US Presidency
1886

In the absence of such reliable information efficiency can scarcely be rewarded or its opposite corrected. Increasing competition in trade has directed attention to the value of the consular reports printed by the Department of State, and the efforts of the Government to extend the practical usefulness of these reports have created a wider demand for them at home and a spirit of emulation abroad. Constituting a record at the changes occurring in trade and of the progress of the arts and invention in foreign countries, they are much sought for by all interested in the subjects which they embrace. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury exhibits in detail the condition of the public finances and of the several branches of the Government related to his Department.