30 DECEMBER 1876, Page 2

President Grant has sent a Message to Congress, in which

he informs the Members that the British Government has volun- tarily offered to carry out the old Treaty until the new one can be completed. He has replied that he is perfectly ready to respond. The Extradition Treaty is therefore again in working operation, and it was high time it should be, as already most serious cases of oppression on board ship have been found prac- tically unpuniahable. An American captain accused of murdering his sailors had only to take shelter in a British port, to be beyond capture by his countrymen or any one else. An occurrence of the kind has created the greatest excitement in Hong Kong, and in a few months we should have had offences on the high seas punished by lynch law.