of the premises actually set apart for legation purposes, or else they rent a piece of property to be used exclusively for official business, charging therefor in their contingent quarterly accounts as allowed by the Department. "When a foreign legation occupies rented property in this country, the owner of the premises is not exempted from all lawful taxes. "It is of course impracticable to do more than state the general and equitable usage prevailing in such matters. The Government of the United States is not the owner of real estate abroad except at Tangier, Africa, which is a specially donated property, and the only differences to be noted in the way of leasing or renting property from the general rule stated above are to be found in China and Japan. In those countries contracts for legation premises are authorized by act of Congress." Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Woolsey, Apr. 15, 1886. MSS. Dom. Let. "A diplomatic representative possesses immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the country of his sojourn, and cannot be sued, arrested, or punished by the law of that country. Neither can he waive his privilege, for it belongs to his office, not to himself. It is not to be supposed that any representative of his country would intentionally avail himself of this right to evade just obligations, incurred either by himself or the members of his mission. "If, however, a diplomatic agent holds, in such foreign country, real or personal property, aside from that which pertains to him as a minister, it is subject to the local laws. "It is the custom of international intercourse that to a diplomatic agent shall be conceded the privilege of importation of effects for his personal or official use, or for the use of his immediate family, without payment of duties thereon. The application of this privilege varies in different countries, but as a rule is restricted to the head of the mission. It is the duty of the agent to acquaint himself with the formalities prescribed in such case by the local law or regulations, and to conform therewith. The privilege is one of usage and tradition, rather than an inherent right, and is one which the Government of the United States gives to the foreign representatives it receives. Where the agent has ground to believe that a full measure of reciprocal courtesy is limited or denied to him abroad, he should refrain from questioning the local rule on the subject, but await such instructions as the Department of State may give him after receiving full information as to the circumstances. "The diplomatic privilege of importing goods for personal use is not accorded to a foreign secretary of legation in the United States or in any foreign country, so far as is known. "In most countries the franchise of importation is accorded to a chargé d'affaires ad interim. Where the exception exists the fact should not be made the occasion of remonstrance or argument with the local Government without the express directions of the Department of State. "Transit free of customs dues is usually conceded by a third state through whose territories a diplomatic officer passes on his way to or from his post." Printed Pers. Inst., Dip. Agents, 1855. XX. PROPERTY PROTECTED. § 96. A chargé d'affaires of Russia had a large party at his house, and a transparent painting at his window, at which a mob which had collected took offense; the defendant fired two pistols at the window, his inten tion being to destroy the painting without doing injury to the person of the minister or of any one. The defendant was indicted for an assault upon the chargé d'affaires and for infracting the laws of nations by offering violence to the person of the said minister. It was held that the law of nations identifies the property of a foreign minister, attached to his person or in his use, with his person. To insult them is an attack on the minister and his sovereign, and it appears to have been the intention of the act of Congress to punish offenses of this kind. But it was said that to constitute such an offense against a foreign minister the defendant must have known that the house on which the attack was made was the domicile of a minister; otherwise it is only an offense against the municipal laws of the state. U. S. v. Hand, 2 Wash. C. C., 435. The persons and personal effects of foreign ministers, of their families and attachés, are exempt from seizure, arrest, or molestation, both by the law of nations and by act of Congress. A hotel-keeper, therefore, cannot prevent an attaché from removing his personal effects from the premises; and any attempt to do so would be punished by the courts. 5 Op., 69, Toucey, 1849. It is not within the constitutional power of the President of the United States to deliver over to the minister of the Netherlands certain jewels, detained in the custom-house of New York, which are shown to have been stolen from the Princess of Orange, on whose behalf the minister of the Netherlands makes claim. Mr. Livingston, Sec. of State, to Mr. Huygens, Aug. 5, 1831. MSS. Notes, For. If, however, the question comes up in the way of libel or other procedure in the Federal courts, the President will direct such action as will best conduce to the delivery of the jewels to their rightful owners. Same to same, Jan. 13, 1832; ibid. A municipal law, giving a landlord a "real right" (droit reél) over personal property belonging to the diplomatic agent of a foreign sovereign, entitling the creditor to seize such goods of such diplomatic agent in his own house, does not abrogate the law of nations so far as it gives inviolability to such house. Mr. Legaré, Sec. of State, to Mr. Wheaton, June 9, 1843. MSS. Inst., Prussia, "Immunity from local jurisdiction extends to the diplomatic agent's dwelling-house and goods, and the archives of the legation. These cannot be entered and searched, or detained under process of local law, or by the local authorities." Printed Pers. Inst., Dip. Agents, 1885. XXI. FREE TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATION WITH, SECURED. § 97. A diplomatic agent, traveling on his way to the country to which he is accredited, through a third country, pursuing for this purpose a natural and proper route, is entitled to the same privilege as when traveling through the country to which he is accredited. It may be that such country is in a state of war with the third power. This does not destroy his right of transit; but if a convenient route is pointed out