The Express.
London, England, 1852-12-21 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1852.

the United States have, s'ocis the Bay of Fundy was re-
opened to our fishermen in 1846, pursued the most liberal
cou!se towards the colonial fishing internee. By the revs-
n'a law of 1848, the duties on colonial fish entering our
rota were very gristly reduced, and by the Warehousing
Ain it is allowed to be entered in bond without payment of
duty. In this way colonial fish hes acquired the monopoly
of the export trade in our market, slid is entering in some
extent into the home consumption. These facts were among
those which 410.1111ft' the sens.bility of cur fishing interest
at the movement in question.
These circumstances and the incidents above alluded
to have led me to think the moment favourable for
• recourideration of the entire subject of the fisheries
on the coast of the British provinces, with • •iew to Immo
teens upon • more liberal footing of reciprocal privilege.
A willusguess to meat us in some arranuememt of this itiud
is understood to exist on the part of Greet Britain, with •
desire on her part to include in one compreheunve settle-
ment as will this subject RS the comnierciel intercourse be-
tween the United States and the British provinces. 1 have
thought that, whatever arrangements may be made ou these
two subjects, it is expedient that they should be embraced
in separate conrentious. The illness and death of the late
Secretary of State prevented the commencement of the
contemplated negotiatio.. Pains have been taken to collect
the informative required for the details of such an arrange-
ment. The subject is attended with considerable difficulty.
It it is found practicable to come to an easement mutually
acceptable to tho two parties, conventions may b.:concluded
in the course of the present winter. The control id Con-
gress over all the provolone of such an arrangement Mime.
mg the revenue, will of course be, reeerved.

Idroolgollt language against the cruel treatment to which
our ehipwrecked-mariners have often been subjected. and
to insist th►t they shall be treated with humanity. lie is
instructed, however, at the same time, to give that pvern-
sent the amplest assurances that the objects of the United
States are such and such only as 1 have indicated, and that
the expedition is friendly sod peaceful. Notwithstanding
the jealousy with which the government of Eastern Asia
regard all overtures from foreigners, I ant not without
hopes of a beneheial re►ult of the t xpi dition. Shoulu it be
crowned with tucct u, the sdvanteges will not be confined
to the Uni ed States, but, a. in the eve of Chins, will he
eiluilly enjoyed by all the other maritime powers. 1 have
much satistection to stating that in all the steps prepare-
tory to this expedition the government of the United
States has been materially aided by the guod offices of the
Kattg of the Netherlands, the only Eutopi an power having
any commercial relations with Japan.

DOMESTIC eremite.
In passing (torn this survey of our foreign relation., I in-
vite the attention of Congress to the condition of that de.
pertinent of the government to which this brianch of the
public bunnies is enures& Our intercourse with foreign
powers has of late year, greatly ince, axed, both in conse-
quence of our earn growth and the introduttlon of many
new states into the family of nations. In this way the de-
pertinent of state has become overburdened. It has, by the
, remit atablialiment of the department of the interior, been
I relieved of sonic portion of the domestic business. If the
I residue of the business of that kind, such as the distribution
of congressional documents, the Ise. ping, publiehioe. and
distributien of the laws of the United Stat.*, the encution
of the copyright law, the subject of reprieves uud pardons,
and some other subjects relating to juts rior administration,
should be transferred from the department of state,
it would unquestionably be for the benefit of the
public service. I would also suggest that the building
appropriated to the state department is ant fire proof,
that there is reason to think Gore are detects in its
construction, and that the archives of the government, in
charge of the department, with the precious collections of
the manuscript papers of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton,
Madison, and Monroe, are exposed to destruction by hut.
• similar remark may be made of the buildings appropri-
ated to the War and Navy Department.
1 he conditien of the Treasury is exhibited is the annual
report from that deportment.
Tho cash receipts into the Treasury for the fiscal year
ending the 30th of June last, exclusive of trust funds, WI-fa
forty-nine millions seven hundred and twenty-eight! thou-
rand three hundred and eighty six dollars eighty-nine cent.,
(19,726,366 dots. 8i s.), and the expenditures her the same
period, likewise exclusive of trust funds, were lorry-six
millions seven thousand eight hundred and ninety-six dolt.
and twenty cents. (46,007,896 dolt. 20e.) ; of which nine
millions four hundred and tifty-five thousand eight hundred
ane fifteen dollars anti eighty-three cents. (9,465,815 dole.
83c.), was on account of the principal and merest of
the public debt, including the last instalment or the in.
demnity to Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
leaving a balance of 14,632,136 dolt. 3ec. in the Treasury
on the first day of July last. Since this latter period fur-
ther purchases of the principal of the public debt have been
made to the extent of two millions four hundred and fifty-
six thousand five hundred and forty-seven dollars and forty-
nine cents (2,456,547.1015. 49c.), and the surplus in the Trea-
sury will continue to be applied to thatlobject whenever the
stock can be procured withia the limits as to price autho-
rieed by law.
The value of foreign merchandise imported during the
last fiscal year was two hundred and seven millions two
hundred and forty thousand one hundred and one dollars
(207,210,101 dohs), and the value of domestic productions
exported was one hundred and forty-tine millions eight
hundred and sixty-one thousand nine hundred and eleven
dollars (149,861,911 doh.), besides seventeen millions two
hundred and four thousand and twenty-six dollars
(17,204,026 doh.) of foreign merchandise expelled, making
the aggregate of the entire exports one hundred and sixty-
seven millions sixty-five thousand nine hundred and thirty-
reven dollars (107,066,937 dole.); exclusive of the above
there was exported forty-two millions five hundred end
seven thousand two hundred and eighty-five dollars
(42.507,285 dolt) in specie; and imported from foreign
ports five millions two hundred and sixty-two thousand six
hundred and forty-three dollars (5,262,613 dole.;

