to induce the German and Swiss
Governments to relax the prohibition in favor of dried fruits shown to
have been cured under circumstances rendering the existence of animal
life impossible.

Our relations with Great Britain have continued on the most friendly
footing. Assenting to our request, the protection of Americans and their
interests in Spanish jurisdiction was assumed by the diplomatic and
consular representatives of Great Britain, who fulfilled their delicate
and arduous trust with tact and zeal, eliciting high commendation.
I may be allowed to make fitting allusion to the instance of Mr. Ramsden,
Her Majesty's consul at Santiago de Cuba, whose untimely death after
distinguished service and untiring effort during the siege of that city
was sincerely lamented.

In the early part of April last, pursuant to a request made at the
instance of the Secretary of State by the British ambassador at this
capital, the Canadian government granted facilities for the passage of
four United States revenue cutters from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic
coast by way of the Canadian canals and the St. Lawrence River. The
vessels had reached Lake Ontario and were there awaiting the opening of
navigation when war was declared between the United States and Spain.
Her Majesty's Government thereupon, by a communication of the latter
part of April, stated that the permission granted before the outbreak of
hostilities would not be withdrawn provided the United States Government
gave assurance that the vessels in question would proceed direct to
a United States port without engaging in any hostile operation.
This Government promptly agreed to the stipulated condition, it being
understood that the vessels would not be prohibited from resisting any
hostile attack.

It will give me especial satisfaction if I shall be authorized to
communicate to you a favorable conclusion of the pending negotiations
with Great Britain in respect to the Dominion of Canada. It is the
earnest wish of this Government to remove all sources of discord and
irritation in our relations with the neighboring Dominion. The trade
between the two countries is constantly increasing, and it is important
to both countries that all reasonable facilities should be granted for
its development.

The Government of Greece strongly urges the onerousness of the duty here
imposed upon the currants of that country, amounting to 100 per cent or
more of their market value. This frui