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opened by these regulations, the prohibitory laws of the Union would not allow supplies from the British Islands to come directly to the United States, or to go directly from the United States to the Islands, in the vessels of either power. The reason was, that as Britain would not allow them to come and go in this manner, on terms that the United States deemed of equal advantage to their vessels, they preferred that the direct intercourse should cease altogether. It is obvious, that the dispute was about tonnage, rather than the productions or merchandize of either party. These were still permitted to be consumed in the territories of each; but it was necessary to import them in round-about ways.

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On a Spanish ambassador once representing to Cromwell that the Inquisition and colonial trade, were his master's two eyes, Cromwell replied, “ Then I must trouble your master to put out his two eyes." We cannot address England in such language, although England did Spain; but we may at least remark, that as far as she enforces her colonial system in her intercourse with other nations, the latter will, so far, lose the benefit of equal competition. The United States cannot, it is true, complain that she violates any of their rights in allowing the vessels of her own subjects in her North American colonies, to trade with her Islands on better terms, than the vessels of the United States; but, to whatever extent she does so, it is manifest that, to the same extent, American tonnage must labour under intrinsic disadvantages, and the British be likely to shoot ahead of it; which is the basis of the competition at present-[1818].

122.

Arrangement for opening the West India Trade.
to the Earl of Aberdeen.

Mr McLane

9, Chandos-street, Portland Place, July 12th, 1830.

The right Hon. the Earl of Aberdeen, &c. &c. &c.

The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States, has had the honor already, in a personal conference, to explain to the Earl of Aberdeen, his Majesty's principal secretary of State of Foreign Affairs, certain measures adopted by the Congress of the United States, during their late session, which have an immediate and important bearing on the relations of the two countries, and upon the proposition heretofore submitted by the undersigned, respecting the West India trade. Having received from the Earl of Aberdeen an intimation of the propriety of communicating those measures in a more formal manner, the undersigned has the honor herewith to transmit such information on the subject as he is now in possession of.

The first of the measures alluded to is an act of the Congress of the United States, authorizing the President, in the recess of Congress, to annul all the restrictive and discriminating measures of the United States, and to open the ports to British vessels trading with the British West Indies in the manner particularly pointed out in the act; a copy of which, for the better explanation of the case, the under. signed begs leave to subjoin.

The undersigned has the honor also to inform lord Aberdeen, that, during the late session of the Congress of the United States, several other laws were passed, by which, in lieu of the duties imposed upon certain articles of the produce of the West India islands, and of the possessions of Great Britain, by previous regulations, the following duties only are to be collected; that is to say:

Upon molasses, a duty of five cents, instead of ten cents, per gallon, allowing at the at the same time a drawback of the duty upon all rum which may be manufactured from that article, and exported from the United States;

On salt, a duty of ten instead of twenty cents per bushel;

On cocoa, a duty of one cent per pound on all imported after the 31st of December, 1830, or remaining at that time in the custom-house stores under the bond of the importer;

And on coffee, a duty of two, instead of five cents per pound, from and after the S1st of December, 1830; and of one cent per pound from and after the thirty-first day of December, 1831, and the same duties to be taken on coffee remaining at the respective times under bond in the custom-house stores.

The undersigned will not permit himself to doubt, that, in the first of these acts, emanating from the frank and friendly spirit which the President has uniformly professed, and passed with an avowed reference to the pending negotiation, the Earl of Aberdeen will see new and irresistible motives for concurring in the promotion of the end to which this measure directly leads.

Such a measure could not have been recommended by the President, without incurring a deep responsibility towards his own country, and feeling a confident reliance upon the justice and magnanimity of this.

