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the United States and Austria, Belgium, Columbia, Denmark, Domi -

nican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kongo Free State

Netherlands, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Sweden & Nor-

way and Tripoli, the United States have secured to their

Consular Officers jurisdiction over all transactions oc-

curring on board vessels of the United States, lying in a fo-

reign port,whether in the nature of contracts, torts,o

or

crimes,so far as they concern only the vessels and their

cargoes and the persons belonging on board and do not con-

cern the public peace of the country, or the rights of per-

sons not belonging on board.

In absence of treaty regulations, it may be

stated as a general principle (120 U.S. I) that from expe-

rience, it was found long ago that it would be beneficial to

commerce if the local Government would abstain from inter-

fering with the internal discipline of the merchant vessels

of a foreign Government and the general regulation of the

rights and duties of the Officers and Crew toward the vesse

or among themselves.

And so by comity, it came to be generally un-

derstood among civilized nations, that all matters of disci-

pline and all things done on board, which affected only the

vessel or those belonging to her, and did not involve the

peace and dignity of the country or the tranquillity of the

port, should be left by the local Government to be dealt

with by the Authorities of the nation to which the vessel

belonged