REVISION OP THE TARIFF.
In my first annual message to Congress, I called your
attcr,tinn to what seemed to me some defects in the present
tariff, and recommended such modifications as in my judg-
ment were best adapted to remedy its evils and promote the
prosperity of the country. Nothing has since occurrei to
change my views en this important question.
Without repeating the arguments contained in my former
message, in favour of discriminating, protective duties,
I deem it my duty to call your attentien to one or
two other considerations affecting this subject. The
fleet is, the effect of large importations of foreign
goods upon our currency. Most of the gold of Cali-
(orals, IA fast as it is coined, finds it way directly to Europe
in payment of goods purchased. In the second place, as
oar manufacturing establishments aro broken down by
comutition with foreigners, the capital invested in them is
lost, thousands of honest arid industrious citizens are
thrown out of employment, and the farmer to that extent
is deprived of a home market for the sale or his surplus
produce. In the third place, the destruction of our manu-
factures leaves the foreigner without competition in our mar-
ket, and he consequently raises the price of the article seat
hero for sale, as is now seen in the increased cost of iron im-
ported front lingland. The prosperity and wealth of every
nation must depend upon its productive industry. The
farmer is stimulated to exertion by finding a ready market
for his earplug products, and bent fited by being able to
exchange them without loss of time or expense of transport-
ation for the manufactures which his comfort or conve-
nience requires. This is always done to the best advan-
tage where a portion of the community in which he lives
is engaged in other punuia. But most manufactures
require an amount of capital and a practical skill which
canoed be commarled, unless they be protected for a time
from ruinous competition from abroad. Henn the ince*
city of laying thou duties upon imported goods which the
constitution authorises for revenue, in such a manner as
to protect and encourage the labour of our own citizens.
Duties however should not be fixed at a rate so high as
to exclude the foreign article, but should be so graduated
as to enable the domestic manufacturer fairly to compete
with the foreigner ix our own markets, and by this com-
petition to reduce the price of the manufactured article to
the consumer to the lowest rate at which it can be pro-
duced. This policy would place the mechanic by the side
of the farmer, create a mutual interchange of their respec-
tive commodities, and thus ,stimulate the industry of the
whole country, and render us independent of foreign
animas for the supplies required by the habits or ennui- ,
ties of the people.
Another question, wholly independent of protection, pm-
seats itself, and that is, whether the duties levied should be
upon the value of the article at the place of shipment, or,
where it is practicable, a specific duty, graduated according
to quantity, as ascertained by weight or measure. All our
duties are at present ad vakoress. A certain per ventage is
levied on the price of the goods at the port of shipment in a
foreign country. Moat commercial nations have found it
indispensable, for the purpose of preventing fraud and per-
jury, to make the duty specific wh he article is of
such a uniform vales in weight or measures as to justify
such a duty. Legislation should never encourage dishonesty
or crime. It is impossible that the revenue oaken at the
port where the goods are entered and the duties paid should
know with certainty what they coat in the foreign country.
Yet the law requires that they should levy the duty accord-
ing to such oat. They are therefore compelled to resort
to very unsatisfactory evidence to ascertain what that
cost was. They take the invoice of the importer, attested
by his oath, as the best evidence of which the nature of the
ease admits. But every our must see that the invoice may
be fabricated, and the oath by which it is supported false,
by reason of which the dishonest importer pays a part only
of the duties which are paid by the honest one, end thus
indirectly receives from the treasury of the United States a
reward for his fraud and perjury. The reports of the Secre-
tary of the Treasury heretofore made on this subject *hew
conclusively that these frauds have been practised toe great
extent. The tendency is to destroy that high moral charac-
ter for which our merchants have long been distinguished;
to defraud the government of its revenue ; to break down
the Lonest importer by a dishonest competition; and,
finally, to transfer the business of importa•ion to foreign
and irresponsible agents, to the great detriment of our own
citizens. I therefore again most earnestly recommend the
adoption of specific duties, wherever it is practicable, or a
home valuation, to prevent these frauds.
I would also again call your attention to the fact that the
present tariff in some cases imposes a higher duty upon the
raw material imported than upon the article manufactured
from it, the consequence of which is that that the duty ope-
rates to the encouragement of the foreigner and the dis-
couragement of our own citizen,.