to him which will not embarrass an occupying army, he must take this route, and cannot be permitted to insist on carving out a route of his own. Whart. Com. Am. Law, § 168. The line of transit may be prescribed by the nation through whose territory the minister may pass at its option. Field's Code Int. Law, § 136. See 2 Phil. Int. Law, 186-189. "I heartily reprobate the outrage on the British Government in violating (by a privateer) the seals of its accredited minister to the United States, and am desirous of taking such notice of it as the respect we owe, not only to the Government of Great Britain but to ourselves, demand; I pray you, therefore, to refer the business to the attorney of the District, in the absence of the Attorney-General, with instructions to prosecute the persons he may find guilty of any breach of the law of nations or the land." Mr. J. Adams, President, to Mr. Pickering, Sec. of State, July 20, 1799; 8 John A belligerent has no right to stop the passage of a minister from a neutral state to the other belligerent, unless the mission of such minister be one hostile to the first belligerent. Mr. J. Q. Adams, Sec. of State, to Mr. Brown, Dec. 23, 1823. MSS. Inst., Minis ters. "Some looseness of practice has crept in, with reference to passports of this kind (to bearers of dispatches), of an injurious tendency. Originally given to those actually charged with dispatches, they have been retained for ordinary use after the dispatches have been delivered at their destination. This circumstance has sometimes given an unreal character to these passports, which tends to impair their value in the hands of those entitled to them, besides being objectionable in other respects." Mr. Everett, Sec. of State, to Mr. Mann, Dec. 13, 1852. MSS. Dom. Let. tion are 100 g the Collet Stane ani Fraore as sadans ces pawing tuzazi the bernores :ća terd a con of Mr. bosh miniker as Matrit, vic was soooped Mais uma of that pear on ble return to his post from wales be The views of the French Go Temzeti * & whe bon be miban of lotemn affairs to the American then when it Varia with regard to the prollege of transit, which was not GENAL, NA MA.. na presenting the position in relation to that elcity ww.64 $66.65.4og to Spain bed, he being a patine-born subject of France. 264 * Nasta, zed 6,5zen of the United States. While Mr. Seale's quauty of foreigner, deduced from blaexpatriation, is recognized as to all duen makkere, and no exception taken to his title to the Spanish miswon, Mr. Bronễn de 1/1uge refers to the rule of the law of nations which, he seemmes, would have required a special agreement to have ewabled him to represent, in his native land, the country of his adoption. •You see, mit? ways be, "that the Government of the Emperor has not wished, as you appear to think, to prevent an envoy of the United Mates Crossing the French territory to go to his post to acquit himself of the commission with which he was charged by his Government; but between this simple passage and the sojourn of a foreigner whose antecedents have awakened, I regret to say, the attention of the authorities invested with the duty of securing the public order of the country, there exists a difference, which the minister of the interior had to appreciate, 1 Mr. Houle was going immediately and direct to Madrid, The route of France was open to him; if he was about coming to Paris to sojourn there, that privilege was not accorded to him. It was, there fore, necessary to consult him as to his intentions, and it was he who did not give the time for doing this. "Our laws are precise on the subject of foreigners. The minister of the interior causes the rigorous dispositions of them to be executed when the necessity for it is demonstrated to him, and he then uses a discretionary power which the Government of the Emperor has never allowed to be discussed. The quality of foreigners placed Mr. Soulé under the operation of the measure which has been applied to him. You will admit, sir, that in doing what we have done the Government of the United States, with which His Imperial Majesty's Government heartily desire to maintain relations of friendship and esteem, has in nowise been attacked in the person of one of its representatives. The minister of the United States is free, I repeat, to cross France. Mr. Soulé, who has no mission to fulfill near the Emperor, and who, conformably to a doctrine consecrated by the law of nations, would have need, in consequence of his origin, of a special agreement to represent, in the country of his birth, the country of his adoption. Mr. Soulé, a private individual, comes within the operation of the law common to all persons, which has been applied to him, and cannot pretend to any privilege. Mr. Drouyn de L'Huys to Mr. Mason, Nov. 1, 1854, Senate Doc. No. 1, 33d Cong., 2d sess." Lawrence's Wheaton (ed. 1863), 422. A person coming into the United States as the diplomatic representative of a foreign state, with credentials from governing powers not recognized by this Government, is accorded diplomatic privileges merely of transit, and this of courtesy, not of right, and such privileges may be withdrawn whenever there shall be cause to believe that he is engaged in, or contemplates, any act not consonant with the laws, peace, and public honor of the United States. 8 Op., 471, Cushing, 1855. Such a person, being charged with unlawful recruiting, was saved from prosecution on condition of not becoming chargeable with any further offense and of departing from the country within a reasonable time. 8 Op., 473, Cushing, 1855. "The right to send dispatches of a minister secured by the law of nations certainly involves the right to designate the messenger and the inviolability of his person when executing the commission. But when a country is in a revolutionary state this absolute right ought to be exercised with due regard to the safety of the state where the minister resides, and temporary inconveniences which do not go to the defeat of the right itself may well be submitted to in such a time without a compromise of the dignity or honor of a just and friendly nation.” Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Burton, May 29, 1861. MSS. Inst., Colombia. That consuls are not entitled to use their official agencies for correspondence for the carrying of communications to an enemy of the place of their residence, see Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Adams, Oct. 22, 1861, infra, § 119. S. Mis. 162-VOL. I -42 657 |