The Sun. — London, England, 1865-12-16 00:00:00

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. - The following is the full text of President John son's Message to Congress : Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Repre sentatives— To express gratitude to God, in the name of the people, for the preservation of the United States, is my first duty in addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President by an act of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh; it finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the chief magistracy, to which he had been elected ; that he brought the civil war subsequently to a close ; that his loss was deplored in all parts of the Union; and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory. His removal cast upon me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved upon any one of his predecessors. To fulfil my trust I need the support and confidence of all who are associated with me in the various departments of Government, and the support and confidence of the people. There is but one way in which I can hope to gain their necessary aid; it is to state with frankness the principles whichguide my conduct, and their application to the present state of affairs, well aware that the efficiency of my labours will, in a great measure, depend on your and their undivided approbation. The Union of the United States of America was intended by its authors to last as long as the States themselves shall last. " The Union shall be perpetual" are the words of the Confederation. "To form a more perfect Union," by an ordinance of the people of the United States, is the de clared purpose of the constitution. The hand of Divine Providence was never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the framing and the adopting of that instru ment. It is, beyond comparison, the greatest event in American history; and indeed is it not, of all events in modern times, the most pregnant with conse quences for every people of the earth ? The mem bers of the Convention which prepared it, brought to their work the experience of the confederation of their several States, and of other Republican Governments, old and new; but they needed and they obtained a wisdom superior to experience. And when for its validity it re quired the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a continent and acted separately in many distinct con ventions, what is more wonderful than that, after earnest contention and long discussion, all feelings and all opi nions were ultimately drawn in one way to its support ? The constitution to which life was thus imparted con tains within itself ample resources for its own preservation. It has power to enforce the laws, punish treason, and . in sure domestic tranquillity. In the case of the usurpation of the Government of a State by one man, or an oligarchy, it becomes a duty of the United States to make good the guarantee to that State of a republican form of government, and so to maintain the homogeneousness of all. Does the lapse of time reveal defects? A simple mode of amend ment is provided in the constitution itself, so that its con ditions can always be made to conform to the requirements of advancing civilisation. No room is allowed even for the thought of a possibility of its coming to an end. And these powers of self-preservation have always been asserted in their complete integrity by every patriotic Chief Magis trate—by Jefferson and Jackson, not less than by Wash ington and Madison. The parting advice of the Father of his Country, while yet President, to the people of the United States, was, that " the free constitution, which was the work of their hands, might be sacredly maintained ;" and the inaugural words of President Jefferson held up " the preservation of the general government, in its con stitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad." The constitution is the work of the people of the United States, and it should be as inde structible as the people. Is it not strange that the framers of the constitution, which had no model in the past, should not have fully compre hended the excellence of their own work. Fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power, many patriots suffered from harassing fears of an absorption of the State Govern ments by the General Government, and many from a dread that the States would break away from their orbits. But the very greatness of our country should allay the apprehensions of encroachments by the general govern ment. The subjects that come unquestionably within its jurisdiction are so numerous that it must ever naturally refuse to be embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise, the Executive would sink beneath the burden; the channels of justice would be choked; legis lation would be obstructed by excess ; so that there is greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the general government through the States than to trespass on their rightful sphere. "The absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority" was, at the beginning of the century, enforced by Jefferson "as the vital principle of republics," and the events of the last four years have esta blished, we will hope for ever, that there lies no appeal to force. The maintenance of the Union brings with it " the sup port of the State governments in all their rights ;" but it is not one of the rights of any State government to renounce its own place in the Union, or to nullify the laws of the Union. The largest liberty is to be maintained in the dis cussion of the acts of the Federal Government ; but there is no appeal from its laws, except to the various branches of that government itself, or to the people, who grant to the members of /the Legislative and of the Executive De partments no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner always retain the power of redress. " Tho sovereignty of the States" is the language of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains the emphatic words : " The Constitu tion, and the laws of tho United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Con stitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwith standing." Certainly the Government of the United States is a limited government; and so is every State government a limited government. With us, -this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administration, general, State, and municipal, and rests on the great distinguishing principle of the recognition of the rights of man. The ancient re publics absorbed the individual in the State, prescribed his religion, and controlled his activity. The American system rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; ; to freedom of conscience, to the culture and exercise of all his faculties. As a consequence, the State Government is limited, as to the General Government in the interests of Union, as to individual citizen in the interest of freedom. States, with proper limitations of power, are essential to the existence of the Constitution of the United States. At the very commencement, when we assume a place among the powers of the earth, the declaration of independence was adopted by states; so also were the Articles of Con federation ; and when "the People of the United States " ordained and established the constitution, it was the assent of the States, one by one, which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the constitution, the pro position of Congress needs the confirmation of States. Without States one great branch of the legislative go vernment would be wanting. And, if we look beyond the letter of the constitution to the character of our country, its capacity for comprehending within its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is due to the system of States. The best security for the perpetual existence of the states is the "supreme authority" of the constitu tion of the States. The perpetuity of the constitution brings with it the perpetuity of the States; their mutual relation makes us what - we are, and in our political system their connection is indissoluble. The whole cannot exist without the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So long as the constitution of the United States endures, the States. will endure ; th e d estruction of the one is the de struction of the other ; the preservation of the one is the preservation of the other. I have thus explai ne d my views of the mutual relations of the Constitution y and the St ates, because they unfold the principles on which I have so ug h t to solve the momentous questions and overcome the appalling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my administ ra ti on. It has been lay steadfast object to escape from t h e sway of momentary passions, and to derivo a healin g policy for th e fundamental and unchanging principles of the constitution. I found the States suffering from the effects of a civil war. Resistance to the general government appeared to have exhausted itself. The United States had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals, and theirarmies were in the occupation of every State which had attempted to secede. Whether the territory within the limits of those States should be hold as conquered territory, under military authority emanating from the President as the head of the army, was the first question that presented itself for de cision. Now, military governments, established for an indefinite period, would have offered no security for the early sup pression of discontent ; would have divided the people into vanquishers and vanquished ; an d wou ld h ave en v e nomed hatred rather than restored affection. Once established, no pvroeuicisde l h ire av it, e tothck continuance was conceivable. They occasioned an incalculable and exhausting expense. Peaceful ul ' ration to and from that portion of the count r y i s one oeftilf° harmony best means that can be th o u g ht of for the re s t oration of and that emigration would have been prevented for ; what emigrant from abroad, what industrious citiz en at home, would place him self willingly under military rule? The chief p ersons w h o wo uld have followed in th e train ooe f v the army wou ld h ave g been dependents on the general ?lament, or who ex pected profit from the miseries of their errin g f e n ow-citi zens. The powers of patronage and rulgre ewhich would have been exercised, u nder the Pr esident , over a a vast, t and populous, and naturally w ealth y re gion, are than, unless under extreme necess i ty , I sh ould be willing. t for nl y B elf, ?could never, to any one man ; they are such as, never, unless on occasions of great emergency, consent I to exercise. The wilful use of such powers, if continued through a period of years, would have endangered th e purity of the general administration and the liberties of the States which remained loyal. Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered te rr itory taa ts would have implied that the States whose inhabi tants ra se a7have taken part in the rebellion had, by the act tho inhabitants, ceased to exist. But the true theory P. , that all pretended acts of secession were, from the be ginning, null and void. The States cannot commit treason, nor screen the individual citizens who may have committed treason, any more than they can nu ke valid treaties or engage in lawful commerce with any foreign Power. The States attemptitg to secede paced them selves in a condition where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished—their functions suspended, but not de stroyed. But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its offices, there is themore need that the General Government should maintain all its authority, and, as soon as practicable, re sume the exercise of all its functions. On this principle I have acted, and have gradually and quietly and by almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the rightful energy of the General Government and of the States. To that end provisional governors have been appointed for the States, conventions called, governors elected, Legislatures as sembled, and senators and representatives chosen to the Congress of the United States. At the same time, the courts of the United States, as far as could be done, have been re-opened, so that the laws of the United States may be enforced through their agency. The blockade has been removed and the custom houses re-established in ports of entry, so that the revenue of the United States may be collected. The Post-office department renews itsceaseless activity, and the General Government is thereby enabled to communicate promptly with its officers and agents. The courts bring security to persons and property ; the open ing of the ports invites the restoration of industry and commerce, the post-office renews the facilities of social in tercourse and of business. And is it not happy for us all that the restoration of each one of these functions of the General Government brings with it a blessing to the State over which they aro extended? Is it not a sure promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the Union that, after all that has happened, the return of the General Government is known only as a beneficence ? I know very well that the policy is attended with some risk; that for its success it requires at least the acquies cence of the States which it concerns ; that it implies an invitation to those States, by renewing their allegiance to the United States, to resume their functions as States of the Union. But it is a risk that must be taken ; in the choice of difficulties it is the smallest risk ; and to dimi nish, and, if possible, to remove all danger, I have felt it incumbent upon me to assert one other power of the gene ral government—the power of pardon. As no State can throw a defence over the crime of treason, the power of pardon is exclusively vested in the Executive Government of the United States. In exercising that power, I have taken every precaution to connect it with the clearest re cognition of the binding force of the laws of the United States, and an unqualified acknowledgment of the great social change of condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war. The next step which I have taken to restore the consti tutional relations of the States has been an invitation to them to participate in the high office of amending the con stitution. Every patriot must wish for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety. For this great end there is need of a concurence of all opinions, and the spirit of mutual conciliation. All parties in the late terrible conflict must work together in harmony. It is not much to ask, in the name of the whole people, that on the one side the plin of restoration shall proceed with a willingness to cast the disorders of the past into oblivion; and that, on the other, the evidence of sincerity in the fu ture maintenance of the Union shall be put beyond any doubt by the ratification of the proposed amendment to the constitution which provides for the abolition of slavery for ever within the limits of our country. So long as the adoption of this amendment is delayed, so long will doubt, and jealousy, and uncertainty prevail. This is the measure which will efface the sad memory of the past ; this is the measure which will most cer tainly call population, and capital, and security to those parts of the Union that have the most need of them. Indeed, it is not too much to ask of the States which are now resuming their places in the family of the Union to give this pledge of perp&ual loyalty and peace. Until it is done, the past, however much we may desire it, will not be forgotten. The adoption of the amendment reunites us beyond all power of disruption. It heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed ; it re moves slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country; it makes of us once more a united people, renewed and strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support. The amendment in the constitution being adopted, it would remain for the States, whose powers have been so long in abeyance, to resume their places in the two branches of the National Legislature, and thereby com plete the work of restoration. Hero it is for you, fellow citizens of the Senate, and for you, fellow-citizens of the House of Representatives, to judge, each of you for your selves, of the elections, returns, and qualifications of your own members. The full assertion of the powers of the General Govern ment requires the holding of Circuit Courts of the United States within the districts where their authority has been interrupted. In the present posture of our public affairs, strong objections have been urged to holding those courts in any of the States where the rebellion has existed ; and it was ascertained, by inquiry, that the Circuit Court of the United States would not be held within the district of Virginia during the autumn or early winter, nor until Congress should have "an opportunity to consider and act on the whole subject." To your deliberations the re storation of this branch of the civil authority of the United States is therefore necessarily referred, with the early hope that early proTision will be made for the resumption of all its functions. It is manifest that treason, most flagrant in character, has been committed. Persons who are charged with its commission should have fair and im partial trials in the highest civil tribunals of the country, in order that the constitution and the laws may be fully vindicated ; the truth clearly established and affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors should be punished, and the offence made infamous ; and, at the same time, that the question may be judicially set tled, finally and for ever, that no State of its own will has the right to renounce its place in the Union. _ _ The relations of the General Government towards the four millions of inhabitants whom the war has called into freedom, have engaged my most serious consideration. On the propriety of attempting to make the freedmen electors by the proclamation of the Executive, I took for my counsel the Constitution itself, the interpretation of that instrument by its authors and their contemporaries, and recent legisla tion by Congress. When, at the first movement towards independence, the Congress of the United States instructed the several States to institute governments of their own, they left each State to decide for itself the conditions for the enjoyment of the elective franchise. During the period of the Confederacy, there continued to exist a very great diversity in the qualifications of electors in the several States; and even within a State a distinction of qualifica tions prevailed with regard to the officers who were to be chosen. The Constitution of the United States recog nises these diversities when it enjoins that, in the choice of members of the House of Representatives of the United States, "the electors in each State shall have the qualifi cations requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature." After the formation of the Con stitution it remained, as before, the uniform usage for each State to enlarge the body of its electors, according to its own judgment ; and, under this system, one State after another has proceeded to increase the number of its elec tors, until now universal suffrage, or something very near it, is the general rule. So fixed was this reservation of power in the habits of the people, find so unquestioned has been the interpretation of the Constitution, that