The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-06 00:00:00

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

The Times publishes the following telegraphic report of
e President's message, per Atlantic Cable :
NEW YORK, DEC. 5.
The President trans-

Congress met at noen to-day.
mitted his annual message. Ili it he says :
The United Statse have kept aloof from the European
war, declining intervention, but have used their good offices
for the protection of the citizensof the belligerent nations.
Should the time come when the action of the United
States can hasten the return of peace by a single hour,
ti►at action will be heartily taken. The insurrection in
Cuba has not changed its aspect since the close of the last
session of Congress. Arbitrary arrests in Cuba by the
Executive have interfered with the rights of American
citizens there, and negotiations are pending at Madrid for
redress, but are not yet concluded. In these the President
proposes a joint Spanish-American Commission in the
United States, with power to adjudicate claims arising

from these arrests. The President hopes this plan will
he received favourably by Spain. Should the nego-
tiations be concluded, he will communicate the fact to
Congress, inviting its action on the subject. The Presi-
dent regrets that the San Domingo Annexation Treaty
failed of ratification by the Senate, and says that as
soon as it is known that the United States have aban-
doned the project of annexing that island a free port
there will be negotiated for by European nations.
He still strongly urges its acquisition by the United
States as desirable, devoting a large portion of his
Message to the subject. No conclusion, he regrets, has
been reached for the adjustment of claims growing out
of the course of the British Government during
the rebellion. The Cabinet at London, so far as
its views have been expressed, does not seem willing
to concede that the British Ministry was guilty
of any negligence, or had done, or permitted any
act during the war, of which the United States have
just cause of complaint. Their firm and unalterable
convictions are directly the reverse. He, thsrefore, re-
commends Congress to authorise the appointment of a
Commission to take proofs of the amounts and ownership
of the claims, and give notice of them to the representa-
tive of her Majesty at Washington ; and that the autho-
rity be given for the settlement of these claims by the
United States, so that the Government shall have the
ownership of the private claims, as well as the re-
sponsible control of all demands against Great
Britain. It cannot be necessary to add that when-
ever her Majesty's Government shall entertain a desire
for a full and friendly adjustment of these claims the
United States will enter upon their consideration
with an earnest desire for a conclusion consistent
with the sense of honour and dignity of both nations.
The course pursued by the Canadians towards
the fishermen of the United States during the past
season had not been marked by a friendly feeling. The
President recounts the history of the negotiations
and treaties on this subject, and says an irresponsible
agent has exercised his authority in an unfriendly way.
Vessels have been siezed without notice, in violation
of the custom previously prevailing, and been taken
into colonial ports, their voyages broken up, and the
vessels condemned. There is reason to believe this
unfriendly and vexatious treatment was designed to
bear harshly upon the United States' fishermen, with
a view to a political effect• upon this Government. The
Canadian statutes assume still broader and more unten-
able jurisdiction over United States vessels ; they
authorise officers or other persons to bring vessels hover-
ing within three marine miles of the Canadian shore into
port, search the cargo, and examine the master on oath,
and inflict heavy penalties if true answers are not given.
The President recapitulates another Canadian statute on
the subject, decreeing the forfeiture of vessels. It is
not known, he says, that any condemnations have
been made under this statute. Should the Canadian
authorities attempt enforcing it, it will become the Presi-
dent's duty to take such steps as may be necessary to pro-
tect the rights of American citizens. The Canadian laws
deny American fishing vessels access to their ports, except
for supplies, and then compel departure in 24 hours. No
seizure is known to have been made under this law,
but so far as a claim for its enforcement is grounded
on an alleged construction of the Convention of
1818, it cannot be acquiesced in by the United
States, and it is hoped it will not be insisted on by her
Majesty's Government. During the conferences pre-
ceding the negotiation of this Convention the British
CoMmissioners proposed to expressly exclude the fisher-
men of the United States from the privilege of carrying
on trade with any Canadian subjects residing within
limits assigned for their use, and also that it
should not be lawful for vessels of the United
States engaged in such fishery to have on board
articles, excepting articles necessary for their fishing
voyages, and that vessels contravening these regulations
would be seized and confiscated. This proposition, iden-
tical with the construction now put upon the
language of the Convention, was emphatically re-
jected by the American Commissioners, and there-
upon was abandoned by the British Plenipoten-
tiaries; and Article 1, as it now stands in the
Convention, was substituted. If, however, it be said
this claim is founded on colonial statutes, and
and not on the Convention, this Government cannot but
regard it as unfriendly, and in contravention of the
spirit, if not of the letter, of the Treaty, for the faith-
ful execution of which the Imperial British Government
is alone responsible. In anticipation that an attempt
may be made by the Canadian authorities in the coming
season to repeat their unneighbourly acts towards our
fishermen, I recommend Congress to confer on
the Executive power to suspend by proclamation
the laws now in farce authorising the transit
of goods in bond across the territory of the United
States to Canada ; and further, should such an
extreme measures become necessary, to suspend the ope-
ration of any laws whereby Canadian vessels are permitted
to enter the waters of the United States. A like un-
friendly disposition has been manifested by the
Canadian maintenance of the claim of a right
to exclude citizens of the United States from
the St. Lawrence river. The stream is a natu-
ral outlet of the commerce of the United States,
and the President argues at length against
the Canadian right to close it to such commerce. He
cites the Rhine, the Danube, and other rivers whose
navigation has been declared free. He hopes the
British Government will see the justice of abandoning
the narrow and inconsistent claim to which her
Canadian Provinces have urged her adherence. The
President refers to the depressed commerce, and thinks
that hereafter we shall have to look to countries south of
the United States for its revival. He recommends
Government to encourage the construction of iron vessels,
and also encourage other branches of shipbuilding. The
remainder of the Message refers exclusively to domestic
affairs.

