Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 54 Part 2.djvu/536

 1756 Officer as adminis- trator of estate. Representative of nonesident heirs, etc. Receipt of share of nonresident benefici- ary. Jurisdiction in mar- itime cases. Crimes on private vessels in territorial waten. TREATIES [54 STAT. a national and within whose district the deceased made his home at the time of death, shall, so far as the laws of the country permit and pending the appointment of an administrator and until letters of administration have been granted, be deemed qualified to take charge of the property left by the decedent for the preservation and protection of the same. Such consular officer shall have the right to be appointed as administrator within the discretion of a tribunal or other agency controlling the administration of estates provided the laws of the place where the estate is administered so permit. Whenever a consular officer accepts the office of administrator of the estate of a deceased countryman, he subjects himself as such to the jurisdiction of the tribunal or other agency making the appoint- ment for all necessary purposes to the same extent as a national of the country where he was appointed. ABrca IX A consular officer of either High Contracting Party shall within his district have the right to appear personally or by delegate in all matters concerning the administration and distribution of the estate of a deceased person under the jurisdiction of the local author- ities for all such heirs or legatees in said estate, either minors or adults, as may be non-residents and nationals of the country repre- sented by the said consular officer, with the same effect as if he held their power of attorney to represent them, unless such heirs or lega- tees themselves have appeared, either in person or by duly authorized representative. A consular officer of either High Contracting Party may on behalf of his non-resident countrymen collect and receipt for their dis- tributive shares derived from estates in process of probate or ac- cruing under the provisions of so-called Workmen's Compensation Laws or other like statutes, for transmission through channels pre- scribed by his Government to the proper distributees. ARTILE X A consular officer shall have exclusive jurisdiction over contro- versies arising out of the internal order of private vessels of his coun- try, and shall alone exercise jurisdiction in cases, wherever arising, between officers and crews, pertaining to the enforcement of discipline on board, provided the vessel and the persons charged with wrong- doing shall have entered a port within his consular district. Such an officer shall also have jurisdiction over issues concerning the ad- justment of wages and the execution of contracts relating thereto provided, however, that such jurisdiction shall not exclude the juris- diction conferred on local authorities under existing or future laws. When an act committed on board of a private vessel under the flag of the State by which the consular officer has been appointed and within the territorial waters of the State to which he has been appointed constitutes a crime according to the laws of that State, subjecting the person guilty thereof to punishment as a criminal, the