during the civil war the late President never harbored the purpose— certainly never avowed the purpose —of disregarding it ; and in the acts of Congress, during that period, nothing can be found which, during the continuance of hostilities, much less after their close, would have sanctioned any depar ture aby the Executive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. Moreover, a concession of the elec tive franchise to the freedmen, by act of the President of the United States, must have been extended to all coloured men, wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and Western States, not less than in the Southern and South-Western. Such an act would have created a new class of voters, and would have been an assumption of power by the President which nothing in the constitution or laws of the United States would have warranted. On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided when the settlement of the question is referred to the seve ral States. Th ey can, each for itself, decide on the mea sure, and whether it is to be adopted at once and absolutely or introduced gradually and with conditions. In my judg eonb,taifhtihaevyaerhtiooiwpaptiaotnie tmueens,t,wthilel sooner n l y f r v a i u r -- in ne t h a e n elective m a chise through the States than through Go vernment, even if it h ad powor tointervene.the General tumult of emotions that h ave been raised by When the t t he sudden ness of the social change shall h ave subsided, i that they will receive the ki n dli est usage from some prove those on whom they have heretofore most some of closely de pended. But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, it is not competent for the General Government to extend the elective franchise in the several St ates, it is equally clear that good faith requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and their property, their right to labour, and their right to claim the just return o f their labour. I cannot too strongly urge a dispas sionate treatment of this subject, which should be We must carefully kept aloof from all party strife • equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural impossi bility for the two rases to live side by side, in a state of mutual benefit and good-will. The experiment involves us in no inconsistency; let us, then, go on and make that experiment in good faith, and not be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of labour, and the freedmen are in need of employment, culture, and protection. While their right of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be questioned, I would not advise their forced removal and colonisation. Let us rather encourage them to honourable and useful industry, where it may be beneficial to them selves and to the country ; and, instead of hasty anticipa tions of the certainty of failure, let there be nothing wanting to the f a i r t r i a l o f the experiment. The change in their condition is the substitution of labour by contract for the status of slavery. The freedman cannot fairly be accused of unwillingness to work, so long as a doubt re mains about his freedom of choice in his pursuits, and the certainty of his recovering his stipulated wages. In this the interests of the employer and the employed coincide. The employer desires in his workman spirit and alacrity, and these can be permanently secured in no other way. And if the one ought to be able to enforce the con tract, so ought the other. The public interest will be best promoted, if the several States will provide adequate pro tection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some way accomplished, there is no chance for the advan tageous use of their labour ; and the blame of ill-success will not rest on them. I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the im mediate realisation of its remotest aims; but time is always an element in reform. It is one of the greatest acts on re cord to have brought four millions of people into freedom. The career of free industry must be fairly opened to them; and then their future prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly on themselves. ' If they fail, and so perish away, let us be careful that the failure shall not be attri butable to any denial of justice. In all that relates to the destiny of the freedmen, we need not be too anxious to read the future ; many incidents which, from a speculative point of view, might raise alarm, will quietly settle themselves. Now that slavery is at an end, the greatness of its evil, in the point of view of public economy, becomes more and more apparent. Slavery was essentially a monopoly of la bour, and as such locked the States where it prevailed against the incoming of free industry. Where labour was the property of the capitalist, the white man was excluded from employment, or had but the second best• chance of finding it; and the foreign emigrant turned‘away from the region where his condition would be so precarious. With tho destruction of the monopoly, free labour will hasten from all parts of the civilised world to assist in de veloping various and immeasurable resources which have hitherto lain dormant. The eight or nine States nearest the Gulf of Mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility, a climate friendly to long life, and can sustain a denser population than is found as yet in any part of our country. And the future influx of population to them will be mainly from the North, or from the most cultivated nations in Europe. From the sufferings that have attended them during our late struggle, let us look away to the future, which is sure to be laden for them with greater prosperity than has ever before been known. The removal of the monopoly of slave labour is a pledge that those regions will be peopled. by a numerous and enterprising population, which will vie with any in the Union in com pactness, inventive genius, wealth, and industry. Our Government springs from and was made for the people—not the people for the Government. To them it owes allegiance ; from them it must derive its courage, strength, and wisdom. But, while the Government is thus bound to defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it should, from the very consideration of its origin, be strong in its power of resistance to the establish ment of inequalities. Monopolies, perpetuities, and clas legislation are contrary to the genius of free government and ought not to be allowed. Here, there is no room for favoured classes or monopolies; the principle of our Go vernment is that of equal laws and freedom of industry. Wherever monopoly obtains a foothold, it is sure to be a source of danger, discord, and trouble. We shall but fulfil our duties as legislators by according "equal and exact justice to all men," special privileges to none. The Government is subordinate to the people ; but, as the agent and representative of the people, it must be held superior to monopolies, which, in themselves, ought never to be granted, and which where they exist, must be subordinate and yield to the government. The constitution confers on Congress the right to regu late commerce among the several states. It is of the first necessity, for the maintenance of the Union, that that commerce should be free and unobstructed. No state can be justified in any device to tax the transit of travel and commerce between states. The position of many states is such that, if they were allowed to take advantage of it for purposes of local revenue, the commerce between states might be injuriously burdened, or even virtually prohibited. It is best, while the country is still young, and while the tendency to dangerous monopolies of this kind is still feeble, to use the power of Congress so as to prevent any selfish impediment to the free circulation of men and merchandise. A tax on travel and merchandise, in their transit, constitutes one of the worst forms of monopoly, and the evil is increased if coupled with a de nial of the choice of route. When the vast extent of our country is considered, it is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of commerce between the States ought to be sternly guarded against by appropriate legislation, within the limits of the constitution. The report of the Secretary of the Interior explains the condition of thepubliclands, the transactions of the Patent office and the Pension-bureau, the management of our Indian affairs, the progress made in the construction of the Pacific Railroad, and furnishes information in reference to matters of local interest in the district of Columbia. It also presents evidence of the successful operation of the home stead Act, under the provisions of which 1,160,535 acres of the public lands were entered during the last fiscal year— more than one-fourth of the whole number of acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that period. It is esti mated that the receipts derived from this source are suffi cient to cover the expenses incident to the survey and disposal of the lands entered under this Act, and that pay ments in cash to the extent of from forty to fifty per cent. will be made by settlers, who may thus at any tiro acquire title before the expiration of the period at which it would otherwise rest. The homestead policy was established only after long and earnest resistance ; experience proves its wisdom. The lands, in the hands of industrious settlers, whose labour creates wealth and contributes to the public resources, are worth more to the United States than if they had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers. The lamentable events of the last four years, and the sacrifices made by the gallant men of our Army and Navy, have swelled the records of the Pension Bureau to an un precedented extent. On the 30th day of June last, the total number of