It is a voluntary and leading step in the conciliating policy of the two nations, taken in disdain of the restraints of form, and which, if met in a corresponding spirit, cannot fail to produce that friendly intercourse and real harmony so ardently desired by those who consult the true interests and glory of both countries. It concedes in its terms all the power in the regulation of the colonial trade, and authorizes the President to confer on British vessels all those privileges, as well in the circuitous as the direct voyage, which Great Britain has at any time demanded or desired. It has done this in the only manner in which it was possible for Congress, at the present moment, and under existing circumstances, to act, without a total abandonment of even those advantages conceded by the present regulations of Great Britain, and without raising up new interests to obstruct the favorable disposition expressed by this Government. Nor will the undersigned conceal his hope and belief that this act will stamp the negotiation with a new and more favorable character; and that the United States having thus taken the first step, and particularly defined the terms of their legislation, the mode of adjustment may be disencumbered of even those objections with which it was supposed to be embarrassed when submitted to Lord Dudley, and by the answer which on that occasion was given to Mr. Gallatin. The objections suggested at that period on the part of Great Britain had no special or exclusive reference to the measure in question, but to the giving of any prospective pledge by which she might commit herself to the adoption of any specific line of conduct contingent on events which could not be foreseen, and to the entering into any informal agreement as to mutual acts of legislation, while it was impossible to anticipate the details with which those acts might be accompanied, or the position and circumstances in which the two countries, and the commercial commonwealth generally, might be placed at the time when the laws enacted should come into effect. If these objections could at any time have been essential to the subject, which the undersigned by no means admits, they certainly are not so at present.

The act of Congress has been passed without any pledge, prospective or otherwise; it therefore relieves the adjustment of this subject from that part of the difficulty. The details of the colonial legislation on the part of the United States are precisely defined and fully explained by the law. Frankly announcing all this, it leaves to Great Britain herself the selection of the mode and time in which, according to her conception of her own interests, she may restore the direct trade between the United States and the West Indies. She is enabled deliberately to do this, with a full knowledge of the beforementioned details, and of the precise position and circumstances, as well of the two nations, as of the commercial commonwealth in general, at the time when the measures are to come into effect. This she may do without any risk as to the future, and with the certainty that, while doing an act of justice to a friendly power, and relieving it from an invidious exclusion from advantages allowed to all other nations, she is contributing materially to the prosperity of her possessions in the West Indies.

The undersigned will not dismiss this subject without expressing the hope and persuasion that, in the other measures of Congress alluded to, the Earl of Aberdeen will find not merely all the considerations heretofore urged for giving new facilities to the trade between the United States and the British West Indies materially strengthened, if not absolutely confirmed, but that a further and more favorable alteration is thereby made in the object and character of the negotiation.

These measures manifest at least a laudable desire to loose the shackles of trade and commerce, which, if England is so disposed, she cannot better encourage than by a relaxation of her own restraints upon the particular branch of trade under discussion.

The Earl of Aberdeen has been already informed that the consumption of foreign molasses in the United States is not less than thirteen millions of gallons, even under the discouragement of the high rate of duty, and a denial of the drawback, which nearly proved fatal to the chief source of consumption—the distilleries of New England. It is obvious, however, that the reduction of the duty to its present low rate, and the allowance of the drawback, must swell the demand for this article even beyond the ordinary amount, which, in the regular course of a direct trade, would seek its principal supply in the British West Indies.

Of coffee, not less than thirty-seven millions of pounds were annually imported into the United States; and of those in a regular trade, not less than eight millions from the British West Indies.

Of four hundred thousand pounds of cocoa annually imported into the United Srates, little less than one-fourth was brought from the British West Indies.

The Earl of Aberdeen will readily perceive, that the reduction of duty on these articles, and especially on coffee, to a rate which will soon be little more than nominal, cannot fail to at least double the importation.

These remarks apply with even additional force to the article of salt, the consumption of which is more dependent on the rate of duty than that of any other necessary of life.

The enormous quantity of this article requisite to supply the wants of twelve millions of people, is too obvious to need any conjectural assertion; but it is worthy of observation that, notwithstanding the extent of the home supply encou raged by the high duty of twenty cents per bushel, the annual importation of that

article from abroad seldom amounted to less than five millions of bushels. Of this amount more than three millions came from Great Britain and her possessions, her West India islands furnishing at least one million.

To what extent this amount may be enlarged by the increased consumption arising from the low rate of duty and the advantages of an easy trade, the Earl of Aberdeen may readily conjecture.

It should be remarked, also, that, while the consumption of this article is thus augmented, the diminution of the duty must proportionably diminish the price of salted provisions. So far as these, therefore, form part of the supplies to the West Indies, the subsistence of the islands will be cheapened, while the demand for their produce is increased.

It should not escape the attention of the Earl of Aberdeen that the provisions of these acts of the Congress, so far as they relate to cocoa, coffee, and salt, confer encouragement on the trade of the West Indies, with the United States, which did not exist, and could not have been contemplated at the period of passing the act of Parliament of 1825. They therefore superadd new and important motives for restoring the trade then offered, and for restoring it upon terms not less favourable.

