THE CUBA REVIEW 15 



It is not infrequently necessary to protect American trade in a manner equally direct. 

 In a part of Mongolia from which commodities valued at $15,000,000 were shipped to the 

 United States in 1920, trade recently ceased. Money had been invested, but permission 

 to move merchandise from the country was denied. The Consul, supported by the Ameri- 

 can Minister, took charge of the situation with the result that in a few days shipments 

 valued at $150,000 were released, three American firms had sent representatives to open 

 business relations with the district, and obstacles to future trade were removed. 



The many other cases of protection and relief ranged from finding lost relatives and 

 shielding well-meaning but indiscreet American travelers from the legal consequences of 

 their rash acts to rescuing indigent relatives from starvation and death. 



Consuls Conserve Estates 



Another function which Consuls perform under the Department of State is that of 

 conserving the estates of American citizens dying abroad. The statutes of the United 

 States make the Consul the provisional conservator of the personal estate of such persons 

 in so far as the laws of the foreign country may permit; require him to take such estates 

 into his possession, dispose of perishable goods at public sale, collect the debts due the 

 deceased in the country where the death occurred, pay the debts there contracted and 

 finally to account to the legal representatives in the United States or to the Treasurer of 

 the United States. Last year Consuls reported 1,010 deaths of American citizens abroad 

 and settled 607 estates. One of these was that of an American electrical engineer in far- 

 away Afghanistan; another that of the victim of a train wreck in Spain; and one that of 

 a man who died in Mexico, for whose relatives the Department of State is still searching 

 in order that they may receive the proceeds of the personal estate which he left. 



Citizenship and the doctrines of allegiance enter into all appeals for protection and 

 assistance by Americans abroad. In every appeal for aid there must be considered the 

 question of the right of the person making the demand and invoking the protection of the 

 American Government. In order to make immediately effective the assistance of the 

 Government in proper cases Americans residing abroad are called upon annually to regis- 

 ter at American consulates and prove their right to continued protection. In these days 

 of general passport requirements Consuls have many duties in connection with the issue 

 or verification of passports. Last year consular officers registered 6,585 Americans and 

 performed passport services numbering in all 150,117. 



What is known as the alien visa control has imposed upon consular officers a tre- 

 mendous burden of work. The activities of the enemy during the war made it necessary 

 for the Government to establish very direct control over travel and hence each person 

 was required to have a passport and to have it visaed by the Consul of the country into 

 which the traveler intended to go. The system proved so valuable that when the armistice 

 was signed it was decided to retain the visa control system as a protection against world 

 revolutionists and fanatics who were attempting to spread their propaganda to create 

 unrest and provoke movements subversive of the best interests of the country. 



The United States was looked upon as an especially fertile field for the activities of 

 persons of this description. The visa system aimed to keep them out of this country and 

 was and is administered by consular officers. In 1920 the great wave of migration started. 

 It was the American Consul's duty to sift from the thousands of prospective immigrants 

 the undesirables, the Bolshevists and the anarchists. The passports of 657.968 aliens 

 bound for the United States were visaed by our Consuls abroad during the past year. 

 Many frauds were uncovered, gangs of crooks manufacturing and selling fraudulent 

 passports were discovered in many places in Europe and were broken up. Their passports 

 were traced to the ports of the United States. Of thirty-five passports examined at one 

 port five were found to be fraudulent. At another port thirty-one fraudulent visas were 

 found upon one America-bound steamer, while examination at another port led to the dis- 

 covery of persons dealing in fraudulent passports through whom 390 false passports were 

 placed in circulation within one month. Counterfeit passports cleverly copied, rubber 

 stamps for visas, counterfeit fee stamps and seals — all were found and destroyed and 

 the practices stopped. 