pensioners was 85,986, requiring for their annual pay, exclusive of expenses, the sum of $8,023,445. The number of applications that have been allowed since that debt will require a large increase of this amount for the next fiscal year. The means for the payment of the stipends due, under existing laws, to our disabled soldiers and sailors, and to the families of such as have perished in the service of the country, will no doubt be cheerfully and promptly granted. A grateful people will not hesitate to sanction any measures having for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated and families made fatherless in the efforts to preserve our national existence. The report of the Postmaster-General presents an encou raging exhibit of the operations of the Post-office depart ment during the year. The revenues of the past year from the loyal States alone exceeded the maximum annual re ceipts from all the States previous to the rebellion in the sum of $6,038,091; and the annual average increase of re venue during the last four years, compared with the revenues of the four years immediately preceding the re bellion, was $3,533,845. The revenues of the last fiscal year amounted to $14,556,158, and the expenditure to $13,694,728, leaving a surplus of receipts over expenditure of $861,430. Progress has been made in restoring the postal service in the Southern States. The views presented by the Postmaster-General against the policy of granting subsidies to ocean mail steamship lines upon established routes, and in favour of continuing the present system, which limits the compensation for ocean service to the postage earnings, are recommended to the careful consi deration of Congress. It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Navy that, while at the commencement of the present year there were in commission 530 vessels of all classes and descrip tions, armed with 3,000 guns and manned by 51,000 men, the number of vessels at present in commission is 117, with 830 guns and 12,128 men. By this prompt reduction of the naval forces the expenses of the Government have been largely diminished, and a number of vessels, pur chased for naval purposes from the merchant marine, have been returned to the peaceful pursuits of commerce. -Since the suppression of active hostilities our foreign squadrons have been re-established, and consist of vessels much more efficient than those employed on similar service previous to the rebellion. The suggestion for the enlargement of the navy yards, and especially for the establishment of one in f lt r fo.ayrr e npoo.o s iodmr h ukp: - ) water for iron-clad vessels, is deserving of considera tion, as is also the recommendation for a different location and more ample grounds for the Naval Academy. In the report of the Secretary of War, a general summary is given of the military campaigns of 1864 and 1865, end ing in the suppression of the armed resistance to the na tional authority in the insurgent States. The operations of the general administrative Bureau of the War Depart ment during the past year are detailed, and an estimate made of the appropriations that will be required for mili tary purposes in the fiscal year coraraencing the 30th day of June, 1866. The national military force on the Ist of May, 1865, numbered 1,000,516 men. It is proposed to re duce the military establishment to a peace footing, com prehending 50,000 troops of all arms, organised so as to admit of an enlargement by filling up the ranks to 82,600, if the circumstances of the country should require an aug mentation of the army. The volunteer force has already been reduced by the discharge from service of over 800,000 opinion nafs a nlf n oc6n d : :2. ttoti oee the rf hl3e .dsee reduction . tprova department,ii e m 3e3 e n Bhil t Tis4b, :a i i4 s etd6ea p wl ; dau o ilir c av etheeesiedetnf estimates omt n r e g aactam r oe ansoppouai economy peace yt : e wi i n os rt worthy reducedtt hh h b yee lishment. The measures of retrenchment in each bureau of commendation. Reference is also diligent in the report y the necessity of pr ov idi ng for a uniform militia system, stem and to the propriety of maki ng su i table provision for wounded and disabled officers and soldiers. The revenue system of the country is a subject of vital interest to its honor and prosperity, and should command the earnest consideration of Congress. The Secretary the Treasury will lay before you a full and detailed report of thereceipts of f thereceipts and disbursements of the last fiscal year, of th e first quarter of the present fiscal year, of the probable re ceipts and expenditures for the other three quarters, a n d the estimates for the year following the 30th of June,lB66. I might content myself with a reference to that report, i n which you will find all the information required for your deliberation and decision. But the paramount importance of the subject so presses itself on my own mind, that I cannot but lay before you my views of the measure which THE SU.N, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1865. are required for the good character, sad, I might almost say, for the existence of this people. The life of a republic lies certainly in the energy, virtue, and intelligence of its citizens ; but it is equally true that a good revenue system is the life of an organised government. I meet you at a time when the nation has voluntarily burdened itself with a debt unprecedented in our annals. ,Vast as is its amount it fades away into nothing when conpared withthe count less blessings that will bo conferred Ipon our country and upon man by the preservation of the nation's life. Now, on the first occasion of the meeting >f Congress since the return of peace, it is of the utmost importance to inaugu rate a just policy, which shall at oxee be put in motion, and which shall commend itself to those who come after us for its continuance. We must aim tt nothing less than the complete effacement of the finalcial evils that neces sarily followed a state of civil war. We must endeavour to apply the earliest remedy to the leianged state of the currency, and not shrink from devising a policy which, without being oppressive to the peolle, shall immediately begin, to effect a reduction of the debt, and if persisted in, discharge it fully within a definitely fixed number of years. It is our first duty to prepare in ea'nest for our recovery from the ever-increasing evils of an kredeemable currency, without a sudden revulsion, and :et without untimely procrastination. For that end we nust, each in our re spective positions, prepare the way. I hold it the duty of the Executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditures; and a sparing economy is itself a gnat national resource. Of the banks to which authority hat been given to issue notes secured by bonds of the Unitec State; we may re quire the greatest moderation and prudence, and the law must be rigidly enforced when its lints are exceeded. We may, each one of us, counsel our actve and enterprising countrymen to be constantly on ther guard to liquidate debts contracted in a paper currency, and, by conducting business as nearly as possible on a lystem of cash pay ments or short credits, to hold themnlves prepared to re turn to the standard of gold and silver. To aid our fellow citizens in the prudent managemem of their monetary affair; the duty devolves on us to diminish by law the amount of paper money now in circulation. Five years ago the bank note circulation of the !ountry amounted to not much more than two hundred mllions ; now the cir culation, bank and national, exceeds seven hundred mil lions. The simple statement of the het recommends more strongly than any words of mine could do the necessity of our restraining this expansion. the gradual reduction of the currency is the only measure that can save the business of the country from disastrous calamities ; and this can be almost imperceptibly accomplished by gra dually funding the national circulation in securities that may be made redeemable at the pleasure of the Govern ment. Our debt is doubly secure—irst in the actual wealth and still greater undeveloped resources of the country ; and next in the character of our institutions. The most in telligent observers among political economists have not failed to remark that the public debt• of a country is safe in proportion as its people are free ; that the debt of a republic is the safest of all. Our history confirms and establishes the theory, and is, I firmly believe, destined' to give it a still more signal illustration. The secret of this superiority springs not merely from the fact that in a republic the national obligations are distributed more widely through countless numbers of all classes of society ; it has its root in the character of our laws. Here all men contribute to the public welfare, and bear their fair share of the public burdens. Dtring the war, under the impulses of patriotism, the men of the great bod/ of the people, without regard to their iwn comparative want of wealth, thronged to our armies and filled our fleets of war, and held themselves ready to offer their lives for the public good. Now,'in their turn, the property and income of the country shall bear their just proportion of the burden of taxation, while in our impost s; stem, through means of which increased vitality is incidentally imparted to all the industrial interests of the nation, the duties would be so adjusted as to fall most heaviy on articles of luxury, leaving the necessaries of life as free from taxation as the absolute wants of the Government, economically adminis tered, will justify. No favoured class should demand free dom from assessment, and the taxes should bo so adminis tered as not -to fall unduly on tie poor, but rather on the accumulated wealth of