132 



CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



of Canada, a bill suspending its operation, 

 pending an appeal to the Privy Council in 

 England, was introduced by a member of the 

 Opposition, supported by the Government, and 



The assessment system of life insurance was 

 hotly discussed in consequence of a bill intro- 

 duced by Sir Leonard Tilley, permitting the 

 assessment companies to carry on business on 

 becoming registered, without making the de- 

 posit of $50,000 with the Dominion Govern- 

 ment required by the Consolidated Insurance 

 Act of 1877. The assessment companies were 

 victorious. 



An act introducing the " Torrens land sys- 

 tem " was brought into the Senate, but dropped 

 at the close of the session. In consequence of 

 the Quebec explosion, and of threats made 

 against the Parliament Buildings and other 

 public buildings, a rigorous measure relating to 

 explosive substances was passed without dis- 

 cussion. For the same reasons the Parliament 

 Buildings were closely guarded throughout the 

 session, all the entrances but the main one be- 

 ing closed. The first Deputy Speaker in the 

 history of the Canadian Parliament was ap- 

 pointed, Mr. M. B. Daly, M. P. for Halifax, be- 

 ing elected to the office. In consequence of 

 the great length of the session, the sessional in- 

 demnity of the members was increased from 

 $1,000 to $1,500. 



The Fisheries. The fishery clauses of the 

 Washington Treaty expired on June 30, 1885, 

 the United States Government having availed 

 itself of the right to determine those clauses on 

 giving two years' notice. This was done in 

 the belief that the privilege enjoyed by Ameri- 

 can vessels of fishing in Canadian waters was 

 not worth the amount awarded by the Halifax 

 Commission as compensation. The expiration 

 of the fishery clauses of the Washington Treaty 

 revives the conditions of the Convention of 

 London of 1818, with regard to the interpreta- 

 tion of which there are serious differences of 

 opinion between the United States and Great 

 Britain. 'For instance, an important question 

 arises as to whether the three-mile limit of the 

 Canadian fisheries is to follow the deviations 

 of the shore, or to be measured from headland 

 to headland. It is admitted that the Canadian 

 fisheries are much more valuable than the 

 American fisheries, and that the privilege of 

 fishing in American waters is nothing like an 

 equivalent for the privilege of fishing in Cana- 

 dian waters. Both Governments were anxious 

 to arrive at some satisfactory understanding 

 before the expiration of the fishery clauses. It 

 was feared that the revival of the*conditions of 

 the Convention of London would lead to se- 

 rious complications. American vessels would 

 be seized for fishing in Canadian waters, and 

 ill-feeling would be created between the two 

 countries. A long correspondence between the 

 Governments of the United States, Great Brit- 

 ain, and Canada, followed the giving of the 

 notice in 1883 to determine the fishery clauses. 



The Dominion Government proposed to extend 

 until June 1, 1886, the privilege _ enjoyed by 

 American fishermen of fishing in Canadian 

 waters, and the privilege enjoyed by Canadian 

 fishermen of importing their fish into the 

 United States free of duty. This was proposed 

 in order to give time to the two countries 

 to discuss their commercial relations. Mr. 

 Bayard pointed out that the Executive of the 

 United States was not constitutionally compe- 

 tent to extend the reciprocal privileges of the 

 Washington Treaty, that only Congress was 

 competent to do this. Finally, the Dominion 

 Government agreed to allow American fishing- 

 vessels to continue to use the territorial waters 

 of the Dominion from July 1 to the end of 

 the fishing season of 1885, upon the under- 

 standing that the President of the United States 

 should bring the whole question before Con- 

 gress in December, and should recommend the 

 appointment of an International Commission 

 to settle the entire fishing rights of the two 

 Governments. In announcing to the House of 

 Commons the arrangement that had been come 

 to, Sir John Macdonald intimated that nego- 

 tiations were in progress between the two 

 Governments, aiming not only at a settlement 

 of the fishery question, but at an arrangement 

 for the interchange of natural products between 

 the two countries. The Government was se- 

 verely criticised for making a one-sided ar- 

 rangement, in which all the concessions were 

 in favor of the United States ; and the Cana- 

 dian fishermen were greatly dissatisfied at find- 

 ing their fish excluded from the American mar- 

 ket while American vessels were fishing in 

 Canadian waters. 



By the conditions of the Convention of Lon- 

 don, revived on July 1, 1885, American fisher- 

 men have the privilege of fishing within certain 

 specified limits in British North American wa- 

 ters on part of the southern coast of New- 

 foundland, from Cape Ray to the Rameau Isl- 

 ands; on the western and northern coasts of 

 the island ; on the shores of the Magdalen Isl- 

 ands; and en the coast of Labrador. They 

 also have the privilege of drying and curing 

 fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbors, and 

 creeks on these coasts; but on any of these 

 places becoming settled, American fishermen 

 can only continue to make use of them on mak- 

 ing terms with the inhabitants. By the con- 

 vention, the United States renounced forever 

 any liberty previously enjoyed or claimed by 

 American fishermen to take, dry, or cure fish 

 within three marine miles of any coast of her 

 Majesty's dominions not included in the limits 

 above mentioned. They are permitted, under 

 certain restrictions, to enter bays, harbors, or 

 creeks, for the purpose of repairing damages or 

 obtaining stores. The three-mile limit covers 

 eleven hundred miles of coast, and includes an 

 area of about one hundred thousand square 

 miles. Shortly after the Washington Treaty 

 was made, the Canadian Government issued 

 licenses authorizing American fishermen to fish 



