CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



131 



Kiel, convicted of high treason, was allowed to be car- 

 ried into execution. 



The vote in support of the Government was : 

 English Conservatives, 97; Frencli Conserva- 

 tives, 25; English Liberals, 24; total, 146. 

 The vote against the Government was : Eng- 

 lish Liberals, 24 ; French Liberals, 11 ; French 

 Conservatives, 17; total, 52. Thus the Gov- 

 ernment obtained an unexpected majority. 



On motion to go into Committee of Supply, 

 made June 2, an amendment was moved "that 

 in the administration of Northwest affairs un- 

 der the present ministry prior to the rebellion, 

 there were grave instances of neglect, delay, 

 mismanagement, and misconduct, which were 

 prejudicial to the public welfare, produced se- 

 rious discontent among the people, and re- 

 tarded the development of the country." This 

 amendment was negatived by a vote of 71 

 against 51, and the Government was thus sus- 

 tained, not only upon its policy in regard to 

 the execution of Kiel, but also upon its admin- 

 istration of the North west Territories in regard 

 to whicli it was generally considered through- 

 out the country to be much more vulnerable. 

 Although supported in Parliament, the Gov- 

 ernment found little encouragement to appeal 

 to the country. At a by-election in the county 

 of Haldimand, Ont., an English constituency, 

 the cry of " French domination ! " was raised 

 in the interests of the Government candidate; 

 but he was defeated, and Cabinet ministers had 

 entered so energetically into the electoral cam- 

 paign that, although the county has always 

 been Liberal, the defeat was regarded as a se- 

 vere blow for the Government. The chief 

 significance of the result was, that the cry of 

 "French domination! " was not likely to prove 

 as effective in Ontario as the Kiel cry in Que- 

 bec. The Hon. Mr. Chapleau, Secretary of 

 State, caused the constituency of Chambly, in 

 the province of Quebec, to be opened, for the 

 avowed purpose of destroying the prestige of 

 the Parti Nationale by demonstrating that the 

 Kiel cry could not carry a Quebec county. But 

 the Kiel candidate was victorious. In the pro- 

 vincial general elections in Nova Scotia and 

 Quebec the Liberals were also triumphant. 



The Fisheries. As related in the "Annual 

 Cyclopaedia" for 1885, the fish'ery clauses of 

 the treaty of 1872 between the United States 

 and Great Britain expired on June 30, 1885, 

 and the perplexing treaty of 1818 was thereby 

 revived. Fish imported into the United States 

 from Canada immediately became subject to 

 import duties ; but the Dominion Government, 

 with the hope of preventing unpleasantness, 

 agreed not to enforce the restrictions of the 

 revived treaty against United States fishermen 

 until Congress had had an opportunity of au- 

 thorizing new arrangements. Congress having 

 declined to agree to either a new treaty or the 

 appointment of an International Commission, 

 the Dominion Government made preparations 

 to enforce, from the beginning of the season 

 of 1886, the restrictions of the treaty of 1818. 



A fleet of swift, armed cruisers was fitted out 

 to patrol the fisheries. Not only the provis- 

 ions of the treaty, but the customs regulations, 

 hitherto very leniently interpreted, were now 

 rigorously enforced. American fishing-vessels 

 were forbidden to enter Canadian waters for 

 any other purposes than the four specified in 

 the treaty of 1818. The instructions to the 

 commanders of the cruisers were secret ; but 

 the powers granted them were much more ex- 

 tensive than those intrusted to the collectors 

 of customs. The captains were authorized to 

 make seizures at their own discretion, of course 

 within the limits of their private instructions. 

 The collectors were instructed to detain sus- 

 pected vessels for twenty-four hours, and re- 

 port each case to the Government at Ottawa 

 for further action. This distinction, necessi- 

 tated from the fact that the collectors were 

 not appointed to deal with the delicate ques- 

 tions likely to arise, and that, in fact, not all 

 of them were qualified to do so, gave rise to a 

 wrong impression. A circular, issued to the 

 collectors on June 11, was for some time gen- 

 erally considered a modification of the Cana- 

 dian Government's claims. It was assumed 

 that American fishing-vessels might remain in 

 Canadian ports for twenty-four hours without 

 molestation. Such, however, was not the in- 

 tention of the Government, which simply in- 

 structed collectors to seize any American fish- 

 ing-vessels remaining in port twenty-four hours 

 after being warned to depart, although they 

 might not have broken any law otherwise than 

 by hovering within the three-mile limit. It 

 was never intended to concede any privilege 

 not included in the treaty. The treaty allows 

 American fishing- vessels to obtain wood in 

 Canadian ports ; the Government allows coal 

 to be shipped as a substitute, if intended for 

 cooking, but not if intended to supply motive 

 power ; because, it is argued, at the time the 

 treaty was made coal was not used as a motive 

 power. 



Much indignation was created in the United 

 States by the refusal of the Canadian officials 

 to recognize the permits granted to American 

 fishing-vessels by American customs collectors 

 to "touch and trade" at Canadian ports. The 

 action of the Canadian officials was supposed 

 to be in contravention of legislation passed 

 subsequent to the treaty. But a broad dis- 

 tinction is insisted upon by the Canadian Gov- 

 ernment between fishing- vessels and trading- 

 vessels a distinction that has always been 

 recognized at the custom-house. An Ameri- 

 can merchant- vessel in a Canadian port is only 

 expected to comply with the customs regula- 

 tions. An American fishing- vessel is further 

 expected to comply with the requirements of 

 the treaty of 1818. 



On May 7, the schooner "David J. Adams, 1 ' 

 of Gloucester, Mass., was seized in Digby Basin, 

 N. S., by Capt. Scott, of the Dominion cruiser 

 "Lansdowne." The schooner was accused 

 of violating the customs regulations by remain- 