the country. We should look at the national debt just as it is—rot as a national blessing, but as a heavy burden on the industry of the country, to be discharged without necessar' - delay. It is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury that the expenditure for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1866, will exceed the receipts $112,194,947. It is gratify ing, however, to state that it is also estimated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th of June, 1867, will exceed the expenditures in the sum of $111,682,218. This amount, or so much as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose, may be applied to the reduction of the public debt, which, on the 31st day of October, 1865, was $2,740,854,750. Every reduction will diminish the total amount of inte rest to be paid, and still enlarge the means of still further reductions, until the whole shall be liquidated ; and this, as will be seen from the estimates of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be accomplished by annual payments even within a period not exceeding thirty years. I have faith that we shall do all this within a reasonable time ; that, as we have amazed the world by the suppression of a civil war which was thought to be beyond the control of any government, so we shall equally show the superiority of our Institutions by the prompt and faithful discharge of our national obligations. The Department of Agriculture, under its present direc tion, is accomplishing much in developing and utilising the vast agricultural capabilities of the country, and for information respecting the details of its management re ference is made to the annual report of the commissioner. I have dwelt thus fully on our domestic affairs because of their transcendent importance. Under any circum stances, our great extent of territory and variety of climate, producing almost everything that is necessary for the wants, and even the comforts of man, make us singularly independent of the varying policy of foreign Powers, and protects us against every temptatiot to "entangling alli ances," while at tho present moment the re-establishment of harmony, and the strength that comes from harmony, will be our best security against " nttions who feel power and forget right." For myself, it his been, and it will be, my constant aim to promote peace and amity with all foreign nations and powers; and I have every reason to believe that they all, without exception, are animated by the same disposition. Our relations with the Emperor of China, se recent in their organ, are most friendly. Our commerce with his dominions is receiving new develop ments, and it is very pleasing to fad that the Government of that great empire manifests satiefaction with our policy, and reposes just confidence in the fairness which marks our intercourse. The unbroken harmony between the United States and the Emperor of Russia is receiving a new support from an enterprise designed to carry tele graphic lines across the confined of Asia, through his dominions, and so to connect us w.th all Europe by a new channel of intercourse. Our comnerce with South Ame rica is about to receive encouragenent by a direct line of mail steamships to the rising Empire of Brazil. The distinguished party of men of science who have re• cently left our country to make a scientific exploration of the natural history and rivers and mountain ranges of that region, have received from the Emperor that generous welcome which was to have been expected from his con stant friendship for the United States, and his well-known zeal in promoting the advancement of knowledge. A hope is entertained that our commerce with the rich and popu lous countries that border tho Mediterranean sea may be largely increased. Nothing will be wanting, on the part of this Government, to extend the protection of our flag over the enterprise of our fellow citizens. We receive from the Powers in that region assurances of good will ; and it is worthy of note that a special envoy has brought us mes sages of condolence on the death of our late chief magis trate from the Bay of Tunis, whose rule includes the old dominions of Carthage, on the African coast. Our domestic contest, now happily ended, has left some traces in our relations with one at least of the great mari time Powers. The formal accordance of belligerent rights to the insurgent States was unprecedented, and has not been justified by the issue. But in the systems of neu trality pursued by the Powers which made that concession, there was a marked difference. The materials of war for the insurgent States were furnished, in a great measure, from the workshops of Great Britain, and British ships, manned by British subjects, and prepared for receiving British armaments, sailed from ports of Great Britain to make war on American commerce, under the shelter of a commission from the insurgent States. These ships having once escaped from British ports, ever afterwards entered them in every part of the world, to refit, and so to renew their depredations. The consequences of this con duct were most disastrous to the States then in rebellion, increasing their desolation and misery by the pro longation of our civil contest. It had, moreover, the effect, to a great extent, to drive the American flag from the sea, and to transfer much of our shipping and our commerce to the very Power whose subjects had created the necessity for such a change. These events took place before I was called to the administration of the Government. The sincere desire for peace by which I am animated led me to approve the proposal, already made, to submit the questions which had thus arisen between the countries to arbitration. These questions are of ;,such moment that they must have commanded the attention of the great Powers, and are so interwoven with the peace and interests of every one of them as to have ensured an impartial decision. I regret to inform you that Great Britain declined the arbitrament, but, on the other hand, invited us to the formation of a joint commission to settle mutual claims between the two countries, from which those for the depredations before mentioned should be excluded. The proposition, on that very unsatisfactory form, has been declined. The United States did not present the subject as an impeachment of the good faith of a Power which was pro fessing the most friendly dispositions, but as involving questions of public law, of which the settlement is essen tial to the peace of nations ; and, though pecuniary repa ration to their injured citizens would have followed inci dentally on a decision against Great Britain, such com pensation was not their primary object. They had a higher motive, and it was the interests of peace Land justice to establish important principles of in, ternational law. The correspondence will be placed before you. The ground on which the British Minister rests his justification is, sub stantially, that the municipal law of a nation, and the do mestic interpretations of that law, are the measuro of its duty as a neutral; and I feel bound to declare my opinion, before you and before the world, that that justification can not be sustained before the tribunal of nations. At the same time I do not advise to any present attempt at redress by acts of legislation. For the future, friendship between the two countries must rest on the basis of mutual justice. From the moment of the establishment of our free Con stitution, the civilised world has been convulsed by revolu tions in the interests of democracy or of monarchy ; but through all those revolutions the United States have wisely and firmly refused to become propagandists of re publicanism. It is the only Government suited to our con dition ; but we have never sought to impose it on others ; and we have consistently followed the advice of Wash ington to recommend it only by the careful preser vation and prudent use of the blessing. During all the intervening period the policy of European Powers and of the United States has, on the whole, been harmonious. Twice, indeed, rumours of the invasion of some parts of America, in the interest of monarchy, have prevailed ; twice my predecessors have had occasion to announce the views of this nation in respect to such interference. On both occasions the remonstrances of the United States was respected, from a deep conviction, on the part of European governments, that the system of non-interference and mutual abstinence from propagandism was the true rule for the two hemispheres. Since those times we have advanced in wealth and power, but we retain the same purpose to leave the nations of Europe to choose their own dynasties and form their own systems of government. The consis tent moderation may justly demand a corresponding moderation. We should regard it as a great calamity to ourselves, to the cause of good government, and to the peace of the world, should any European power challenge the American people, as it were, to the defence of repub licanism against foreign interference. We cannot foresee and are unwilling to consider, what opportunities might present themselves, what combinations might offer to pro tect ourselves against designs inimical to our form of go vernment. The United States desire to act in the future as they have ever acted heretofore ; they never will be driven from that course but by the aggression of European powers; and we rely on the wisdom and justice of those powers to respect the system of non-interference which has so long been sanctioned by time, and which, by its good results, has approved itself to both continents. The correspondence between the United States and France, in reference to questions which have become sub jects of discussion between the two governments, will, at a proper time, be laid before