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.
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