of
South-America must go to Panama and await the arrival of the English
packet, with London letters more recently dated, before it can proceed
on to Callao, Lima, or Valparaiso. Letters destined to the West-Indies
can go to Havana only, by American steamers; but they must there await
the British line which takes them to St. Thomas, and there be
distributed and forwarded to the various islands, the Spanish Main,
the Guianas, Venezuela, and New-Granada by some one of the ten
different British steam packet lines running semi-monthly from that
station.

So with half of our letters which go to the Continent of Europe: they
must go by the Cunard line to England, and thence by English steamers
to the British Channel, the Baltic, the White Sea, the Mediterranean,
Egypt, Constantinople, or the Black Sea. Those to places along the
coast of Africa and to the Cape of Good Hope are dependent on the same
English packet transit. For our communication with China, India,
Australia, the East-Indies generally, and the Islands of the Pacific,
we are entirely and slavishly dependent, as usual, on Great Britain.
Instead of sending our letters and passengers direct from Panama or
San Francisco to Honolulu, Hong Kong, Shanghae, Macao, Calcutta,
Ceylon, Bombay, Madras, Sydney, Melbourne, Batavia, the Mauritius, and
the Gulf of Mozambique, by a short trunk line of our own steamers, and
from its terminus only, by the British lines, they now go first to
England, as a slavish matter of course, then across the Continent or
through the Mediterranean to Egypt, thence by land to the Red Sea, and
thence to China and the East-Indies; or from England by her steam
lines around the Cape of Good Hope to Australia and the East-Indies;
or by slow and uncertain sailing packets direct from our own country,
either around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. It is evident to
every reflecting man who has given the subject any attention, that all
of these lines of communication would be very desirable, and very
highly profitable to our people at large; and that the latter and that
along the West Coast of South-America could be easily established by
two new contracts for that purpose, or in some other way, to the great
and lasting advantage of our countrymen.

The transmarine post is very desirable for the better conduct of our
foreign diplomacy and the consular service. It is now almost
impossible for our ministers and agents abroad to hold any thing like
a regula