New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-11
LITTLE KINGS LIVING ~ LONDON
AMRAssADoRIALP PRIVILEGES AND CUSTOMS

| AMbASShl'DiNl.'I| NV ii''<''+.' -'-'''
| From Casscll's Journal
The foreign Ambassadors accredited {, the Cour,
OF St James are IA fact the Law looks upon them.
ti.e kings. being privileged beyond any SUBJECT III
The law Of nations hae decided tn, The Aan5'~,
statement which implies that he may DO Just what
he ke: It + l h. he h. m az; f nTImaan ~
New Scotland Yard, ne may be snny Oh roune.y
with violence ana no J.iE ,an zen ,'h h,
and even seriously assault itc Primo Minister hNi
Yet 20 quietly home dinner without the east :; ar
| following morning. He can 10 NOR" ihan ms NJ
| aid Mendoza the spanish Ambassador, IN Eliza
beth'i reign, plot to take her Me- as dii l. Auoe.
sufYer the penalties Of the law: for though the arm
| OF the law take hold OF most wrons'loera' the
| Ambassador is an exception
1t may be asked what can be done TO an Ambi'sa-
dor who, for instance, commits murder or trer son
do in such cases Is oppose force 70 force, eXp'l
| the offending Minister from the country. ana make
questlng MIN to punish him FOR his behavior In
| the event OF tn" sovereign ignoring tn" reGu' ~
this would probably he "A cause 81 war between 'he
| As we have seen that an Ambassado may with
| mpunty commit All these criminal art+. It IL not
surprising that the civil injuries which one suffers
| at his hands are not redressble IN the English
The baker, butcher or hshmonser. in fact any
| tradesnan who supplies goods on credit 10 an Am
| bassador OF members Of his suite. does so at his
| own risk You cannot county-court an a,tache or
soe serve s summons You Would evcntuaiy appear
| before the Lord Chancellor and two Judges, VINO
would impose upon you certain penalties ana cor
poral punishment, II need be. for thus violating the
| law OF ma ions. This privilege. according 10 most
authorities. even extends to the Ambassadors do
nestle servants provided their names be registered
with the Secretary OF State.
But the Ambassador privileges do not stop here.
Neither tie collector nor the tax collector calls
upon him. for he pays no taxes. and though II u
true that he cannot send his letters without nrst
nfiixlnC postage stamps In the ordinary way. yet 50
far as sending things TO his own country goes, he
IS privileged in the following manner: There Is in
all embs ISLES what Is known the vaise big bag.
| as the name signifies. In this he may put whatso-
ever he Will. dutlabe articles included This bag Is
sealed at the embassy delivered TO the postal au-
| thorties and forwarded to ts destination without
being opened. In the same way he may receive from
his country the vase. no matter what II may con
tain. and II will be delivered to him unopened.
Household supplies, too such as wine game. etc.
for the use Of The household, he may likewise re-
ceve from abroad duty free. provided he first OBJ
| tain from the Foreign Office special permit which
IS refused.
Not only is the person OF the Ambassador sacred.
are also looked upon inviclable To force ones
Offence Neither officers OF justice Off
was ihls privilege carried that II 4 committed
bassy 1t was thought that he could not be taken
! However IL has been definitely decided that
there Is no right OF asylum In embassies and II
nm Ambassador harbors criminal. police officers
may take him into custody without breaking the
| Iar NJ natl