Congress. When, on the organisation of our government, un der the Constitution, the President of the United States delivered his inaugural address to the two houses of Congress, he said to them, and through them to the country and to mankind, that "the preserva tion of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of Government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked on the experiment in trusted to the American people." And the House of Re presentatives answered Washington by the voice of Madi son, "We adore the invisible hand which has led the Ame rican people, through so many difficulties, to cherish a con scious responsibility for the destiny of republican liberty." More than 76 years have glided away since these words wore spoken ; the United States have passed through severer trials than were foreseen ; and now, at this new epoch in our existence as one nation, with our Union puri fied by sorrows, and strengthened by conflict, and estab lished by the virtue of the people, the greatness of the occasion once more invites us to repeat, with solemnity, the pledges of our fathers to hold ourselves answerable before our fellow-men for the success of the republican form of government. Experience has proved its suffi ciency in peace and in war; it has vindicated its autho rity through dangers, and afflictions, and sudden and terrible emergencies, which would have crushed any sys tem that had been less firmly fixed in the heart of the people. At the inauguration of Washington the foreign relations of the country were few, and its trade was re pressed by hostile regulations ; now all the civilised nations of the globe welcome our commerce, and their Go vernments profess towards us amity. Then our country felt its way hesitatingly along an untried path, with States so little bound together by rapid means of communication to be hardly known to one another, and with historic traditions extending over very few years ; now inter course between the States is swift and intimate ; the ex perience of centuries has been crowded into a few genera tions, and has created an intense, indestructible nationality. Then our jurisdiction did not reach beyond the inconve nient boundaries of the territory which had achieved inde pendence; now, through cessions of lands, first colonised by Spain and France, the country has acquired a more complex character, and has for its natural limits the chain of Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east and the west the two great oceans. Other nations were wasted by civil war for ages before they could esta blish for themselves the necessary degree of unity ; the latent conviction that our form of government is the best ever known to the world has enabled us to emerge from civil war within four years, with a complete vindication of the constitutional authortty of the general government, and with our local liberties and State institutions unim paired. The throngs of emigrants that crowd to our shores arc witnosaoe of the confidence of all peoples in our per manence. Hero is the great land of free labour, where in dustry is blessed with unexampled rewards, and the bread of the working man is sweetened by the consciousness that the cause of the country "is his own cause, his own safety, his own dignity." Here every one enjoys the free use of his faculties and the choice of activity as a natural right. Here, under the combined influence of a fruitful soil, genial climes, and happy institutions, population has increased fifteen-fold within a century. Here, through the easy development of boundless resources, wealth has increased with two-fold greater rapidity than numbers, so that we have become secure against the financial vicissitudes of other countries, and, alike in business and in opinion, arc self-centred and truly inde pendent. Here more and more care is given to provide education for every one born on our soil. Here religion, released from political connection with the civil govern ment, refuses to subserve the craft of statesmen, and be ' comes, in its independence, the spiritual life of the people. IHere toleration is extended to every opinion, in the quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair field to secure the victory. Here the human mind goes forth unshackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores of knowledge and acquire an ever-increasing mastery over the forces of nature. Here the national domain is offered and held in millions of separate freeholds, so that our fellow citizens, beyond the occupants of any other part of the earth, constitute in reality a people. Here exists the de mocratic form of government; and that form of govern ment by the confession of European statesmen, "gives a power of which no other form is capable, because it incor porates every man with the State, and arouses everything that belongs to the soul." Where, in past history, does a parallel exist to the public happiness which is within the reach of the people of the United States. Where, on any part of the globe, can in stitutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as their own free constitution ? Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home, must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now ac knowledge, in the words of Washington, that "every step by which the people of the United States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency?". Who will not join me in the prayer, that the invisible hand which has led us through the clouds that gloomed around our path will guide us onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection, that we of this day may be able to transmit our great inheritance of State Governments in all their rights, of the General Government, in its whole con stitutional vigour, to our posterity, and they to theirs, through countless generations. Washington, Dec. 4, 1865. ANDREW JOHNSON. At an auction sale of two estates in Staunton, in the valley of the Shenandoah, a short time ago, the white population were horrified to find that the highest bidder was a colored man, who thus entered into the ranks of the landed aristocracy of Virginia. The first battle of the American civil war, Ma nassas, was fought on the land of Mr. Andrew M‘Lean, in the county of Fairfax, Virginia, and the virtual termination of the struggle took place in the same gentleman's house, in the county of Appomatox, where the terms of surrender were formally drawn up and ratified by Generals Grant and Lee. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Consumption, and all nervous, bilious. stomach, and liver complaints, iu every stage, are only ag gravated and accelerated by drugs of every description. but perfectly curable by Du Barry's health restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of cases which nad been considered hopeless ; such as indigestion (dyspepsia), cough, asthma, consumption, habitual constipation, diarr hoea, all gastric derangements, heemorrhoids, liver com plaints, flatulency, nervousness, biliousness' fevers, sore throats, diphtheria, catarrhs, colds, influenza, noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gout, impuiities, eruptions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, pal pitation, heartburn, headache, debility, dropsy, cramps, spasms, nausea and sickness even in pregnancy or at sea, sinking fits, bronchitis, scrofula, tightness of the chest, pains in the pit 01 tha stomach and between the shoulders, iko. We quote a few.—Cure, No. 46,270. Mr.4ames Roberts, timber merchant, of Few ley Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deaf ness.—Cure, No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure, No. 1,771. Lord Stuart de Decies, Lord-Lieu tenant of Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia.—No.49,B32. Fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, const patioJ, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and vomiting—Maria Jolly.- Cure No. 54,816. Ibe Rev. James I'. Campbell, k'akenham, Norfolk, of indigestion and torpidity of the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment.— In tins, 1 lb., is. 9d. ; 21b., 15. 6d ; 51b., lls. ; 121 b., 225. ; :41b. 10s.—Barry ,Ju Barry and C o ., N o. 7 7, Regent-street, London; also Phillips, tea dealers, 8, King William-street ; likewi.e at 61, Gracechureh-street ; 4, Cheapside; 49, Bishopagate strett Within ; 63, 150, and 298, Oxford-street ; 330, Strand; 51, Upper Baker-street ; 103, Tottenham-court-road ; 96, Upper-street, Islington, N. ; Harvey, Notting-hill ; Close Brothers, 65, High-street ; and Stubbs, Queen's-terrace, St. John's -wood, London ; and all respectable grocers and ohe mists.