The Sun.
London, England, 1869-12-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 25, 1869.

to twenty, and from ten to forty years to run, bearing in-
terest at the rate of six per cent. and five per cent. re-
spectively. It is optional with the Government to pay
these bonds at any period after the expiration of the
last time mentioned upon their face. The time has
already expired when a great part of them may be
taken up, and is rapidly approaching when all may be.
It is believed that all which are now due may be replaced
by bonds bearing a rate of interest not exceeding four
and one-half per cont., and as rapidly as the remainder
becomes duo that they may be replaced in the same way.
To accomplish this it may be necessary to authorise the
interest to be paid at either of the three or four money
centres of Europe, or by any Assistant Treasurer of the
United States at the option of the holder of the bond. I
suggest this subject for the consideration of Congress, and
also simultaneously with this the propriety of redeeming
our currency as before suggested at its market value at
the time the law goes into effect, increasing the rate at
which currency will be bought and sold from day to day,
or week to week, at the same rate of interest as Govern-
ment pays upon its bonds.

mere Executive order, the matter 113 been referred to the

Courts to decide.

The conduct of tho war botwon the Allies and the
Republic of Paraguay has made Ulf intercourse with that

country so difficult that it has bees deemed advisable to

withdraw our representative from here.

THE ALABAMA CIUMS.
Toward the close of the last Aslninistmtion a conven-
tion was signed at London for thf settlement of all out-

standing claims between Great Jritain and the United
States, which failed to receive tla advice and consent of

the Senate to its ratification.

T,O time and the circum-

stances attending the negotia'in of that treaty were

favourable to its acceptance by tle people of the United
States, but its provisions were wiolly inadequate for the
settlement of the grave wrongs tlat had been sustained
by this Government as well as bj its citizens.
The injuries resulting to the :hilted States by reason
of the course adopted by Great Britain during our late
Civil War in the increased rates of insurance, in the di-
minution of exports and imports. and other obstructions
to domestic industry and prodttion, in its effect upon

the foreign commerce of the comtry, in the decrease and

transfer to Great Britain of oir commercial marine, in
the prolongation of the war and the increased cost, both
in treasure and in the lives of is suppression, could not
be adjusted and satisfied as oreinary commercial claims
which continually arise between commercial nations ;
and yet the convention treated hem simply as such ordi-
nary claims, from which they differ more widely in the
gravity of their character thanin the magnitude of their
amount. Great even as is ttat difference not a word
was found in the treaty, and not an inference could
be drawn from it to remelt, the sense of the un-
friendliness of the course .f Great Britain in our
struggle for existence which had so deeply and uni-
versally impressed itself upon the people of this coun-
try. Believing that a convention thus misconceived in
its scope and inadequate in its provisions would not
have produced the hearty, cordial settlement of the
pending question which akne is consistent with the
relations which 1 desire to have established between
the United States and Gnat Britain, I regarded the
action of the Senate in rejecting the treaty to have been
wisely taken in the interest of peace, and as a neces-

nary step in the direction of a perfect and cordial friend-
ship t etween the two countries. A sensitive people,
conscious of their powers, are more at ease under a
great wrong wholly unatoned than under the restraint of
nottlarnont svh;oh aatica.a vuxitkor their jam/2 of ins-

tico nor their grave sense of the grievance they
have sustained. The rejection of the treaty was followed
by a state of public feeling on both sides which I thought
not favourable to an immediate attempt at renewed nego-
tiations. I accordingly so instructed the Minister of the
United States to Great Britain, and found that my views
in this regard were shared by her Majesty's Minister. I
hope that the time may soon arrive when the two Govern-
ments can approach the solution of this momentous ques-
tion with an appreciation of what is due to the rights,
dignity, and honour of each, and with the determination
not only to remove the cause of complaint in the past,
but to lay the foundation of a broad principle of public
law which will prevent future differences and tend to
firm and continued peace and friendship. This is now the
only grave question which the United States has with any
foreign nation.

THE RECIPROCITY TREATY WITH CANADA.