"LoRNE STREET."—The now street in rear o
the Kensington Improvement, called Queen-street by
the Metropolitan Board of Works, and Ball-street by the
Kensington Vestry, is likely to have and to retain the
designation of Lorne-street.
MR. AYRTON AGAIN !—Thanks to Mr. Ayrton,
Rotten-row seems to have been prepared for a gallop of
hostile cavalry, Uhlans perhaps. Soft, indeed, looks
the new layer of sand which has been strewn over brick
rubbish, but there is more than meets the eye in that in-
viting surface. Beneath the sand is, not exactly a
chevaux de frise, but something almost as deadly, in the
shape of several loose stones artfully mingled with the
sand, which of course throw horses down when they at-
tempt to gallop. Two horses have lately been thrown
down owing to these stones, and as the season
advances, and Rotten-row is thronged as usual, we shall
doubtless hear of more catastrophes of a similar nature.—
Pall Mall Gazette.
THE MELBOURNE UNDERWRITERS AND THE WAR,
PREMIUM.—The Melbourne Underwriters have agreed to
a modification of the war premium of 2i per cent. imposed
last month on all extra-colonial risks. At a meeting held
on the subject, the following resolution was passed
" That pending receipt of further news, the following war
premium be charged in addition to the ordinary rates of
insurance by neutral bottoms :—From foreign ports to
Australia on risks afloat, per cent. ; from Australia
to foreign ports on risks attaching at once, 2 per cent. •
from Australia, by the outgoing mail steamer, 1 pe;

cent."
THE LE DB IT RY Can.—The reversal cf Sir
Robert Phillimore's decision in this case suggests grave
reflections. It is a signal proof of the danger of intrust-
ing to a solitary Ecclesiastical Judge a question of fact
involving the character of a clergyman. The Lord
Chancellor and the other Judges of the Judicial Commit-
tee, after four days' hearing, declared their disbelief of
the evidence of the principal witness, and being unani-
mously of opinion that the Dean of Arches was
clearly wrong, at once and without delay reversed his
sentence. Had it been a question of law the reversal
would have been no surprise to the Bar or the public ;
but a case involving character, and relating to a matter
of fact, is too important to be trusted to a solitary judge,
and especially one not remarkable for extraordinary judi-
cial acumen, or the unassailable solidity of his judgments.
There should in such cases be a reference to a jury, as was
provided by Lord Shaftesbury's original Ecclesiastical
Courts Bill.—. Record.