Mr. Burlingame to Mr. Seward,
No. 129.]
Legation of the United States,
Peking,
February 9, 1867.
Sir: Please find enclosed a letter to me from
Sir Rutherford Alcock, the British minister, in relation to the relative
rank of commanders and consuls. In the British navy a commander ranks
with a vice-consul, and must therefore pay the first visit of courtesy
to a consul. In our United States Navy Regulations (Article 107, p. 17)
the commander of a vessel of the navy on arriving at a foreign port is
directed to call in person and pay the first visit to the diplomatic
functionaries of the United States thereat, whose rank is of and above
that of consul general; if the officer is of lower rank than consul
general, he is to offer [Page 456] him a
passage to the ship. It may be said in reply to the British minister
that these grades are made for one’s own service, and that naval
officers are not under official obligations to call upon the consuls of
any but their respective countries.
In the east, however, the question of rank may arise in many ways, and it
is desirable that there should be an understanding. It would seem by our
rule that when a commander is in command of a vessel, he has the rank of
captain. or ranks a consul of his own country. Such is now Shufeldt’s
position. He commands the Wachusett, and I can well understand why he
does not feel it his duty to pay greater courtesy to a foreign consul
than to his own.
I am well acquainted with Commodore Shufeldt, and know him to be a
gentlemen who would not for himself raise questions of etiquette, but
like most of the gallant officers who fought in the late war, he has a
pardonable sensitiveness for his country.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D.C.
Sir Rutherford Alcock to
Mr. Burlingame
Peking,
January 28, 1867.
Sir: I have recently received a despatch
from her Majesty’s acting consul at Swatow, requesting information
as to the relative rank and precedence of commanders in the United
States navy and consuls. There appears to be a difference in the
rules adopted compared with those of Great Britain, and I believe
other European states. With us a commander of the royal navy ranks
with a vice-consul, and a captain with a consul; but each takes
precedence in these ranks before the consular officers of equal
grade. In accordance with this rule, it is the duty of a consul to
make the first call on a captain in the royal navy, and to receive
it from a commander.
It is the usage for her Majesty’s consuls in China and Japan to pay
the same visits of courtesy to the officers in command of ships of
foreign states when they enter the ports; but Mr. Swinhoe writes
that he was placed in some difficulty lately when the United States
sloop of war, the Wachusett, Commander Schufeldt, arrived at Amoy.
He was desirous of showing the same attention to that officer that
he would have paid to a commander in her Majesty’s navy, but was
precluded, by the regulations of his own service, from paying a
first visit; and in conferring with his colleague, the United States
consul, he was informed that, by the regulations of the United
States, a commander when commanding is entitled to the first call
from any United States consular officer under the rank of a consul
general; and consequently no interchange of courtesies could take
place.
If the title of commander does not give the same rank in the naval
services of the two countries, I should be glad to receive any
information on the subject, and in the event of a difference
existing, it might promote a good understanding between the naval
officers of the United States and the consular officers of other
countries, to the advantage of both, and be otherwise desirable, if
some communication took place between the two governments on the
subject.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
His Excellency the honorable Anson
Burlingame, &c., &c.,
&c.
