passage of merchandise to and from the coast; you will have annulled the
Government duty on coin and bullion and abolished the heavy export
duties on the precious metals, so as to permit them to flow out freely
for the benefit of mankind; you will have expunged the long list of
their prohibited articles and reduced more than one-half their duties on
imports, whilst the freest scope would be left for the mining of the
precious metals. These are great advantages which would be secured to
friendly nations, especially when compared with the exclusion of their
commerce by rigorous blockades. It is true, the duties collected from
these imports would be for the benefit of our own Government, but it is
equally true that the expenses of the war, which Mexico insists upon
prosecuting, are borne exclusively by ourselves, and not by foreign
nations. It can not be doubted but that all neutral nations will see in
the adoption of such a course by you a manifestation of your good will
toward them and a strong desire to advance those just and humane
principles which make it the duty of belligerents, as we have always
contended, to render the war in which they are engaged as little
injurious as practicable to neutral powers.

These duties would not be imposed upon any imports into our own country,
but only upon imports into Mexico, and the tax would fall upon the
people of Mexico in the enhancement to them of the prices of these
imports. Nearly all our own products are excluded by the Mexican tariff
even in time of peace; they are excluded also during the war so far as
we continue the system of blockading any of the ports of Mexico; and
they are also excluded even from the ports not blockaded in possession
of Mexico; whereas the new system would soon open to our commerce all
the ports of Mexico as they shall fall into our military possession.
Neither our own nor foreign merchants are required to send any goods to
Mexico, and if they do so voluntarily it will be because they can make a