INDIAN APPAIRS.
For full and detailed information its regard to the gene-
ral condition of our Indian affairs I respectfully refer you
to the report of the Secretary of the Interior and the scum-
pu_tying documenss.
The senate not having thought proper to ratify the tree-
ties which had been negotiated with the tribes of Ind.ans in
California and Oregon, our relations with them have been
left in a very unsatiefectory condition.
In other parts of our territory particular districts of
country have been set apart for the exclusive occupation of
the Indians, and their right to the lands within those
limits hen been acknowledged and respected. But in Cali-
fornia and Oregon there has been no recognition by the
government of the exclusive right of the Indians to any
part of the country. They arc, therefore, mere tenants at
audience, and liable to be driven from place to plus at the
pleasure of the white,.
I The treaties which have been rejected proposed to remedy
this evil, by allottik.g to the different tribes distriets of
country suitable to their habits of life, and sufficient for
their support. This provision, more than any other, it is
believed, led to their rejection, and as no substitute for it
has been adopted by Congress, it has not been deemed advis-
able to attempt to enter into new treaties of a permanent
chmacter, although no effort has been spared by temporary
arrangements to preserve friendly relations with them.
If it be the desire of Congress to remove them from the
country altogether' or to usign to them particular districts
more remote from the settlements of the whites, it will be
proper to set apart by law the territory which they are ts
occupy, and to provide the means necessary for removing
them to it.—Justice alike to our own citizen, and to the
Indians requires the prompt action of Cnitgreu on this
subject.
like amendments proposed by the Senate to the treaties
which were negotiated with the Sioux Indians of
have been automated to the tribes who were parties to them,
and have received their assent. A large tract of valuable
territory has thus been opened fur settlement and cultiva-
tion, and all danger of collision with these powerful and
warlike bead. MI been happily removed.,

The removal of the remnant of the tribe of Seminole
Indians from Florida has long :been a cherished object tf
the government, and it is one to which my attention has
been steadily directed. Admonished by past Imperious of
the difficulty and ant of the attempt to remove them by
military furor, mart has been had to conciliatory measures.
By the invitation of the eoutiniutuner of Indian affairs 'eve-
ral of the principal chiefs recently visited Washington, and
whilst here aeknowledgtd ill writing the obligation of their
tribe to remove with the least possibie daiy. Late advices
from the special agent of the government represent that
they adhere to their promise, and that a council of their
people hit been called to make their preliminary arrange-
malts. A general emigration may therefore be confidently
expected at an early day.

?ROOKED; 011, LAND lIVICORTB.
The report leum the Cionoral Laud ()dice show. increased
activity in its operations. The surety of the northern
boundary of lowa has been eompleti I wilt unexampied
despatch. Within the lust year 8,422,1)43 acres ol public
land have been surveyed, and 8,03...fit:ZS acres brought into

In the last fueal year there were sold 1,553,071 acres.
Located with bounty laud warrants 3,201,311 "
Located with other certificates lls,lifit "

Making a total of 4,1370,067 "
In addition, there were—
Reported under swamp land grants 6.219,188 "
Fur internal improvements, null oath, &c 5,0!e,920

Making an aggregate of 13,115,175
Being an increase in the amount of limit a0.:41 and
located under laud warrants of stitt,22o nem over the pro-
vious year.
The whole amount thus rild, located under land warrants
reported under swamp laud grants, and selected fur in-
ternal improvements, exceed, that of the previous year by
3,342,372 acres; and the sales would, without doubt, have
been much larger but for the extuusivo reservations for
railroads in Missouri, Musi.sippi, and A:Abanta.
Fur the quanta. ending 3.ltit Sliteinber, 1t452, there were
sold 243,256 acne.
Located with bounty land warrants 1,327.110 „
Licated with other certificates ... 15,6 l 9 „
Reported under swamp end land grants 2,44.5,233

Making en aggregate for the quart( rof 4,131,2.53 „

Till UILA SWIVEL

By the latest advices from the Nesican Boundary Com-
mission it appears that the survey of the river Gila, from
its confluence with the Colorado to its supposed intersection
with the western line of New Mexico, has been completed.
The survey of the Rio Grande has ale.) been finished from
the point agreed on by the commissioners as " the point
where it strikes the southern boundary of New hiesieu " to
a point one hundred and thirty-five miles below Eagle
Pa's, which is about two-thirds of the distance along the
course of the river I. its mouth.

MISCZLLANEOUS.
Permit me to invite your particular attention to the in-
terests of the district of Columbia, are coLlieled by
the constitution to your peculiar care.
Among the measures which seem to 1316 of the greatest
importance to its prosperity are the introductim of a copious
supply of water into the city of Washioron, and the con-
struction of suitable bridges across the Potomac to replace
those which were destroyed by high water in the early part
of the present year.