The same proceedings as the above are followed in case a citizen dies on the high seas “on either an American or a foreign vessel, and his effects are brought within a consular district”.
JUDICIAL DUTIES—IN NON-CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES.
The use of the term “non-christian”, which in the present day is giving place to “uncivilized”, is as old as the consular system itself; that is to say, it has come down to us from mediaeval times when the consular system originated. It might still have been retained had it not been for the progress of one country, Japan, which may be better described as civilized rather than Christian.
The judicial power of a consul, therefore, remains as a relic of mediaevalism, and it remains because the need remains; for just as civilized countries five hundred years ago were unwilling to look to the Turk for justice, so they are to-day, and treaties to that effect secure Turkish recognition of this humiliating state of things. As it is with Turkey so it is with China, Korea, Siam, Persia, Madagascar, Borneo, etc., the treaties varying considerably in each case.
This assumption of superiority by the self-styled civilized countries would be hard to justify on the ground of theoretical ethics, but apparently theoretical and practical or applied ethics sometimes diverge very widely, and when they do diverge no statesman hesitates as to which he shall follow.
From the tiresome details of Title XLVII, U. S. Revised Statutes, which deals fully with courts of this character, the following points may be gleaned:
(1) Cases arising between Americans are tried before American officers.
(2) Cases arising between Americans and others not natives are arranged by their respective consular officers; in Turkey they are tried in the consulate of the defendant.
(3) Cases arising between Americans and natives are tried before an American tribunal in China, Siam and Madagascar; before a mixed tribunal in Persia, the Barbary States and Turkey.
It is rather startling to notice the power entrusted to one man, as is done by our government in the case of the consuls to these countries. A consul, for instance, can issue a warrant for the arrest of a man merely upon his own initiative, and can then proceed to try him, he himself acting as judge and jury. He first submits a list of men to the minister, who selects from one to four to sit with him in the trial as advisers. These advisers must record and sign their judgment of the case, but it is the consul’s judgment that condemns or acquits.