In the opinion of the Secretary, the circumstances seemed not only to jtstify but require a resort to means other than those in ordinary use for detection by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Accordingly, the appropriation for detecting and bringing to trial and punishment persons engaged in counterfeiting, and for detecting other frauds upon the government, was drawn upon for this purpose. The Solicitor of the Treasury, who is charged with the proper use and disbursement of that fund, was directed to inquire into the alleged frauds on the revenue in the matter of distilled spirits, and was instructed to spare no proper effort to detect the guilty parties, and furnish their names, with the evidence against them, to the proper officers of the Department of Justice. This duty was entered upon with energy, and, after the existence of conspiracies and combinations to defraud the government was developed, the investigation was continued, in co-operation with officers of internal revenue, and resulted in the certain detection. of frauds on the revenue of more than ordinary significance. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the investigation has been pursued with commendable energy and zeal. A considerable number of officers of internal revenue have been found to be in guilty collusion with distillers and rectifiers in fraudulent practices, whereby large sums were lost to the revenue. The evidence thus acquired having been reported to the proper district attorneys, has resulted in a large number of prosecutions for conspiracy, duplicate use of stamps, and other offences. So far as these prosecutions have been completed, they have, with few and comparatively unimportant exceptions, resulted in convictions. A large number of distillers, rectifiers, and subordinate officers of internal revenue, have pleaded guilty to indictments against them, thus confessing their offences, and thrown themselves upon the mercy of the court. Besides the institution of criminal proceedings, civil suits have been brought upon the bonds of officials and of distillers; distilleries and spirits have been seized as forfeited to the United States for violations. of law; and, wherever the evidence warranted, assessments have been made against distillers for delinquent taxes and placed in the hands of collectors, with instructions to collect by process of law. Urgent applications have been presented for the compromise of many of the cases, but it has been deemed better for the interest of the government to allow all of them to take the usual course in the courts; hence, all such applications have been denied. The Secretary considers it important to the future collection of the revenue, that all parties engaged in persistent and systematic frauds shall be visited with the severest penalties of the law. To this end instructions have been repeatedly given to officers of internal revenue, and others in the service of this Department, to render all proper assistance to the officers of the Department of Justice in the prosecution of the cases now pending, and in the detection and punishment of such guilty parties as have not yet been indicted. It is deemed of especial importance that oflicers of the government who have betrayed their trust, and engaged in frauds on the revenue, shall be brought to speedy and condign punishment. Those who are intrusted with official duties and responsibilities should be given to know that the government will not deal lightly with them when they prove to be guilty of corruption in office. Taxpayers cannot be expected to deal honestly with government when its own trusted officers are permitted to participate in frauds on the revenue, without incurring swift and certain punishment. The highest guaranty for the faithful collection of revenue is in the vigilance and integrity of officials. This guaranty can be secured only by careful selection in the first instance, by retain ing in office such as have proved their efficiency and honesty, and by prompt dismissal and vigorous prosecution of such as have been found faithless. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. The comparative value of the exports and imports of the United States for the last fiscal year, in coin, appears, from official returns to the Bureau of Statistics, to be as follows: For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1874, the excess of exports over imports was $18,876,698. Exports of specie and bullion Imports of specie and bullion $92, 132, 142 co 20, 900, 717 00 Excess of exports over imports.. Total excess of exports of goods, specie, and bul- 71,231, 125 00 $51, 668, 700 00 While the returns of the values of exports by sea are substantially accurate, it has not been practicable to obtain complete statements of the exports to Canada in railway cars, owing to the fact that there is no law requiring persons exporting merchandise by land conveyance to file full manifests of the exported goods with collectors of customs. The Commissioner of Cusioms of the Dominion of Canada has, however, furnished detailed statements from which it appears that the value of exports to Canada during the last fiscal year was $15,660,218 in excess of that returned by the customs officers of the United States, which would increase the total exports of the year by that amount, (i. e., from $513,442,711 to $529,102,929,) and reduce the excess of imports of merchandise over exports to $3,902,507. There was withdrawn from bond for consumption, in excess of that entered for warehouse during the past fiscal year, merchandise of the value of $2,992,061. The total exportation of specie and bullion was greater than that for the preceding year by $25,501,737; while the exports of domestic goods have decreased in value $70,149,321. Importations have decreased to the amount of $34,400,906 as compared with those of the preceding fiscal year, and of $109,024,103 as compared with the fiscal