vised Statutes of the United States relating to the District of Columbia and Post Roads, together with Public Treaties in force on the 1st day of December, 1873," and in the volume of Public Treaties, 1887. Copies of individual treaties will be furnished by the Department upon applica tion. If the offense charged be a violation of a law of a State or Territory, the agent authorized by the President to receive the fugitive will be required to deliver him to the authorities of such State or Territory. If the offense charged be a violation of a law of the United States, the agent will be required to deliver the fugitive to the proper authorities of the United States for the judicial district having jurisdiction of the offense. Where the requisition is made for an offense against the laws of a State or Territory, the expenses attending the apprehension and delivery of the fugitive must be borne by such State or Territory. Expenses of extradition are defrayed by the United States only when the offense is against its own laws. A strict compliance with these requirements may save much delay and expense to the party seeking the extradition of a fugitive criminal. The Bureau of Commissions and Pardons also makes out and records the exequaturs by which this Government recognizes a consular officer of a foreign country. This duty has been a part of the Department's functions from the time of the Constitution, but all exequaturs were signed by the President up to 1879. Since then he has signed only those that recognize a Consul appointed by the head of the government he represents. Consuls who are appointed by an inferior officer are recognized upon the certificate of the Secretary of State. Probably the most important routine duties of the Department of State are those connected with the consular and diplomatic service. The Department of Foreign Affairs was formed with the chief object of taking under its charge these functions of government, and the methods of administration have not changed materially since the early days of the Republic. Making allowances for increased facilities of communication between the home office and its agents abroad, a study of the system followed now will indicate what it has always been. The correspondence with our diplomatic agents and those of foreign countries accredited to this country is a function of the Diplomatic Bureau. The notes from foreign ministers and dispatches from our legations to the Secretary of State are opened in the Bureau of Indexes and Archives, where they are indexed, and then sent to the Chief Clerk, by whom they are referred either to the Diplomatic Bureau direct or to the Secretary or Assistant Secretaries. Eventually all of them reach the Diplomatic Bureau, and are replied to there, the Bureau either initiating the replies or receiving instructions or drafts from the superior officers as to their nature. After signature by the Secretary, the communications are indexed in the Index Bureau and returned to the Diplomatic Bureau to be mailed. Intimately connected with these duties is the business of attending to the ceremonious correspondence between the President and the heads of foreign governments, and this also belongs to the Diplomatic Bureau. The letters of this character to the President announce public events, such as accessions to the presidency or to the throne in foreign states, deaths, marriages, or births in royal families, and from the President of the United States acknowledge the receipt of such letters. The envelope containing a letter thus sent by this Government is sealed with the seal of the United States and sent, with a copy, to our legation for transmission through the proper channel to the person to whom it is addressed. These communications are purely formal in their nature, and are regarded simply as interchanges of international courtesy. The preparation of letters of credence, which inform the head of a government of the appointment of a new diplomatic representative, and letters recalling a diplomatic representative are also functions of the Diplomatic Bureau. The returns of passports issued abroad by our diplomatic officers go to this Bureau before they are sent to the passport clerk, and the propriety of their issuance is passed upon there, under directions from the Secretary or Assistant Secretaries. All correspondence of a miscellaneous character relating to diplomatic affairs and a considerable portion relating to foreign affairs are under this Bureau. In the negotiation of treaties the Bureau acts as the medium of correspondence; and the drafts of treaties, full powers to negotiate and exchange them, protocols of exchange, and final exchange copies are prepared there. After final signature the copy intended for this Government is sent for safe-keeping to the Bureau of Rolls and Library. Proclamations by the President are engrossed in the Diplomatic Bu reau. For the greater facilitation of its business the Bureau is arranged in divisions. Division A has in its charge correspondence with AustriaHungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, the Netherlands, Roumania, Servia, and Switzerland, and miscel |