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BELGIUM.

No. 2.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Sanford.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, March 26, 1861.

SIR: Having spent the winter in Washington, you need not be informed of the attempts of a misguided party of citizens in several of the southern States, not unattended with violence and spoliation, to dismember the federal republic, and of their scheme to organize several of the States in a new revolutionary government, under the name of the Confederate States of America. Formidable as this conspiracy seemed at the beginning, it is now confidently believed that the policy of the present administration in regard to it will be supported by the people--a policy of conciliationr forbearance, and firmness-and that the conspiracy will thus fail for want of ultimate adoption by the States themselves which are expected to constitute the new confederacy. Aware of this danger, the movers in that desperate and destructive enterprise are now understood to be making every effort to gain external advantage by appeals to prejudice or supposed interest in foreign nations for a recognition of the independence of the proposed new confederacy.

Under these circumstances the most important duty of the diplomatic representatives of the United States in Europe will be to counteract by all proper means the efforts of the agents of that projected confederacy at their respective courts. It was your extensive acquaintance on the continent, taken in connexion with your activity and energy here, which induced the President to confer upon you the appointment of minister resident in Belgium.

The general considerations to be urged against such a recognition will be found in the inaugural address of the President, delivered on the 4th of March instant, and in a circular letter despatched by me on the 9th instant to our ministers, an original part of which will be found in the archives of your legation. For your present convenience I enclose a copy of this circular letter.

The President, confident of the ultimate ascendancy of law, order, and the Union, through the deliberate action of the people in constitutional forms, does not expect you to engage in any discussion which the agents of the disunionists may attempt to initiate on the merits of their proposed revolution. He will not consent, directly or indirectly, to the interpellation of any foreign power in a controversy which is merely a domestic one.

There is some reason to suppose that the agents of the disunionists will attempt to win favor for their scheme of recognition by affecting to sympathize with the manufacturing interests of the European nations in their discontent with the tariff laws of the United States, and by promising to receive the fabrics of such nations on more favorable terms. You will be able to reply to such seductions as these that the new tariff laws thus complained of are revenue laws deemed by the legislature of the United States necessary under new and peculiar circumstances; that all experience shows

that such laws are not and cannot be permanent; that if, as is now pretended, they shall prove to be onerous to foreign commerce, they will, of course, prove also to be unfruitful of revenue, and that in that case they will necessarily be promptly modified. The inconvenience, if any shall result from them, will therefore be temporary and practically harmless. Nor will any statesman of a foreign country need to be informed that the consumption of the fabrics which it is proposed shall be favored by the so-called seceding States chiefly takes place, not within those States, but in a very large degree in the States which remain undisturbed by this unhappy attempt at revolution

It hardly needs be added that the recognition which the insurgents States desire tends through either peace or war to the establishment of a new government. That new government, like the government of the United States, must levy imports on foreign merchandise, while it must also resort to an export duty on cotton, its great staple, for its support; and these two measures combined would constitute a policy largely prohibitive, instead of the liberal and genial one which is now promised by the disunion party.

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You will not fail to represent to the government of the King of the Belgians that all the interests of European manufactures and merce are identified with the promotion of peace and the undisturbed activity of the American people. An act of recognition in favor of a now discontented party would necessarily tend to encourage that party to attempt to establish their separation from the Union by civil war, the consequences of which would be disastrous to all the existing systems of industrial activity in Europe, and when once they had begun, those consequences would be likely to continue indefinitely; whereas no nation in Europe can hope that their own interests would be as safe and prosperous under any change of government here as they are now and have so long been under our present system.

It is quite manifest already that differences and embarrassing questions may soon arise concerning the conduct of commerce, and that the commercial States of Europe may be subjected to strong seductions to violate our revenue laws and regulations. You will say generally on this subject that the government of the United States will expect the same respect to those laws and regulations which has hitherto been shown and which our treaties of amity and commerce entitle us to demand, and that it will not hold itself bound to favor or exempt from consequences any parties, of whatever nation, who may violate them. It does not at all distrust its ability to maintain them or the good disposition of its allies to observe them.

I shall not enlarge on these subjects, insomuch as the phase of the whole affair changes almost daily. The President willingly expects to rely on your astuteness in discovering points of attack and your practical skill and experience in protecting the interests of the United States. He will expect you, however, to communicate to this department very fully and frequently, and you will receive prompt instructions in every new emergency.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

HENRY S. SANFORD, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

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I was received by the King, to present my letter of credence, on the 8th, in "solemn audience," and made on the occasion an address, of which I enclose a copy, (A.)

