The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-03-09


in 50 doing.
The quasi official or "notarial" and volun-
tary service which consul is expected TO
perform is limited to no one class of duties,
but includes anything and everything Which
free born American citizen may take 1t
into his head 10 request or require Of his CON
suar representative. While member of
congress is sometimes regarded by his con-
stituents as their Office broker and claim
agent, consul is expected to be at the dis
posal of his counTymen at large, particu-
| larly of those soiournlng or travelling abroad
To these last he bears the relations of guide,
philosopher and friend. He is even appealed
to sometimes IN cases of domestic difficulty,
as the writer can attest
In the course of these extra official expert
ences some painful episodes are likely 10 oc-
cur. The routine of my office business was
| sadly interrupted one day by the advent of
police officer who delivered to mo several
letters with the information that they had
been found in the room of young American
who had just committed suicide by shooting
himself at the principal hotel of the city
One of the letters was addressed:
ITO the American Consul, and began:
"When YOU read this / shall be dead.
The writer then went on To declare his sui
cidal intent, and to make certain requests re
lating chiefly to the distribution of few per-
sonal effects, and the delivery of some accom-
panying sealed letters addressed to various
persons in the United States No clew was
given, or was afterwards discovered, as to
| the young mans motives for self murder.
The appeals made TO consular officers for
charity and charitable assistance are some
times embarrassing. But the most trouble
some of such cases are not those of ordinary
| beggars and tramps who may he dismissed
with few small coins or a railway ticket,
but the appeals of well dressed, preten-
tious people, who are occasionally armed
with credentials from influential persons, and
ask for favorS, which it is, TO say the least,
hazardous to grant. | had not been installed
in my Office twenty-four hours before an in
stance of this kind occurred, and | was in
duced to advance money-fortunately not
the full amount asked for-on prOifered
pledge of its return. OF course, neither the
money nor its recipient was ever heard from
again.
Another species oe unofficial service which
our consuls in Europe are called upon to per-
form is that of collecting notes, judgments
and inhcritanceS The number of these cases
in which anything but disappointment is, or
can be, realized to the claimant is scarcely
greater than one in Il hundred. As a rule
if the consul obtains money enough on such
claims to pay for the postage and stationery
expended in prosecuting them, he does well.
Not unfrequently he viii be profered a GER
tain share in the proceeds of the claim pro-
vided he shall succeed in collecting it, and |
recall an instance in which | was rendered
one-third at least, of an alleged Inheritance
of $500. 600, 900 on this condition The propo-
sition was declined Another case, however,
may be cited as an illustration of consular
experience in such business. 1t was that of
an orphan girl presented by her guardian,
who claimed that she was entitled to an in
heritance Of about $1,000 in money | was
induced to undertake the collection of
this claim at the request of distinguished
fellow citizen whose interest in the matter
was purely benevolent. An attorney was
engaged to manage the case, then pending
in the courts, with the distinct understanding
that he should either derive his compensation
from the proceeds or receive none. a deposit
to secure costs being required by the court,
and refused by the plaintiff, ] furnished it
tanned in favor of the plaintiff, but the de-
PENDANTS appealed the case to superior
court and another deposit TO secure costs be-
came necessary.
In the meantime, while sitting at my desk
one evening, picked up the latest New York
paper and having read, as | supposed, all the
news, was about to lay it down again when
my eye fell upon a long list of changes in
the consular service announced from Wash
ington Near the bottom of the list my own
name appeared as that of one of the consuls
displaced. Some days later the official notice
of my suspension was received, and directly
afterwards my successor in Office arrived.
Not long after my return to the United
States | received notice from one of the Ger
man consuls accredited to our government
that the old attorney who had been engaged
to prosecute the oaphan's claim had sued me
in one of the courts of Germany for his fees
Judgment for his claim and costs was given
in his favor I'm default of defendants APP
pearance," and was, of course, paid. For
this expenditure | was generously indemni-
fed, however, by my distinguished friend
who had recommended the prosecution of the
claim The case had involved a very large
amount of correspondence, besides other
labor, and ! had realized for my pains the
annoyance of a lawsuit IA a considerable
loss of money.
l am sometimes asked whether a consul
does not receive some perquisites additional
to his salary, ! answer, yes, he does; and
if mere particular information is desired,
would refer, by way Of illustration, to the
experience just narrated.