ng under the color of its authority, as
well as the other matters in controversy between the two Governments,
have been suspended by the departure of the charge d'affaires of the
United States from Buenos Ayres. It is understood, however, that a
minister was subsequently appointed by that Government to renew the
negotiation in the United States, but though daily expected he has
not yet arrived in this country.

With Peru no treaty has yet been formed, and with Bolivia no diplomatic
intercourse has yet been established. It will be my endeavor to
encourage those sentiments of amity and that liberal commerce which
belong to the relations in which all the independent States of this
continent stand toward each other.

I deem it proper to recommend to your notice the revision of our
consular system. This has become an important branch of the public
service, inasmuch as it is intimately connected with the preservation
of our national character abroad, with the interest of our citizens in
foreign countries, with the regulation and care of our commerce, and
with the protection of our seamen. At the close of the last session of
Congress I communicated a report from the Secretary of State upon the
subject, to which I now refer, as containing information which may be
useful in any inquiries that Congress may see fit to institute with a
view to a salutary reform of the system.

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you upon the prosperous
condition of the finances of the country, as will appear from the report
which the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay before you.
The receipts into the Treasury during the present year will amount to
more than $32,000,000. The revenue derived from customs will, it is
believed, be more than $28,000,000, and the public lands will yield about
$3,000,000. The expenditures within the year for all objects, including
$2,572,240.99 on account of the public debt, will not amount to
$25,000,000, and a large balance will remain in the Treasury after
satisfying all the appropriations chargeable on the revenue for the
present year.

The measures taken by the Secretary of the Treasury will probably enable
him to pay off in the course of the present year the residue of the
exchanged 4-1/2 per cent stock, redeemable on the 1st of January next.
It has therefore been included in the estimated expenditures of this
year, and forms a part of the sum above stated to have been paid on
account of the