While the participation of the British islands is invited in the advantages to be derived from this enlarged and increasing demand of the United States for the produce of the West Indies, the undersigned takes leave to suggest the expediency of securing that participation before the trade may be exclusively diverted into other channels by the superior advantages of a direct intercourse with other islands.

In closing this communication to the Earl of Aberdeen, the undersigned will take the occasion to repeat his deep interest in the subject, and a renewed hope of an early and favorable issue. The Earl of Aberdeen will not fail to appreciate the spirit and motive by which the President was actuated in recommending, and the Congress in passing, the act to which allusion was first made. The effects of delay upon the commercial enterprise of the United States, and the disappointment of interests desirous of a different measure of legislation, though they offered great embarrassments, were not the greatest difficulties attendant upon that act. To give to Great Britain the fullest time to consult her own interest and convenience; to make a further and a signal effort to place the commercial relations of the two countries upon a footing of sure and lasting harmony; and to guard, in a manner consistently with duty, against delay during the recess of Congress; could only be done by a measure calculated also to awaken at once the spirit of commercial speculation, and to create new expectations of favorable dispositions on the part of this Government.

If, as the undersigned will continue to hope, the British Government should find it their interest to realise these expectations, their measures will derive additional grace from the frankness and promptitude with which they may be adopted; and if, unfortunately, these hopes are destined to experience a disappointment, it is not less the duty of his Majesty's Government to quiet the public expectations thus excited, and to mitigate, as far as may be in its power, the injurious effects thereof, by giving an early reply to the application which, in behalf of his Government, the undersigned has had the honor to submit.

The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Lord Aberdeen the assurances of his highest consideration: LOUIS MCLANE.

123. Mr McLane to Mr Van Buren.

Successful Issue of the Negotiation on the Colonial Trade.

London, August 20th, 1830. Sir: I have the satisfaction to forward herewith a letter from the Earl of Aberdeen, dated the 17th instant, by which it will be perceived that my negotiation for the colonial trade is successfully closed; and that this Government consents to restore to us the direct intercourse with her American colonies, upon the terms of the proposition submitted by me on the 12th of December last.

It will be perceived, also, that, from an apprehension that the late act of Congress might admit of an interpretation incompatible with the terms of my proposition, and the act of Parliament of the 5th July, 1825, the British government have accompanied their consent with an explanation of the construction which, in their cpinion, the law ought to receive, and to which their proceedings will be conformed. This is precautionary, however, and intended to guard against misapprehension in future. The proclamation of the President, which is authorized upon evidence, satisfactory to himself, will be immediately followed, upon the part of Great Britain by the revocation of the order in council of July, 1827, the abolition of the discriminating duties on American vessels in British colonial ports, and by extending to the vessels of the United States the advantages of the act of Parliament of the 5th July, 1825.

If it had been admitted that the late act of Congress varied intentionally from the terms of our proposition, and the British act of the 5th July, 1825, and demanded advantages not contemplated by the latter, it would have been considered as reviving pretensions already given up, and must have had the effect of entirely defeating any hope of recovering the colonial trade. Recurring to your letter of 18th June last, communicating the President's message to Congress and a copy of the law, I did not doubt that the act was, in fact, intended to authorize the President to give effect, in the recess of Congress, to the known and uniform object of the negotiation and to accept a renewal of the trade upon the terms of the proposition which I had been authorized to make. I felt it my duty, therefore, to concur in the suggestion that the supposed deviations in the law from the act of the 5th of July, 1825, were apparent merely, and neither intentional, nor for the purpose of advancing any new claim upon the part of our Government.

My instructions authorized me to propose that the United States should now comply with the conditions of the act of 5th July, 1825, by repealing our restrictive laws, "if such a measure would lead to the revocation of the order in council of July, 1827, to the abolition or suspension of all discriminating duties on American vessels in the British colonial ports, and to the enjoyment by us of the advantages of the last mentioned act of Parliament."

These instructions were literally pursued in the proposition which I submitted in December last, and, together with it, were communicated to Congress. But it will be apparent to you that, if the law necessarily authorize a different construction than that adopted by this government, it will not be a compliance with the conditions of the act of Parliament, but demand advantages which, by that act, are expressly denied, and by this Government allowed to no other country.

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