered. It is the same with the lar
EN- ing receipts, which amount to S40,0
ic- so that in the collection Of nearly
as million dollars from the Consuls an I
an solute check is placed upon the hon,
sss returns of over nine-tenths of it. Un6
hin it the Consular receipts, which in Is
.rd were only S99, 9,113, in 1882 reached
en sum of $917. 900, and were about
he same in 1885 Washington Cor. Gle
t's land Leader.
nd -s-s-"--
ng "A plant, a native of Africa, is
rrn nt:r,nr r,,r,oh nftnnfinn of the rf