and communications of Great Britain with foreign parts
now are, an opportunity of receiving earlier intelligence regarding
the state of many important foreign markets than British merchants in
general enjoy, except such as are immediately connected with
establishments in the United States, and by which means both obtain
decided advantages over the rest of the commercial community. (p. 003)
This ought not to be the case in a great commercial country like Great
Britain. It is a fact quite notorious, that from almost every quarter
of the western world the earliest intelligence is almost uniformly
received through the United States. The whole correspondence of the
important British Provinces, the Canadas, comes through these States.
It is also notorious, that, by means of our own commercial marine,
intelligence is generally received from many foreign countries earlier
than by Government Packets. Indeed, it is not uncommon among merchants
to return, unopened, to the Post-office many letters in originals,
they having previously received the duplicates by private merchant
ships. Besides, it is well known that vast numbers of letters from
Great Britain to Foreign States are sent through the United States,
because these go earlier to their place of destination. In these
various ways a great Post-office revenue is cut off, while the
mercantile world are put to a great inconvenience and uncertainty. It
is not befitting that the first commercial country in the world should
remain dependent upon the private ships of another commercial and
rival state for the transmission of commercial correspondence. If such
a deficient system is persevered in, the result will most infallibly
be, that that country which obtains, and which can obtain, the
earliest commercial information, will, in time, become the greatest
and most prosperous commercial country.

It is, in fact, quite impossible that the commercial interests of any
country can ever compete with the commercial interests of another
country, unless the one have equally rapid, frequent, and regular
opportunities and means of correspondence and conveyance with the
other. If the merchants of other countries have quicker and more
frequent communications with any particular quarter of the world, than
the merchants of the United Kingdom have, it is obvious that the
former will obtain a decided advantage over the latter, in regulating
and directing all commercial transactions.

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