---Beware of spurious imitations. The Southern Privateers. (From the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, Nov. 25.) The capture of the Shenandoah closes the history of Southern privateers, and we give a complete list of vessels destroyed or bonded by them. It will belseen that there have been 4 steamers, 78 ships, 43 brigs, 82 barks, 68 schooners, in all 275 vessels, of nearly 1,000,000 tons in the aggregate captured. We now add a short account of each vessel fitted out in behalf of the South. The first South ern privateer was THE SAV INNAH. formerly pilot boat No. 7, a schooner of 55 tons. She sailed from Charleston about June 1, 1861, under com mand of J. Harrison Baker, who captured the brig Joseph, bound from Honduras for Philadelphia, with a cargo of sugar, &c. She accompanied the Joseph to Georgetown bar, and on June 3, was captured by the United States brig Perry, and sent with prize crew to New York, where she was subsequently sold. She carried one eighteen pound gun, and her capture created much excitement, as her crew was at first held as pirates, though subsequently released. THE SUMTER. was built by C. 11. and W. M. Crump in 1857, and called the Habana, aftrrwards the Alfonzs. She was 180 feet long, 30 feet beam, 10 feet depth of hold, drawing 9 feet 6 inches, and 500 tons burden, 9 guns, crew about 200 men. She left the Mississippi River on the 30th June, 1861, under command of Raphael Semmes, and captured several prizes, which were sent into Cienfuegos, but sub sequently released or recaptured, July 24, 1861, at Cura coa, and left ; July 26, 1861, at Porto Cabello, with prize brig Abbie Bradford (released) ; August 20 she arrived at Surinam, and left August 31, September 16 was at Maran ham, and October 10 among the Windward Islands : No vember 9 arrived at Martinique, and on November 20 was in latitude 20 35 north, longitude 57 12 west, making cap tures ; January 4, 1862, she was at Cadiz, and arrived at Gibraltar, January 19, 1862, where she remained some four months, watched by United States cruisers, until escape becoming hopeless she was sold to English parties. PRIVATEER JEFF DAVIS, CAPTAIN COXETER, was fitted out at Charleston, and in June, 1861, captured the bark Rowena ; on July 9 she was off Nantucket, and next heard of about eight hundred miles east of Cape Florida, where she captured the ship John Crawford, and finally was wrecked on St. Augustine bar August 17, 1861, having captured seven vessels. PRIVATEER J. 0. NIXON was fitted out at New Orleans, about August 1, 1861, but the blockade prevented her from doing much damage. THE CALHOUN, CAPTAIN 'WILSON, was a steamer formerly on the line between Charleston and Savannah, and with the Joy and Music was fitted out at New Orleans. PRIVATEER PETREL, formerly the revenue cutter Aiken, was sunk by the United States ship St. Lawrence off Charleston about August 1, 1861. PRIVATEER JUDAH, was destroyed at Pensacola, September 13, 1861, by an armed expedition in a boat sent from the United States blockade forces. THE WLNSLONV. was fitted out in Wilmington in 1861, and made five cap tures. . SCHOONER SALLIE, formerly the Virginian, under command of Captain Libby, left Charleston October 10, 1861, making two captures. THE NASHVILLE, CAPTAIN B. P. PEGRAM. was formerly in Spofford and Tileston's line of steamersibe tween New York and Charleston, and was in Charleston at the beginning of the rebellion under command of L. M. Murray, who joined the rebels. She sailed from Charles ton, October 26, 1861, evading the blockade, and arrived at Southampton, November 20, having captured and burned the ship Harvey Birch. She left Southampton February 3, 1862, the United States steamer Tuscarora being pre vented from pursuing her by the British frigate Shannon. February 20, arrived at Bermuda; left 24th, and arrived at Beaufort, N.C., February 28, having run the blockade March 18 ; she left Beaufort, and on the 27th was at Nas sau. Her career was mainly as a blockade runner, and she was finally blockaded and burned by United States iron dads near Savannah. THE ALABAMA was built at Birkenhead; 1,040 tons, 220 feet long, 32 feet beam, 17 feet depth of hold, engines 300 horse power. She left the Money July 29, 1862; arrived at Porto Prayo August 19. On Sunday, August 24, Captain Raphael Semmes assumed command ; hoisting the Con federate flag, she cruised and captured several vessels in the vicinity of Flores. Cruising to the westward and making several captures, she approached within two hun dred miles of Now York ; thence going southward, arrived on the 18th of November at Port Royal, Martinique. On the night of the 19th she escaped from the harbor and the United States steamer San Jacinto, and on the 26th No vember was at Blanquilla coaling. On Dec. 7 captured the United States steamer Ariel in the passage between Cuba and St. Domingo. On Sunday, January 11, 1863, sunk the United States gunboat Hatteras off Galveston, and on the 30th arrived at Jamaica. Cruising to the eastward, and making many captures, she arrived on the 10th April at Fernando de Noronha, and on 11th May at Bahia, where, on the 13th, she was joined by the rebel steamer Georgia. Cruising near the line, thence , southward toward the Cape of Good Hope, numerous captures were made, and on the 21st June, 1863, the bark Talsman was commissioned as a cruiser in the rebel service. On the 29th July anchored in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, and near there, on the sth of August, was joined by the rebel bark Tuscaloosa, Com mander Low ; same day anchored at Table Bay. Septem ber 16, 1863, was at St. Simon's Bay awaiting coals. Octo ber 6 was in the Straits of Sunda, and up to January 20, 1864, cruised in the Bay of Bengal and vicinity, visiting Singapore December 22, 1863, and speaking a number of very Valuable captures, including the Highlander, Senora, &c. From this point she cruised on her homeward track via Cape of Good Hope, capturing the bark Tycoon and ship Rockingham, and arrived at Cherbourg, France, June 11, 1864, where she repaired and was watched by the United States' -steamer Kearsage, the battle resulting in her destruction, occurring on the 19th of June, 1864. THE FLORIDA was formerly the Oreta, and in August, 1862, was under seizure at Nassau, but being released she ran into Mobile, Sept. 4, 1862. She was then refitted, and under the com mand' of Captain J. N. Maffitt, formerly of the United States Navy, she ran out through the blockade fleet at Mobile on the night of January 15,1863. She carried eight guns, and on January 20 arrived at Havana, having cap tured the brig Windward, off the coast of Cuba. January 26, 1863, arrived at Nassau. February 12, 1863, in latitude 23 north, longitude 45 west, she captured the ship Jacob Bell, and on March 6 the ship Star of Peace ; March 13 the schooner Aldebaran ; April 24 the ship Oneida, in latitude 1.40 south, longitude 34. May 15 she captured the ship Crown Point, in latitude 7 south, longitude 34. July 8, 1863, was not more than sixty miles from New York, and chased the United States steamer Ericsson. On July 10 she captured the steamer Electric Spark in la titude 37 35 north, and longitude 74 25 west. July 16, 1863, arrived at Bermuda. The capture of the Florida in the harbor of Bahia is well known, and her career ended in her sinking in Hampton Roads. TEE BRIG CLARENCE was captured by the rebel steamer Florida, May 6, 1863, and manned with one 12-pound howitzer, 20 men and two officers, under command of Lieutenant Reed, and subse quently captured the bark Tacony, June 12, in latitude 37 18 north, longitude 75 4 west. The guns, &c., were transferred to the Tacony, and the Clarence burned, as well as the schooner M. A. Shindler. TEE TACONY, LIEUT. READ, captured the brig Umpire, latitude 37 37 north, longitude 89 57, June 14 ; fishing boat L. A. Macomber, of Norwalk, Conn., June 20, 22 miles south east South Shoal light ; ship Isaac Webb, latitude 40 35 north, longitude 68 45 west (bonded); ship Byzantium and bark Goodspeed, off coast of Massachusetts, June 21; schooners Marengo, Florence, fishing vessels Elizabeth Ann, Rufus, Choate, and Ripple, June 22, and was destroyed by her crew, who left in the schooner Archer, and were subsequently captured by an expedition from Portland. TILE GEORGIA, formerly called the Japan, cruised in the North and South Atlantic in 1863, capturing nine vessels. She was a British vessel, fitted out, like the Alabama, from British ports. _ _ _ Tho Echo, the Boston, the Conrad, the Tuscarora, and the St. Nicholas each made one or more capture in 1862 and 1863. THE RETRIBUTION captured three vessels early in 1863, and was afterwards sold in the Bahamas. THE TALLAHASSEE mado two raids from the port of Wilmington, N.C., in 1864, capturing and destroying nearly thirty vessels, a number being fishing vessels; on August 13, 1864, being within six miles of Nantucket lightship, and ran back to Wilmington. THE CHICKA.MAUGA 7 under command of Lieutenant Wilkinson, left Wilmington October 24, 1864. THE SHE'SANDOAH was built in October, 1863, at Glasgow, and called the Sea King. She is 790 tons, 200 horse-power, ironframe, wood planking, owned by William Wallace, of London, being, like the Alabama, entirely of British origin and equipment. In September, 1864, she was sold to Richard Wright, of Liverpool, and under command of Captain P. L. Corbett, who received written authority to sell her for not less than £45,000 within six months from October 7, 1864. She cleared at London for Bombay, and arrived at Madeira, off which port she afterwards received guns and crew from the British bark Laurel. She was christened the Shenandoah, and under command of Captain Waddell she sailed towards St. Helena, near which she destroyed a few vessels; thence going to Bay of Bengal and Straits of Sunda. She put into Melbourne for coal, and thence proceeded to the Arctic Sea, where, between the Ist of April and the end of June, 1865, she destroyed twenty-nine vessels. She arrived at Liverpool November 6, 1865, and surrendered to a British man-of-war, and has since been d e li vere d u p to the United States authorities. THE STONEWALL is double turreted, 196 feet long over all, 163 feet from the front of the forward turret to the sternpost, with a steel plated prow or ram extending 33 feet forward of the turret, 35 feet breadth of beam and 20 feet depth of hold, draws 16 feet of water, with 4 feet above the water line, and 4 feet of bulwarks above the hull not plated. Her plating, which is about 41 inches thick on hull and turrets or casemates, extends about 5 feet below the -water line. Her turrets are stationary, for revolving like our Monitors, and are more properly casemates ; the forward ono has three port; one bow and two broadsides, an d contains a 300-pounder Armstrong rifled gun, 10-inch bore, taking a 45-pound charge of powder, the same se our 15-inch guns. This gun is mounted on a neat mahog any carriage, and elevated with a quoin, unlike