On the 26th of March last the United States schooner _Lizzie Major_ was
arrested on the high seas by a Spanish frigate, and two passengers taken
from it and carried as prisoners to Cuba. Representations of these facts
were made to the Spanish Government as soon as official information of
them reached Washington. The two passengers were set at liberty, and the
Spanish Government assured the United States that the captain of the
frigate in making the capture had acted without law, that he had been
reprimanded for the irregularity of his conduct, and that the Spanish
authorities in Cuba would not sanction any act that could violate the
rights or treat with disrespect the sovereignty of this nation.

The question of the seizure of the brig _Mary Lowell_ at one of
the Bahama Islands by Spanish authorities is now the subject of
correspondence between this Government and those of Spain and Great
Britain.

The Captain-General of Cuba about May last issued a proclamation
authorizing search to be made of vessels on the high seas. Immediate
remonstrance was made against this, whereupon the Captain-General issued
a new proclamation limiting the right of search to vessels of the United
States so far as authorized under the treaty of 1795. This proclamation,
however, was immediately withdrawn.

I have always felt that the most intimate relations should be cultivated
between the Republic of the United States and all independent nations on
this continent. It may be well worth considering whether new treaties
between us and them may not be profitably entered into, to secure more
intimate relations--friendly, commercial, and otherwise.