- _
The question of renewing a treaty for reciprocal trade
between ths United States and the British Provinces on this
continent has not been favourably considered by the Ad-
ministration. The advantages of such a treaty would be
wholly in favour of the British producer, except possibly
a few engaged in the trade between the two sections. No
citizen of the United States would be benefited by reci-
procity. Our internal taxation would prove a protection
to the British producer almost equal to the protection
which our manufacturers now receive from the tariff.
Some arrangements, however, for the regulation of com-
mercial intercourse between the United States and the
Dominion of Canada may be desirable.
The Commission for adjusting the claims of the "Hud-
son Bay and Puget's Sound Agricultural Company" upon
the United States has terminated its labours. The award
of $650,000 has been made, and all rights and titles of the
Company on the territory of the United States have been
extinguished. Deeds for the property of the Company
have been delivered; an appropriation by Congress to meet
this sum is asked.
The Commissioners for determining the North Western
land boundary between the United States and the British
Possessions under the treaty of 1856, have completed their
labours, and the Commission has been dissolved.
In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, a
prokosition was early made to the British Government to
abolish the mixed courts created under the treaty of April
7, 1862, for the suppression of the slave trade. The subject
is still under negociation.
TELEGRAPH CABLES.

It having come to my knowledge that a corporate com-
pany, organized under British laws, proposed to hind
upon the shores of the United States, end to operate
there a submarine cable, under a concession from his
Majesty the Emperor of the French, of an exclusive right
for twenty years of telegraphic communication between
the shores of Franco and the United States, with the very
objectionable feature of subjecting all messages con-
veyed thereby to the scrutiny and control of the French
Government, L caused the French and British Legations
at Washington to be made acquainted with the probable
policy of Congress on the subject, as foreshadowed by
the bill which passed the Senate in March hest. This drew
from the representatives of the company an agreement to
accept as the basis of their operations I,lle provisions of
that bill, or of such other enactment on the subject as
might be passed during the approaching session of Con-
gram Also to use their influence to secure from the
French Government a modification of thoir oonoesolion,
:;co as to permit the landing of any cable belonging to
any Company incorporated by the authority of the
United States, or of any State of the Union ; and, ou their
part, not to oppose the establishment of any such cable.
In consideration of this agreement I directed the with-

drawal of all opposition by United States authorities
to the landing of the cable, and to the working of it, lawn
the meeting of Congress. I regret to say that there has
been no modification made in the Company's concession;
nor, so far as I can learn, have they attempted to secure
one. Their concession excludes the capital and the citi-
zens of the United States from competition upon the
shores of France. I recommend legislation to protect the
rights of citizens of the United States, as well as the dig-
nity and sovereignty of the nation, against such an as-
sumption. I shall also endeavour to secure, by negotiation,
an abandonment of the principle of monopolies in ocean
telegraphic cables. Copies of the correspondence are
herewith furnished.
The unsettled political condition of other countries, less
fortunate than our own, sometimes induces their citizens
to come to the United States for the sole purpose of being
naturalized. Having secured this, they return to their
native country and reside there without disclosing this
change of allegiance. They accept official positions of
trust or honour which can only be held by citizens of their
native land. They journey under passports describing
them as such citizens ; and it is only when civil discord,
after years perhaps of quiet, threatens their persons or
their property, or when their native State drafts into its
military service, that the fact of their change of allegiance
is made known. They reside permanently away from
the United States, they contribute nothing to its revenues,
they avoid the duties of its citizenship, and they only
make themselves known by a claim of protection. I have
directed the diplomatic and consular officers of the United
States to scrutinize carefully all such claims of protection.
The citizen of the United States, whether native or
adopted, is entitled to its complete protection. While I
have a voice in the direction of affairs, I shall not consent
to imperil the sacred right by conferring it upon fictitious
or fraudulent claimants.
THE PROTECTION OF EMIGRANT I'ASSENGERS.
On the accession of the present Administration it was
found that the Minister for North Germany had made
propositions for the negotiation of a convention for the
protection of emigrant p tssengers, to which no response
had been given. It was concluded that to be effectual all
the maritime powers engaged in the trade should join in
such a measure. Invitations have been extended to the
Cabinets of London, Paris, Florence, Berlin, Brussels,
The Hague, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, to empawer
their representatives at Washington to simultaneously
enter into negotiations and to conclude with the United
States conventions, identical in form, making uniform
regulations as to the construction of the parts of vessels
to be devoted to the use of emigrant passengers; as to the
quality and quantity of food; as to the medical treatment
of the sick, and as to the rules to be observed during tint
voyage, in order to secure ventilation to promote health,
to prevent intrusion, and to protect the females, and pro-
viding for the establishment of tribunals in the several
countries for enforcing such regulations by summary
process.
Your attention is respectfully called to the law regulat-
ing the tariff on Russian homp,and to the question whether
to fix the charges on Russian hemp higher than they aro
fixed upon manilla is not a violation of our treaty with
Russia, placing her products upon the same footing with
tit
difirn=raurt;7lOincreasitk.'will--wonderful ra-
pidity under the encouragement which they now receive
w:th the improvements in machinery already effected, and
still increasing, causing machinery to take the place of
skilled labour. To a large extent our imports of many
articles may fall off largely within a very few years. For-
nately, too, manufactures are not confined to a few locali-
ties as formerly, and it is to be hoped will become more
and more diffused, making the interest in them equal in
all sections. They give employment and support to hun-
dreds of thousands of people at home, and retain with us
the means which otherwise would bo shipped abroad.
The extension of railroads in Europe and the East is
bringing into competition with our agricultural products
like products of other countries. Self-interest, if not self-
preservation, therefore, dictates caution against disturb.
iug any industrial interest of the country. It teaches us
also the necessity of looking to the other markets for the
sale of our surplus.
Our neighbours south of us, and China and Japan,should
receive our special attention. It will be the endeavour
of the Administration to cultivate such relations with
these nations as to entitle us to their confidence, and make
it their interest, as well as ours, to establish better com-
mercial relations.
OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA.

