ALTERATION OF SIGNATURES IN ACTS OR TREATIES

ART. VII. In Acts or Treaties between several Powers that admit alternity, the order which is to be observed in the signatures of Ministers shall be decided by ballot.1

ART. VIII. It is agreed between the Five Courts that Ministers Resident accredited to them shall form, with respect to their Precedence, an intermediate class between Ministers of the Second Class and Chargés d'Affaires.”

2

To the articles, except the last, Austria, Spain, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden were parties. Spain, Portugal, and Sweden were not parties to the eighth article. Theoretically these rules are binding only upon those states parties to the treaties, but practically they are accepted by all civilized states.

The four grades are as follows:

1. Ambassadors, legates, and nuncios.

2. Envoys, ministers, or other persons accredited to sovereigns.

3. Ministers resident.

4. Chargés d'affaires.

The first three grades are accredited to the sovereign. The fourth grade, chargés d'affaires, is accredited to the minister of foreign affairs.

The rank of the agent does not necessarily have any relation to the importance of the business which may be intrusted to him. The titles given to the different

1 I. Hertslet, 62, 63.

2 I. Hertslet, 575. These rules have been adopted by the U. S. Department of State.

diplomatic agents, at the present time, are in a general way descriptive, as follows:

(1) Diplomatic agents of the first class are held to represent the person of the sovereign. Ambassador ordinary usually designates one holding a permament mission. Ambassador extraordinary designates one on a special mission, or having power to act in exceptional circumstances. This, however, is most often a title of somewhat superior honor giving no other advantage. Papal legates rank, and for practical purposes, are, ambassadors extraordinary, though representing particularly ecclesiastical affairs and the Pope as head of the Church. Legates are chosen from the cardinals. and sent to countries recognizing the papal supremacy. Nuncios of the Pope rank as ambassadors ordinary on a permanent mission, and are usually intrusted with power to transact general affairs.1

(2) Envoys extraordinary, envoys ordinary, and ministers plenipotentiary have in general the same functions and rank. With these rank the papal internuncio. The general idea is that the agents of the second class do not stand for the person of the sovereign, but for the state.

(3) Ministers resident are regarded as upon a less important mission than the agents of the first or second class. They are frequently sent by the greater powers to the lesser powers.

(4) Chargés d'affaires ceremonially rank below the ministers resident. They are accredited to the minister of foreign affairs, while members of the first three classes are accredited to the sovereign. A chargé d'affaires may perform the functions of the higher grades 1 Calvo, § 1328 ff.

of agents and has the same general privileges. When a consul is charged with a diplomatic mission he ranks with the chargés d'affaires. Commissioners on various missions are sometimes accorded the same rank; but, as they do not bear the title, commissioners cannot claim the rank of the chargé d'affaires, though in their functions there may be no difference.

There is no rule as to the grade of diplomatic agent which one state shall send to another, though it was formerly held that only states entitled to royal honors could send ambassadors. It is now customary for states to agree among themselves as to the relative rank of their diplomatic agent. Thus the United States by a recent act provided that "whenever the President shall be advised that any foreign government is represented or is about to be represented in the United States by an ambassador, envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary, minister resident, or special, envoy or chargé d'affaires, he is authorized in his discretion to direct that the representative of United States to such government shall bear the same designation. This provision shall in no wise affect the duties, powers, or salary of such representative." 1

The rank of a diplomatic agent is a mark of dignity and honor particularly of consequence in matters of etiquette and ceremonial. Reciprocity between states is the general rule in the grade of agents. The old theory that agents of the first rank had access to the ear of the sovereign is no longer held, and all grades alike represent both the sovereign and the state from which they come.

1 March 1, 1893, 27 U. S. Sts. at Large, c. 182.

§ 71. Suite

The personnel of a mission may be distinguished as the official and the non-official.

(a) The official suite consists of the functionaries, and varies in number according to the dignity and importance of the mission. Formerly the number wast scrutinized with great care, owing to the fear that a numerous suite might endanger the safety of the receiving state. The official suite may include, (1) the counsel to the mission, (2) the secretaries, (3) the attachés, military, naval, and others, (4) the interpreters and dragomans, (5) the clerks and accountants, (6) the couriers, (7) the chaplain, (8) the doctor, and in some instances other officers necessary for the performance of the official functions.

(b) The non-official suite includes the family of the diplomatic agent and those in his household employ. This may include, beside his immediate family, (1) the private chaplain, (2) the private doctor, (3) the private secretaries, (4) the domestic servants of various grades.

§ 72. Who may send Diplomatic Agents

It is the general rule that sovereign states only may send ambassadors or other diplomatic agents. Sometimes diplomatic relations are maintained between states when both are not fully sovereign, as in the relations between Bavaria, a member of the German Empire, and France. In general, where the sovereignty of a state is not complete, its right of legation is fixed by the treaty which impairs its sovereignty. A state which has not

full sovereign powers may have a partial right of legation, either active or passive, or a right to send diplomatic agents with limited functions.

The sending of a diplomatic agent is essentially an act of the sovereign person, whether he be a monarch, president, council, or have other title. The domestic

law determines who this person shall be. International law makes no distinction.

In each state a department, usually called the department of foreign affairs, has the business of international intercourse in charge. The organization of this department and the general methods are matters of domestic law. All foreign states need to know is to what extent this department is competent to carry on negotiations.

§ 73. Who may be Sent

Before actually sending a diplomatic agent, a state usually obtains assurance from the receiving state that the proposed agent will be an acceptable person. If the proposed agent is a persona non grata, it is held that the foreign state is not obliged to give its reasons. for refusing to receive him. To refuse a given person does not imply any lack of courtesy to the sending state on the part of the refusing state. A state may refuse to receive one of its own citizens as the minister of a foreign state. Sometimes states have refused to receive those who have in the sending state taken positions manifesting hostile disposition toward the receiving state.

In 1885 the Italian government refused to receive Mr. Keily as United States representative on the

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