ted by those Governments for arbitration
to the President of the United States, and I have, after careful
examination, given a decision upon it.

A naval expedition up the Amazon and Madeira rivers has brought back
information valuable both for scientific and commercial purposes. A
like expedition is about visiting the coast of Africa and the Indian
Ocean. The reports of diplomatic and consular officers in relation
to the development of our foreign commerce have furnished many facts
that have proved of public interest and have stimulated to practical
exertion the enterprise of our people.

The report of the Secretary of the Treasury furnishes a detailed
statement of the operations of that Department of the Government and
of the condition of the public finances.

The ordinary revenues from all sources for the fiscal year ended June
30, 1878, were $257,763,878.70; the ordinary expenditures for the same
period were $236,964,326.80, leaving a surplus revenue for the year of
$20,799,551.90. The receipts for the present fiscal year, ending June
30, 1879, actual and estimated, are as follows: Actual receipts for
the first quarter, commencing July 1, 1878, $73,389,743.43;
estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters of the year,
$191,110,256.57; total receipts for the current fiscal year, actual
and estimated, $264,500,000. The expenditures for the same period will
be, actual and estimated, as follows: For the quarter commencing July
1, 1878, actual expenditures, $73,344,573.27; and for the remaining
three quarters of the year the expenditures are estimated at
$166,755,426.73, making the total expenditures $240,100,000, and
leaving an estimated surplus revenue for the year ending June 30,
1879, of $24,400,000. The total receipts during the next fiscal year,
ending June 30, 1880, estimated according to existing laws, will be
$264,500,000, and the estimated ordinary expenditures for the same
period will be $236,320,412.68, leaving a surplus of $28,179,587.32
for that year.

In the foregoing statements of expenditures, actual and estimated,
no amount is allowed for the sinking fund provided for by the act
approved February 25, 1862, which requires that 1 per cent of the
entire debt of the United States shall be purchased or paid within
each fiscal year, to be set apart as a sinking fund. There has been,
however, a substantial compliance with the conditions of the law. By
its terms the public debt should have been reduc