Indies with British vessels, not the same right in transporting British articles in British vessels. Since the peace of 1783, it has been a subject of negotiation, not, we acknowledge, like the trade between the United States and the mother country, for the discussion has been subject to certain restrictions or forms, peculiar to the business;—it has never been embraced in the general matter of the commerce of the two countries; but both parties by their practice, have admitted, that it was entitled to the privilege of a separate examination. Allowing, therefore, on the one hand, that a discussion of the West India trade is not necessarily associated with that of the mother country, it is, on the other, undeniable, that, if England had maintained, in regard to her colonies, the iron bound, case hardened monopoly of Spain, the United States would probably have abstained from presenting the topic for negotiation. In order to make good the remark that the practice of England fully authorizes a proposal to negotiate, and that the distinction, Mr. Gallatin has adverted to, is not fanciful, we shall give a brief sketch of the proceedings of that government on this subject. In the first place, we have the bill, denominated the American intercourse bill, introduced in March 1783, into the House of Commons by Mr. Pitt, allowing a full freedom of trade to all the British colonies and possessions in North America. This bill fell with the administration of which Mr. Pitt was chancellor of the exchequer, though, we have no idea, it would have been passed by Parliament; and even in its first stage was vehemently opposed, particularly, as already stated, by Mr. Eden, from whose speech we have, in a former chapter, made some extracts, being in some degree prophetic, and as really expressing, at that early hour, the views, which have always governed the British cabinet. Then we have the 12th article of Mr. Jay's treaty, inserted in direct opposition to the opinion of the committee of the Privy Council for trade and plantations, delivered in Jannary 1791, and which is in these words: "If Congress should propose, (as they certainly will) that this VOL. II. 40 : principle of equality should be extended to the ports of our colonies and islands, and that the ships of the United States should be there treated as British ships, it should be answered, that this demand cannot be admitted, even as a subject of negotiation; by the public law of Europe every nation has a right to regulate the commerce, which it carries on with its own colonies, in the manner that shall appear to be the most conducive to the interest of the mother country in regulations of this sort no foreign government has any right to interfere ;-this branch of freight is of the same nature with the freight from one American state to another; Congress has made regulations to confine the freight, employed between different states, to the ships of the United States; and Great Britain does not object to this restriction. The United States, at present, enjoy all the rights and privileges of an independent nation, and, as such, they now have no pretence to claim the privileges, which they once enjoyed as British colonies." Again, the discussion of this trade was introduced into the negotiations, that led to the unratified treaty of 1806, and to the conventions of 1815 and 1818. And in all these cases, an arrangement failed, not because England declined negotiation, but because the United States insisted on a basis of perfect reciprocity. If to this detail be added the conferences, held at great length by Mr. Rush in 1824, with the British plenipotentiaries, it follows, that, during thirty years, a continued negotiation has been maintained between the two countries on the subject of the West India trade, a period sufficiently prolonged to establish a right to treat for that trade on terms, at least, of some sort of equality. So little has the practice of the British government, in regard to negotiation, coincided with the theory of its colonial monopoly! Neither is the remark well founded, that the relaxations of the system have taken place in consequence of a pressure, caused by the wars in Europe;-they, together with the negotiations, have been continued since the peace. Ten years after the termination of the war, Great Britain voluntarily made the most favourable propositions on this subject, that have yet proceeded from that cabinet. And it may, also, be added, that the direct intercourse, allowed with the islands, is not less a departure from the system. "As early as 1783, the government of Great Britain, deviating from that principle of the colonial system, according to which her colonies were prohibited from trading directly with any other country, allowed her West India colonies to trade directly with the United States of America in British vessels. This permission had been continued, almost without any interruption, till the year 1822, when a more extensive change in the colonial policy superseded that partial measure. And during the European war, Great Britain found it convenient (not) occasionally, but repeatedly, to open her West India ports to American vessels; at the same time, that she was asserting the principle, denied by the United States, that a neutral was not authorized by the laws of nations to carry on, in time of war, a trade with a colony, in which he was not permitted to participate in time of peace.* * This trade has, also, been very considerable in amount, for in one year (1801) the amount of the exports from this country exceeded 9,000,000 dollars, and that of the imports exceeded 6,000,000 during several years. "British West Indies and North American Colonies.-The value of imports from the British West Indies to the United States, in the year ending September 30, 1824, was $2,758,067, of which $2,370,225 were in vessels of the United States, and $387,842 in those of Great Britain. The value of imports in the year ending September 30, 1825, was $2,437,122, víz. in American vessels $2,097,657, and in British vessels $339,465. "The value of imports from the British American colonies, in the year ending September 30, 1824, was $705,931, of which $15,834 were in foreign vessels.-The value in 1825, was $610,788, of which $23,410 were in foreign vessels. "The value of exports to the British West Indies in the year first above named, was $1,750,703, of which $119,180 were in foreign vessels. The value of exports to those colonies in 1825, was $1,635,574, of which $120,186 were in foreign vessels. The value of exports to the British North American Colonies in 1824, was $1,773,107, of which $63,925 were in foreign vessels, and in 1825, the whole value was $2,533,224, of which $102,255 was in foreign vessels. "The aggregate amount of imports from the British West India and North American Colonies in 1824, was $3,463,998, of which $1,125,042 were in gold and silver coin. The amount in 1825 was $3,047,910, of which $844,002 were in specie. "The following were the principal articles of import from the Brit Till 1806 the ports of the islands were opened by proclamation from the governors, but, since that period, it has been done by an order of the king in council. Negotiation ish West Indies in the years above named, with the amount in value, of each article, as given in the custom house returns, viz. "The amount of duties accruing to the United States per annum, on the import of the above enumerated articles, taking the average quantity imported in the two years, was as follows: "The amount in value of the principal articles imported from the British North American Colonies, was as follows: "The principal articles of export to the British West India and American Colonies were the following, of which we give the custom house value, viz. in the year ending September 30, 1824 : Lumber of all kinds, W. Indies. N. A. Col. $110,055 and commercial intercourse, continued for thirty years, form, therefore, the foundation, upon which the United States contend that the rules of the ancient colonial system no longer apply in strictness to the British West Indies. "The amount exported to those colonies of the same articles in 1,402 110,562 625,928 "The amount of exports of lumber, to the British West Indies, in the two years above named was much greater than to any other coun |