I  am  directed  by  the  President  to  state  that  he  accepts  this
action  of  the  Government  of  Spain,  in  proposing  to  grant  ex-
emption of  duties  to  the  products  of  the  United  States,  as  a
due  reciprocity  for  the  action  of  the  Congress  of  the  United
States,  as  set  forth  in  my  note  to  you  of  January  3d  last.
I  am  also  pleased  to  reciprocate  the  assurance  contained
in  your  note,  and  to  state  that  no  export  tax,  whether  na-
tional, State,  or  municipal,  can  or  will  be  imposed  in  the
United  States  upon  the  products  and  manufactures  enume-


26

rated  in  the  schedules  attached  to  your  note  of  the  12th  in-
stant.
It  may  be  further  understood  that,  while  the  Government
of  the  United  States  reserves  the  right  to  adopt  such  laws  and
regulations  as  may  be  found  necessary  to  protect  the  revenue
and  prevent  fraud  in  the  declarations  and  proof  that  the  arti-
cles enumerated  in  my  note  of  January  3  last,  and  whose  free
admission  is  provided  for  by  the  tariff  law  therein  cited,  are
the  product  or  manufacture  of  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto
Rico,  the  laws  and  regulations  to  be  adopted  to  that  end  shall
place  no  undue  restrictions  on  the  importer,  nor  impose  any
additional  charges  therefor  upon  the  articles  imported.
It  is  likewise  understood  that  wheat-flour  shall  not  share
in  the  reduction  of  dyties  specified  in  Schedule  B  attached  to
your  note  of  the  12th  instant,  which,  on  its  exportation  from
the  United  States,  may  have  been  favored  with  any  tariff  ad-
vantages in  the  nature  of  drawbacks.
