No. 232.
Mr. Noyes
to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States,
Paris, May 7, 1880.
(Received May 19.)
No. 346.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith, for the
information of the State Department, copies of a communication recently
addressed by me to the French minister for foreign affairs, and his answer
thereto, regarding the rights of the United States consul-general to take
possession of and administer upon the effects of American citizens dying in
France.
It will be observed that the French Government holds that in principle all
such estates must be administered in the courts of the country, and that the
United States consul-general has of right no authority in the premises.
This decision is at variance with the custom heretofore prevailing, and is
based, as will be seen, upon the absence of a treaty stipulation upon the
subject between the two countries and upon the failure of reciprocity under
the method of administration adopted in the United States regarding the
estates of Frenchmen dying there.
I have, &c.,
[Page 360]
[Inclosure 1 in No. 346.]
Mr. Noyes to Mr.
de Freycinet.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a
communication from Mr. George Walker, consul-general of the United
States at Paris, with reference to the estate, or that portion of the
estate which is in France, of Theodore Gentil, deceased, an American
citizen at the time of his death.
Your excellency will observe that the property of Mr. Gentil was taken
possession of by the United States consul-general, and the seals of the
consulate were affixed in accordance with the custom heretofore
prevailing.
The effects have been advertised for sale on the 29th of the present
month. But it seems that the juge de paix of the
eighth arrondissement has intervened, and that French seals have been
placed over those of the United States consulate-general, for what
reason the United States consul-general is not informed.
Feeling that the obstructions above stated are unwarranted, I send this
communication calling attention thereto, requesting that the French
Government will inquire into the same, and that if possible a solution
may be reached in season for the sale to proceed as advertised and
fixed, namely, on the 29th instant.
There are many wealthy Americans residing in Paris, and it is of course
important for them to know whether, in case of death, their estates are
to be administered in accordance with the precedents heretofore
existing, or whether another rule will be established. I have
entertained no doubt but that the French Government will consider the
subject in a friendly spirit when its attention is called thereto.
Mr. Gentil was clearly an American citizen. He left, so far as known, no
heirs in France. There are no debts which the consul-general of the
United States is not prepared to discharge. I cannot think that the
interference of the juge de paix is warranted or
that it will be approved by the French authorities under the
circumstances.
I beg leave respectfully to urge your excellency to have the matter
inquired into as soon as possible, as the case is pressing, and delaying
the sale will bring serious loss to the estate, for the reasons pointed
out by Consul-General Walker, and as the principle involved is an
important one to United States citizens residing in Paris.
I avail, &c.,
[Inclosure 2 in No.
346.—Translation.]
Mr. de Freycinet to
Mr. Noyes.
Sir: By the letter which you did me the honor
to write me the 26th of this month, you called my attention to a
difficulty which had arisen between Mr. George Walker, consul-general of
the United States, and the justice of the peace of the eighth
arrondissement in regard to placing the seals, done concurrently by
these two authorities, upon the domicile of Mr. Theodore Gentil, an
American citizen, deceased at Paris, 9 rue Lincoln, the 3d of April
last.
You express to me on this subject the opinion that the intervention of
our magistrate was not justified under the circumstances in question,
and you ask that measures be taken in order that Mr. Walker may, from
this time, and in analogous cases that may arise in the future, be
permitted to exercise those functions which the consular regulations of
the United States confer upon him upon the death of American citizens in
France.
I regret that I am not able to give you as complete a satisfaction upon
this point as you might have desired.
In the absence of formal conventional stipulations concerning the
regulation of the estates of citizens of the United States dying in
France, the American consuls do not possess, by any title, the right of
placing seals upon the domicile of one of their deceased countrymen, nor
even that of crossing their seals, under such circumstances, with those
of the French authorities, this right constituting a privilege accorded
only to the consular representatives of nations with which we are bound
by special arrangements.
The principle of reciprocity on which this privilege is founded cannot
even be invoked, since the estates of Frenchmen dying in the United
States are, in the actual state of our relations, regulated exclusively
by the American authorities.
The justice of the peace of the eighth arrondissement does not,
therefore, appear to me to have exceeded his powers in regard to the
Gentil estate, and I cannot in the
[Page 361]
name of principle have him instructed to modify
his conduct in analogous cases in future.
However, and in order to prove to you as far as possible the friendly
sentiments which animate us in regard to the United States and their
official representatives, I shall confer with the keeper of the seals in
order to see if it be not possible to establish a sort of understanding
between the justice of the peace and the consul-general of the United
States, so that the effects constituting the Gentil estate may be put
into the possession of those who have a right to the same without having
recourse to the judiciary.
Accept, &c.,
