Why is this?

Simply, because England has provided facilities for constant and direct Mail and Passenger Communication with Mexico, and regular and safe means of transport for the specie and bullion returned in payment for the exportations thither made by her own merchants and those of other European countries; and because, on the other hand, our own Government has failed altogether in providing or encouraging the establishment of mail facilities between the United States and any part of Mexico, (there is not a single contract for mail service to Mexico. now existing,) and has constantly overlooked or regarded with indifference the great necessity and importance of stimulating and encouraging our commerce in that direction.

PROTECTION OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT TO ITS COMMERCE WITH MEXICO.

22. The protection that the English Government has extended to its trade with Mexico has even gone so far that British vessels-of-war on the Pacific coast, as is now a notorious fact, are allowed to serve the interests of British merchants to the extent, not only of transporting their remittances of specie, but also of aiding them in smuggling this treasure from the country in violation of the revenue laws of Mexico, and greatly to the detriment of all American traders, who are thus subjected to the disadvantage, not only of much greater delay in making returns, but also of the entire percentage represented by the lawful export charges.

In addition to this, our own Government has hitherto

looked quietly on, while British and European merchants in Mexico, through the aid and connivance of their respective ministers, have also systematically taken advantage of the necessities of the different Governments there to obtain from them, under the guise of payments in anticipation of duties, special permits for the introduction of merchandise at a reduction of from 25 to 50 per cent. from the rate of duties established by the regular tariff of the country, to which, at the same time, American merchants of perhaps less capital, and all traders pursuing a strictly legitimate business, have been cómpelled to adhere.

Against such disadvantages as these, it has been difficult for the American merchants in Mexico to compete.

But, by the extension of proper mail and specie transport facilities, and a prompt protection by our Government of the interests of American citizens engaged in trade with Mexico, this commerce, so rich and so important, can again, and speedily, be restored to our possession and control, where it legitimately and naturally belongs, and where, for the future, it must permanently remain.

SHIPMENTS OF SILVER FROM MEXICO.

23. The shipments of silver from Mexico, in coin and bullion, amount annually to upwards of $23,000,000. Of this large export, the shipments to the United States. for the year ending June 30th, 1858, formed only $4,342,535.

The entire balance, almost to a dollar, after being collected from every Mexican port along the entire Gulf

and Pacific coasts, by British men-of-war, and by British steamers, supported by Government subsidy, is shipped by the Royal West India Mail Line of Steamers, via St. Thomas, to England, where it forms a most important part of that great tide of the precious metals, by whose constant influx the commercial supremacy of Great Britain is supported and maintained.

The returns of silver thus collected on the Pacific coast, and at the various ports within the circuit of the Gulf, it will be noticed, are forwarded to England-not by the direct route, for that would be via the United States, touching at New York; but by the circuit of the West India Islands to St. Thomas, where an exchange of steamers and reshipment take place, and thence to England.

Should this trade be diverted via the United States, by the shortest route, from New Orleans to New York, and thence by the shortest route to Europe, there would, undoubtedly, be a saving in distance of sufficient importance to eventually draw the whole trade between Europe and the Mexican ports on the Gulf, from its present circuituous route to the shorter and more direct route, via the United States.

The advantages of this direct route will more prominently appear when we take into consideration the fact that at the present time the shipments destined for Europe, from most of the ports, have to be carried in sailing vessels to Vera Cruz, and there reshipped; while the establishment of the Gulf Line will obviate all that difficulty, as the steamers composing it are to touch at all the more important ports.

The difference in time, in favor of shipments via the United States, is still more worthy of attention.

The present time of passage by the English steamers from Vera Cruz, touching and remaining a day to coal at Havana, and exchanging steamers with loss of another day, and sometimes more, at St. Thomas, to Southampton is twenty-seven days. Via New York, the time from Vera Cruz to England would be reduced to twenty days, a saving of seven days, or one-quarter in time.

Rates of freight and insurance over the respective routes would probably be the same; but should be less by way of the United States, for the route, via St. Thomas involves far greater risks of navigation, as well as loss of time, and greater distance.

But the trade of Mexico, by the establishment of the proper facilities of communication with the United States, will become almost exclusively our own, and this vast tide of silver will assuredly find not only its entire transport in American Steamers, but also its final destination in the United States.

SIMILAR EFFECT TO BE PRODUCED BY THE SILVER OF MEXICO AS HAS BEEN PRODUCED BY THE GOLD OF CALIFORNIA.

24. The vast and regular export of silver by Mexico, in the increasing scarcity (in proportion) of that necessary medium of exchange, forms a more important item in the commerce of the world than we in the United

States, who have allowed so rich a current to diverge from almost within our own borders, are accustomed to imagine; and its retention within our own hands would do much toward placing the United States in a position to control the commercial exchanges of the world.

The importance of this view is greatly enhanced, when it is taken into consideration that the production of silver in Mexico might easily reach-and probably within a few years will reach—a larger sum than the present production of gold in California, and that the control of this entire amount can be secured to the United States.

The effect upon the general trade and commerce of the country of the regular and constant receipt of an amount of silver equal, and in addition, to that we now receive of gold, flowing into our commercial centres, and the great stimulus that would be given to our national prosperity, can hardly be imagined-certainly cannot be overestimated.

Such effects as have been produced by California upon our trade and prosperity, and upon that of the world, must again proceed from the developments which will soon take place in the commerce of the United States with Mexico.

Hence, it is seen, how important are the bearings of the subject now under consideration, and how necessary it is, that such facilities as are required for the proper encouragement and development of this trade should be at once and fully supplied.