The King replied that he highly appreciated the sentiments of friendly feeling, of which I bore to him the expression, from the President, and the flattering terms, as he expressed it, in which they were couched. He desired me to tender to the President his thanks for them, and to say that he reciprocated fully the desire for the continuance of the friendly and cordial relations which, during the more than thirty years that had elapsed since the formation of his government, had marked our intercourse, and he hoped for the continued prosperity of the United States. After some remarks complimentary to myself and my former residence in Europe, he entered into general conversation, in which he showed great interest in and knowledge of the United States, manifesting a warm desire to have the means of direct intercourse increased between the two countries. The genius of his people, he said, was rather for industrial pursuits at home, and in which they had been very successful; but they had failed upon the seas; and he thought if the enterprise and practical knowledge of our people could be brought to bear in favor of steam communication between Belgium and the United States, a large trade could be diverted through this channel, Antwerp being a natural entrepôt for Central Europe.

His Majesty spoke but generally of the insurrection in the southern States; said he hoped that some peaceful issue would be found, and that the spirit of conciliation would prevail, and then referred to the growing markets they had for their manufactures in the United States. My audience, which was lengthened by a long conversation on general subjects, was most satisfactory, in the very kind and cordial spirit manifested by his Majesty.

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I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

H. S. SANFORD.

Secretary of State.

Mr. Sanford to Mr. Seward.

[Extracts.]

No. 5.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Brussels, May 26, 1861.

SIR: I had a conversation to-day with M. de Vrière on the subject of the efforts of the commissioners of the so-called "Confederate States" to obtain recognition of the European powers.

He informed me that no application had been made to him in this view, nor would it now be entertained if made. The revolution would receive no

sanction by any act of Belgium. A small State, he continued, whose prosperity depended on the full exercise of the industrial pursuits of its people, they did not mingle in foreign politics, their policy being not to imperil their interests by stepping beyond the limits of strict neutrality in their intercourse with other States. They should, therefore, remain " neutral," as he expressed it, in respect to this question. They had not even yet recognized the Italian government, he added. We desired, I told him, not to be subjected to any interference in the settlement of our domestic affairs, whether in the form of recognition of political existence or of belligerent rights of those who were in open rebellion to the government and laws of the United States. It was an issue between order and anarchy which we were fully able to cope with, and all Europe was interested that its settlement be in the most prompt and effective manner, as least liable to cause permanent derangement to commerce.

In reply to my inquiry, he said he had received no official information of the blockade of our southern ports, proclaimed by the President, although he had late advices from the Belgian minister at Washington. He had only knowledge of it, he said, as printed in the papers. In answer to his inquiry, I said I thought it would not injuriously affect the supply of cotton, as the crop of the past year had mostly gone forward; and, moreover, that while the blockade would be rigorously enforced with regard to supplies, or vessels bearing the "confederate" flag, I presumed, although I had no instructions on the subject, that the vessels now loading, or under engagements to load in those ports, would be allowed reasonable time to leave; that there was every desire to make this condition of things, which was but temporary, as little embarrassing as possible to foreign commerce. The minister expressed great satisfaction at this, and said that the possibility of failure of the cotton supply, growing out of these troubles in our southern States, was causing great anxiety.

M. de Vrière then spoke of the new tariff with a great deal of feeling; said that it was highly prejudicial to their interests, instancing in point that forty furnaces for the manufacture of window glass had been stopped in consequence, and expressed his surprise that, in this age of progress, when Europe was abandoning the exploded system, as he expressed himself, of differential duties, the United States should pursue such a course. Their own experience as a manufacturing people had convinced them of the bad policy of such a system for the interests of the manufacturers themselves. I replied that I presumed the general interruptions of trade consequent upon apprehended war in the United States was, quite as much as the new tariff, a cause for suspension of the traffic he referred to. The tariff had been augmented by the last Congress to produce more revenue; if it failed to produce such result, it would probably be changed; it was a matter dependent on the will of Congress, and he was aware we had had several changes in the past few years, none of which had apparently given satisfaction to the manufacturing States of Europe which desired to supply our markets; still, it was our main source of revenue, and the system of raising means for the expenses of the government by a duty on importations would probably long continue.

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I took my leave of M. de Vrière with the repeated assurance that no countenance would be given, in any form, to the rebellion in our southern States.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, H. S. SANFORD.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

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