year ended June 30, 1873. There was an increase in the value of the importation of the following articles: Tea, $1,561,469; fur-skins, undressed, $664,907; fur-skins, dressed, and furs, $486,558; argols, $374,108; drugs, chemicals, dyes, &e., $1,309,864; dye-woods in sticks, $405,891; gums, $526,364; hides and skins, $2,092, 025; silk, raw, $650, 298; silk, manufactures of, $384,141; fancy goods, $1,104,962; fruits, $4,255,002; jute, grassés, and manufactures of, $566, 983; precious stones, $1, 124, 803; seeds, $2,033,766; wool and manufactures of, $547,469. There was a decrease in value of importations of articles brought back to the United States, $1,267,286; coffee, $1,457,479; India rubber, $1,521,239; breadstuffs, $1,557, 840; pig iron, $1,829, 354; bar iron, $1,294,174; iron rails, $917,977; steel rails, $6,908,148; machinery, $596,714; band, hoop, and scroll iron, $176,512; anchors, cables, and chains, $97,776; old and scrap iron, $703,006; fire-arms, $218,226; steel bars, ingots, sheets, and wire, $420,149; cutlery and tools, $385,037; other manufactures of iron, $1,770,533; barks, $532,625; cochineal, $353,131; indigo, $331,152; madder, $387,100; nitrate of soda, $369,526; soda and salts of, $506,137; tin, in bars, blocks, or pigs, $853,557; wood and manufactures of, $2,770,536; wood, unmanufactured, $366,856; live animals, 8543,815; cotton manufactures, $455,468; earthen, stone, and chinaware, 8617,145; flax and manufactures of, $699,146; glass and glassware, $152,819; hair and manufactures of, $343,986; hemp, raw, $566,664; lead, 8714,812; opium and extract of, 8502,435; provisions, $517,499; salt, $531,724; sugar and molasses, 87,816,686; tobacco and manufactures of, 81,814,021; wines, spirits, and cordials, $866,942. There was an increase in certain articles exported, as follows, the values being stated in currency: Cotton manufactures, $976,042; lard, $3,592,503; cheese, $1,760,608; iron manufactures, $1,424,185; sewing machines, $203,633; drugs and chemicals, $150,592; hides and skins, $2,169,343; furs and fur-skins, $1,062,059; leather and leather goods, $2,538,278; brass, $197,098; clocks and parts of, $215,407; copper ore, $619,128; copper, in pigs, bars, sheets, and old, 8919,079; fruits, $639,841; ginseng, $210, 166; hops, $1,258, 528; fire-arms, $3,162,182; lead and manufactures of, $127,265; manures, $332,500; oil cake, $1,038,940; quicksilver, $495,275; seeds, clover, timothy, and garden, $553,293. The exports of domestic gold and silver in excess of the imports was $62,956,412, as against $31,244,780, for the previous year. There was a decrease in the value of the exportations of the following articles: Agricultural implements, $161,381; hogs, 8886,622; bacon, and hams, $1,771,295; Indian corn, $313,014; Indian-corn meal, $238,866; rye, (1,357,384 bushels,) $1,363,772; wheat, (17,992,751 bushels,) $11, 813, 596; railroad cars, $641, 037; bituminous coal, (158,301 tons,) $758,723; anthracite coal, (85,756 tons,) $414,458; eotton, raw, (98,183,400 lbs.,) $20,581,955; hemp and manufactures of, $243,898; illuminating oils, (25,668,571 gallons,) $10,530,591; spirits, distilled, (1,820,222 gallons,) $813,262; spirits of turpentine, 8834,389; tallow, $2,443,117; tobacco, leaf, (94,195,891 pounds,) $5,157,632; sailing-vessels sold to foreigners, (14,745 tons,) $617,528; shooks, staves, and headings, $1,217, 062; timber, sawed and hewed, 82, 064.318; wood and other manufactures of, $332,256. COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. There is little change in the proportion of the foreign carrying trade transacted in foreign vessels, about 74 per cent. of imports and exports, during the last fiscal year, having been carried in foreign vessels as against about 72 per cent. for the preceding year, and 76 per cent, for the fiscal year 1872. The Register of the Treasury reports the total tonnage of vessels of the United States to be 4,853,732 tons, an increase of 53,050 tons over that of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1874, exclusive of the canal-boat tonnage, amounting to about 48,000 tons, exempt from enrolment and license under the act of Congress approved April 18, 1874. The actual increase is believed to be about 141,878 tons, this amount being the excess of gains over losses during the year; but this aggregate has been reduced to 53,080 tons (the 'increase first above mentioned) by omitting the tonnage of the exempted canal-boats, and by corrections of tonnage returns, about 40,000 tons. The following table exhibits the total tonnage for the last two years: The tonnage of vessels built, as given by the Register, is 297,639, being a decrease from that of the preceding year of 135,086 tons or over 31 per centum. The number of vessels built was 1,301. Official numbers have been awarded by the Bureau of Statistics since July 1 to November 10, 1875, to 894 vessels, whose carrying capacity amounts to 146,115 tons. Of this number, sixty-three were new seagoing vessels of 100 tons and over; forty-five of 1,000 tons and over; three of 2,000, and two of 3,000 tons, each, with an aggregate tonnage of 100,226 tons. REVENUE MARINE. The past year is the first of the administration of this branch of the public service with the advantage of the completion of the reor ganization begun four years ago. The improvement resulting from this reorganization more than equals all that was anticipated. The report of the commission which proposed the plan does not indicate that any other benefit was expected than a reduction of the expenses of the service. The result shows, however, not only a considerably larger reduction than was anticipated, but the attainment of a much higher degree of efficiency than characterized the service in former years. The commission estimated the annual cost of maintaining the service, when the reorganization should be accomplished, at $943,639 The expenditure of the last fiscal year was 8897,899 56, an amount |