our gun s, on which the screw is now universally used. It is also trained with a roller handspike instead of the slide car riage and eccentric, wheels, on which all our heavy go ne are mounted. The other turret contains two 70-pounde r Armstrong rifles, mounted in the same primitive manner as the large gun forward, and has four ports quartering on the starboard and port bow and stern, she thus being ebb ) to fire at any point except dead aft. She has two steering wheels, one on deck, aft, and the other below, amidshiPs, both peculiarly attached to two rudders, with one set Of steering gear or tackle. She has also two propellers' which give great facility for turning almost within her own length, and thus enable her to keep her bow con tinually on an adversary who could not, by superio r speed, keep out of her way. Movements of Cotton in America• Mr. William N. Neill writes from Memphis, Tennessee, to the Liverpool Post as follows regarding the probable nest year's cotton crop : "As regards the probable planting next season, it is too soon to make a close estimate, but the prospects at present are very gloomy. The general belief is that not much over 1,000,000 bales will be produced; and upon the most iavoumble view that can be taken of the question, unless things alter very much between now and January, we can not rely with anything like confidence on more than 1,500,000, of which this country, north and south, will require to retain 800,000 bales, unless prices rule exces sively high. I may, however, repeat that I think the blame for short growth should rest very much on the moral, mental, and pecuniary incapacity of the planters to adapt themselves to the new order of things, at least an much as with the negro. The latter, however, is now Vei anxious to have done with plantation life, and either to have a plot of land of his own or to live in towns. It will take time for the re-organisation of so gigantic an indus try as the cotton culture in the South. The almost uni versal opinion throughout this country now is that next summer cotton will range towards one dollar per pound, and such a belief always goes far towards its own realisa tion. It must be at least admitted that after the old stocke now coming into market are disposed of, 41 in the future is vague and uncertain except the large consumption . That is beyond all question, and it will continue and gain upon the supply for at least two years from January next; for even if the crop after next, viz., that of 1867, should be a large one, it will be January, 1868, before any weight of it can visit the European markets. You will have gathered from the foregoing that I think, and indeed am convinced, that the time has come when you may safely and probably with a large profit import cotton from this country. We have deferred executing any Of the discretionary orders we hold till December, or till we see signs of a decrease of receipts, from our con" viction that until then prices would fall. We think it , however, unsafe to delay any longer. A series of monthly or fortnightly shipments beginning in December would probably have in their favor a rising market. It maY appear that in these considerations I ignore the supplies from other countries. Ido not do so, but it must be evident that the American supply is sufficient to control the market. Whatever is the range of prices in December while you are receiving or expecting our large supply of the old and new crops together, they will begin to advance in January if (as we think it certain) the receipts then show a falling off." THE DEPOSED KING.—In 1848 kings out of employmen t were plenty in Europe. In America the deposed King of 1861 is not precisely out of business, but is fast resuming his old supremacy, so far as the wants of the world are concerned. It was imagined by some that the war would forever deprive American cotton of the load in the markets of the world, but the experiment has failed, so far as it aimed to stimulate a production of equal quantity or value in other countries. The consumption for four years ha been growing less and less on account of the increase of price, and the point is at last reached where the demand must be supplied. The Commercial Chronicle estimates the present supply at all the ports of the United States at 400,000 bales, and the receipts from the interior average 6,000 bales a-day, so that in six weeks our stock at current ' prices would be adequate to a twelve months' consumptio n for the United States. Estimating the cotton in the South at the close of the war at 1,500,000 bales, at the ports 60,000, and the crop of 1865 at 300,000, our supply from May, 1865, to September, 1866, would amount to 1,860,000 bales. Our own consumption during the same time ninY be put at 900,000 bales, leaving about 960,000 bales for shipment and stock. Of this quantity about 700,000 bales would be exported. If an export tax of three or five cents a pound could be laid upon this, it would add, from the pockets of the foreign consumers, a handsome sum to our revenue. The Chronicle estimates the crop of 1866 at only 1,000,000 bales. A small amount indeed, but, in t he present and prospective state of the Southern labor market quite likely to be true. India, Africa, Egypt, Brazil, an d all the known and possible sources ofsupply, have entered into earnest competition to fill the p ace made vacant by their great rival ; and, although cotton has been produca l l and in considerable quantities, it can maintain no success ful comparison with our own. American skies and sun seem to impart to this wonderful fibre a strength and evenness which it does not have elsewhere ; and cotton , though it could not be prostituted to the despotic uses of a slaveholding power, will yet be " king " in a better an d more ennobling sense than before.—Boston Journal. COUNTRY MARKETS. RIPON—FRIDAY. The farmers brought a fair supply to market to-day. The demand was not brisk, but late prices maintained. LIVERP 0 OL.—FRIDAY. At to-day's market there was a small attendance of toW II , and country buyers. Wheat and flour barely maintaine d Monday's rates. Oats and oatmeal rather lower. Barlei• beans, and peas no change. DERBY—FRIDAY. New white wheat, 508 to 558 ; old red, 50s to 53s per 96 stone. Barley for malting, 328 to 40s per qr. ; gr inding' 27s to 30s per 30 stone. Oats, new, 21s to 26s ; old, 28$ to 31s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 50s to 525; new, 440 to 45 ' per 38 stone. WAKEFIELD.—FRIDAY. Wheat meets a steady but not extensive demand, and 11 . ° 1 . alteration in value to note from last Friday. Barley in ' l 5 demand ; other sorts quiet at late rates. Beans and esL as dear. Averages, December 11—Wheat, 2,379 qrs, at 49 s 7 e l; barley, 1,000 at 37s Old ; oats, —, at Os Od. ST AMF ORD.—FRIDAY. Old white wheat, 50s to 528 ; red do., 42s to 4 8 s p er 3 ., 5 . stone. Barley, malting, 32s to 365; grinding, 27s to a' per qr. Oats,- new, 22s to 288; old, 25s to 27s per 2 4 st one, Beans, 44s to 54s per 38 stone. Peas as of late. LINCOLN.—FRIDAY. 3 6 New white wheat, 51s to 56s ; new red, 42s to 488 peL stone. Barley for malting, 35s to 40s per qr ; griu,,r„ to 27s to 29s per 3() stone. Oats, 26s to 30s. Beans , ' 1 " 51s per 38 stone. BRISTOL SUGAR.--FRIDAY. r ' The demand is more active for raw and refined 011 e and a fair amount of sales has been made for most deser 4 tions. Rum in good demand. ---• Births. Of BUTLER.—On the 12th inst., at Davenport, the NY - Lieut. J. V. D. Butler, R.N., of a son. BONHAM.—On the 14th inst., at South Kensington, tiles 7 0n the 11 of Mr. F. C. Bonham, of a daughter. nc° CAvE.th inst., at Florence, the wife of Le— Trent Cave, Esq., of a'daughter. Marriages. bOn° HULLAII—RossER.—On the 14th inst., at St. Ma l l btor Church, John Hullah, Esq., to Frances, only da.ollgotli of the late Lieutenant-Colonel G. F. Rosser, a .. • Lancers. do, WHEELER—WILLEY.--On the 14th inst., at St. Ge,c's", Z„ar Hanover-square, Sir Trevor Wheeler, Bart" of'do ' of ington Hastings, Warwickshire, to Frances, the late Rev. Jocelyn Willey, of Camblesfor th Yorkshire. Deaths. Cill nx d 7 mcu.— On the 13th inst., at Dedding tont Mary °lcc)°' _ Anne, widow of J. Churchill, Esq. , age 9. d, EASTWOOD.—On the 12th inst., at his residence, astvro° Todmorden, Yorkshire, Thomas Eastwoo d, aged 8 3 . t HALL—On the 14th inst., at The Grove, Stratford, Bsst" Mr. HoDGE.— Wm. Hall, aged 36. Grostoiloi On the 15th inst., at his residence 18, road, West Brompton, John Hodge, Esq., of' the r, 1.11 Spalding and Hodge, Drury-lane, aged 78. ~, rL. " , an ° LoVIE.—On the 13th inst., at Grove H all, Bow, A' j Lovie, aged 70. PORTMAN.—On the 13thinst , at Bournemouth, Walter,G; R:::::0:1: 130....e.. , =1 . of the Hon . W. a B. and lir S ' F° :00. 1 7: , ia inst., a , orn on-s lee , ton, Thomas Read, Esq., surgeon, aged 64. _-----, -------- ------ :: , 0 09 London : Printed and Published by WIL LIAR! AN v,,,,, 02, of No. 112, Strand, ninter, at Tun Sort nce , -..„--,,, a Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy. in the Cow' Middlesez.—Saturday, December 18,1565. IONID -4 ROO XV<INS' KIN celel Prize Reda It l Puy( th a : inl Agent: &, Glil Observe 4 gdaahani 111 (I 11 , RU3SE Trk,eh old ( Or an ] three yeare wacounted Made towa 15 Years e -Yelope, enAR Establis the of the liabStut With the I laad and l Patties eat Capital, ea c h . £1 to 1)4 tIX mouth Can'is may First is Privately CPU ' ol lu Enii Mr. F. p Llarvey I Cdr. A. Bc the Pa; •v• B. Hel Mr. L. C. nal of George B Mr. A. Gt Bir John Georg e P Co.). ldessre. George The Nati The Lon , The Lon The Nati Messrs. Messrs. J ittessrs. I tdward 11r. Char No. To t - Ravi being c above that nt tumbe posit o sign th quit ed Itegist4 Ca NO' APPI CLOS the 18 D" n tile I Cone Fu Main don,_ boon "'1 brity to re Shor 1 it I Dara e ffeel s._._..