72 1 he Fiskerv Question. 



Council. The gfeneral extension of commer- 

 cial relations between the United States and 

 Great Britain is acknowledged, and it is even 

 intimated that a larger freedom is desired. 

 At the same time it is objected that were the 

 Canadian ports to become the base of opera- 

 tions for American fishermen, under cover of 

 commerce, the Convention of i8i8 would, to 

 all intents and purposes, be repealed by the 

 use of "touch and trade" permits. The 

 United States Government has repeatedly 

 and emphatically protested against the recent 

 seizures and detentions, and through its min- 

 ister at the Court of St. James denies that 

 any laws exist authorizing these outrages. 

 Moreover, were such laws extant they could 

 not be invoked in a technical spirit, unworthy 

 of sovereign and friendly nations. Mr. Phelps 

 also maintains that the gradual extension 

 of commercial privileges now expressly re- 

 quires that each party shall allow to the 

 vessels of the other in her ports the same 

 facilities of trade as are permitted to her own 

 shipping. Finally, as for the vice-admiralty 

 courts, the question raised is not at all one of 

 individual rights, but of international obliga- 

 tion, therefore Dominion courts have here no 



