1050 MISCELLANEOUS. 



Mr. Pakenham received the above instruction, he availed himself 

 of the discretion which it allowed to him as to the time of acting 

 upon it to defer bringing forward the proposition of her Majesty's 

 government until the result of the deliberations of the United States 

 legislature on the question of the tariff should be known. 



In the month of December, 1846, accordingly, he made a commu- 

 nication on the subject to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, 

 who immediately submitted the matter to the consideration of the 

 government. In the early part of 1848, I had myself the honor of 

 communicating with Mr. Walker upon the subject, and I learned 

 with satisfaction that the views of the United States government 

 were highly favorable to the principle of a reciprocal relaxation of 

 commercial restrictions between Canada and the United States. As 

 the speediest way of bringing about so desirable an object, it was, 

 upon consultation, judged most expedient to introduce into Congress 

 a bill by which the duties on certain agricultural and natural prod- 

 ucts imported into the United States from Canada should be abol- 

 ished, conditionally ? under the understanding that a bill exactly 

 similar in its provisions should be introduced into the Canadian 

 Parliament respecting the like agricultural and natural productions 

 imported into that province from the United States. 



This bill was accordingly drawn up by a distinguished member 

 of the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives 

 Mr. Grinnell and its adoption very strongly recommended by the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, in a letter to that committee, dated 1st of 

 May, 1848. The bill was passed without opposition by the House 

 of Representatives, during the first session of the last Congress; but 

 was, from the great pressure of other business, not voted upon during 

 that session by the Senate ; and, during the session of the same Con- 

 gress lately brought to a close, has, from the same cause, I regret to 

 observe, been lost in that body. 



I have thus at some length recounted the steps which have been 

 hitherto taken in this matter by her Majesty's legation, in order to 

 place in a clearer light my motives for taking this early opportunity 

 of again submitting this important question to the serious considera- 

 tion of the United States government. 



The proceedings of Congress in this matter have been watched with 

 anxiety by the provincial government and the people of Canada, and 

 a great deal of disappointment has, I am assured, been felt in that 

 province on their being apprized that the act for a reciprocity of 

 trade has, from whatever cause, failed to become law. I cannot, 

 therefore, but feel anxious to assure her Majesty's government that 

 the disposition of the government of the United States to meet the 

 proposed measure of commercial relaxation in a spirit of liberal rec- 

 iprocity remains unchanged. 



The Canadian legislature are not, indeed, without reasonable 

 grounds for expecting to be met in such a spirit by the United States; 

 for confidently relying upon the proofs so frequently given by the 

 United States government that a just reciprocity is the guiding 

 principle of their policy in commercial arrangements with other 

 nations, the Canadian Parliament have already, on their side, and 

 without stipulating for any equivalent, made very important advances 

 towards a more Hberal system of commercial intercourse. I allude 

 to the act of theT*rovincial Parliament of 1847, by which, immedi- 