Through the agency of a more enlightened policy than
that heretofore pursued towards Cnina, largely due to
the sagacity and efforts of one of our own distinguished
citizens, the world is about to commence largely increased
relations with that populous and hitherto exclusive na-
tion. As the United States have been the initiators in this
new policy, so they should ha the m .)st earnest in
showing their good faith in making it a success. In this
connection I advise such legislation as will for over pre-
clude the enslavement of the Chinese upon our soil,
under the name of Coolies, and also prevent American
vessels from engaging in the transportation of Coolies to
any country tolerating the system. I also recommend
that tho mission to China be raised to one of the first

110 W PEACE AND PROSPERITY ARE 10 DE SECURED.
Upon my assuming the responsibilities of Chief Magis-
trate of the United States, it was with the conviction that
three things were essential to its pence, prospvrity, and
fullest development. First among these is strict integrity
in fulfilling all our obligations. Second, to secure protec-
tion to the person and property of the citizens of the
United States in each and every portion of our common
::ouutry, wherever ho may choose to move, without re-
ference to original nationality, religion, colour, or poli-
tics, demanding of him only obedience to the laws, and

proper respect for the rights of others. Third, Union
of all the States, with equal rights, indestructible by any
constitutional means. To secure the first of these Con-
gress has taken two essential steps—First: In declaring
by joint resolution that the public debt should be paid,
principal and interest, in coin; and Second: by providing
the means for paying. Providing the means, however,
could not secure the object desired without a proper ad-
ministration of the laws for the collection of the revenues,
and an economical disbursement of them. To this subject
the Administration has most earnestly addressed itself,
with results, I hope, satisfactory to the country. There
has been no hesitation in changing officials in order to
secure an efficient execution of the laws, sometimes, too,
where, in a mere party view, undesirable political results
were likely to follow., nor any hesitation in sustaining
officials against remonstrances wholly political. It may
bo well to mention hero the embarrassment possible to
arise from leaving on the statute books the so called
"Tenure-of-Office Act," and to earnestly recommend its
total repeal. It could not have been the intention of the
framers of the Constitution, when providing that appoint-
ments made by tha President should receive the consent
of the Senate, that the latter should have the power to
retain in office persons placed there by Federal appoint-
ment against the will of the President. The law is con-
sistent with a faithful and efficient administration of the

Government. What faith can an Executive put in officials
forced upon him, in those, too, whom he has suspended
for reasons? How will such officials be likely to servo au
administration which they know does not trust them ?
For the second requisite to our growth and prosperity,
. .

time, and a firm but humane admiuLtration Of existing
laws, amended from time to time as they may prove in-
effective or prove harsh and unnecessary, are probably all
the more required.
The third cannot be obtained by special legislation, but
must be regarded as fixed by the Constitution itself, and
gradually acquiescel iu by force of public opinion.