10, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

I transmit to the Senate, for its consideration with a view to
ratification, a treaty between the United States and Her Britannic
Majesty for the suppression of the slave trade. A copy of the
correspondence between the Secretary of State and Lord Lyons on the
subject of the treaty is also herewith transmitted.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 14, 1862_.

_To the House of Representatives_:

In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the
3d ultimo, requesting information in regard to the present condition of
Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the
documents by which it was accompanied.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WASHINGTON, _April 15, 1862_.

_To the Senate of the United States_:

On the 26th of June, 1860, the Senate approved of the treaty of
friendship and commerce between the United States and Nicaragua, signed
on the 16th of March, 1859, with certain amendments.

On the next day, namely, June 27, 1860, the Senate adopted a resolution
extending the period for the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty
for six months from that date; that is, until the 27th of December,
1860.

Although the amendments of the Senate were immediately transmitted to
our minister in Nicaragua for submission to the Government of that
Republic, he failed, notwithstanding earnest efforts, to induce that
Government to call an extra session of Congress to take into
consideration the amendments of the Senate of the United States within
the supplementary time named in the resolution of June 27, 1860, for the
exchange of ratifications.

It was not until the 25th of March, 1861, nearly three months after the
expiration of the six months extended by the Senate resolution, that the
Congress of Nicaragua acted favorably upon the amendments of the Senate
of the United States.

A translation of the decree of the Nicaraguan Government approving the
treaty as amended, with an additional amendment, is herewith inclosed.

It will be perceived that while the ratification of Nicaragua recites
literally the second amendment of the Senate and accepts it with an
additional clause, it does not in explicit terms accept the first
amendment of the Senate, striking out the last clause of the sixteenth
article.

That amendment is of so much importance that the adoption or rejection
of it by the Government of Nicaragua should not be left to