The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-22 00:00:00

Citening

LONDON, FRIDAY, DECE'OBER 22. 1848.

Another of those enormous documents called Pre-
sidential Messages has just arrived from the United
States. It is invested, however, in the present in-
stance, with a mole than usual interest from the cir-
cumstance of its being the farewell manifesto of
JAMES K. PoLx. It is a prolonged plain over the
triumphs of his administration, a flourish of trumpets,
by which he proclaims the successful issue of his
policy. Not a syllable is whispered in reference to
his successor, although many eulogistic allusions are,
of course, made to the military capacity displayed by
ZACHARY TAYLOR in the conquest of Mexico and Ca-
lifornia. The message—a mere condensation of which
occupies so many columns in this evening's impression
of our journal—is rather retrospective than anticipa-
tive : it reviews in language of confident satisfaction
the course pursued by the Government of the Union
during the last four years—years fraught with vic-
tory and emolument to the Cabinet at Washington.
Other matters relating to subjects of a strictly
local or national interest are, undoubtedly, considered
but the principal portion of the manifesto published
by President PoLx, on the approximation to the
period of his retirement from office, may be divided
into paragraphs relating to the territorial acquisitions
of the States ; to its financial prosperity resulting
from the felicitous working of free trade as a system
of commerce ; to the prospects of emigration ;
to the projected alterations in the postal arrangements
with Europe ; to the continuance or abolition of negro
slavery ; to the prospective remuneration to be de-
rived from the Californian mines of gold and quick-
silver; and to the general efficiency of the American
citizens as impromptu soldiers, an instinctive capa-
city for participating in the perils and manouvres of
war, which, while it relieves the Executive from the
necessity of maintaining a standing army, perpetually
holds at its disposal an efficient force of nearly two
millions of men, skilled in the management of the
rifle, and immured to the hardships of a campaign
by their hunting expeditions into the primeval forests
and their chase of the buffalo over the prairies. At
the present moment it is desirable only to take into
account the operation of the new tariff, the spoliative
policy of Mr. POLK, and the beneficent influences of a
moderate democracy as exemplified in the extraordi-
nary destinies—the rise, the development, and the
almost unparalleled prosperity—of the great Republic
of the United States.

As to the working of the principles of free trade in
America since the fiscal innovations of 1846, nothing
could, most certainly, have afforded a more direct
contradiction to the whining prophecies of the Pro-
tectionists on either side of the Atlantic. We cannot
but feel satisfied that this division of the
Presidential Message will be perused with the
profoundest gratification by CHARLES VILLIERS, the
Copernicus, by RICHARD COBDEN, the Galileo, by
Sir ROBERT PEEL, the Newton, of the novel and
rational science of political economy as adapted to
international commerce. What the Member for
Wolverhampton foresaw, the Member for the West
Riding demonstrated, and the Right Honourable
the Representative of Tamworth accomplished. The
accuracy of their calculations has been proved
beyond all further cavil by the remarkable results
of a tariff, the advantages of which have not, as in
our instance, been counterbalanced by an accu-
mulation of severe national calamities. In
the United States, where neither the funds
nor the vegetable produce have been injuri-
ously affected by a variety of unforeseen blights
and difficulties, the results of the reductions effected
in 1846 have been fortunate beyond even the most
sanguine anticipations. The gloomy forebodings of
the Duke of RICHMOND in one country, and of Mr.
WEBSTER in the other, have been alike falsified.
Whereas in 1825 the imports amounted to nearly
117,000,000 dollars, producing from 25,000,000 to
27,000,000 dollars of revenue—they have attained
for the past year very nearly the sum of 155,000,000
dollars, yielding upwards of 31,000,000 dollars
of revenue to the Exchequer While, in
1825, no less than 15,000,000 worth of im-
ports, out of the 117, were re-exported, leaving
barely 102,000,000 worth for home consumption—
during the past year only 21,000,000 worth of im-
ports, out of the 155, have been exported, leaving
in consequence, a gross_amount of 133,000,000 worth
for consumption by the population of the United
States! While, in 1826, the exports of domestic
produce hardly exceeded 99,000,000 worth in the
aggregate—they have this year attained no less an
amount than 133,000,0001 Such have been the
memorable consequences of the measures inaugurative
of the system of free trade in America. The deduc•
tions deriveable from these calculations, officially re-
corded by President Pcout, can only strengthen the
conviction of the English advocates of free trade, and
afford a direful blow and discomfiture to the scat-
tered ranks of the Protectionist Opposition.
When referring to the territorial extension of the
dominions of the Union, it was impossible but that
the President should speak in terms of the warmest
self-gratulation. Since his installation as Chief Ma-
gistrate of the Republic the boundaries of the States
have extended with such astounding rapidity that the
area obedient to the legislative influences of the Con-
gress now amounts in square miles almost to the
magnitude of the whole of the European continent.
Unsatisfied with the acquisition of Texas, the
greed of empire has induced the Government at