132 



CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



ing twenty-four hours, or more, in port with- 

 out reporting to the collector of customs, and 

 of violating the act relating to fishing by 

 foreign vessels by buying bait. The seizure 

 was formally protested against by the master 

 of the schooner, and also by United States 

 Consul-General Phelan. An action was entered 

 against Capt. Scott for $12,000 damages; and 

 another was brought against Henny, master of 

 the "David J. Adams," for $1,000 penalty for 

 violating an imperial statute of 1818. In the 

 latter case no defense was offered, and judg- 

 ment was entered against the defendant for 

 the full amount. The trial of the "David 

 J. Adams" case was arranged to be held at 

 Halifax. 



Subsequently, the " Ella M. Doughty " was 

 seized at Englishtown, Cape Breton, for buying 

 bait at St. Ann's. The plea filed for the defense 

 in this case set up that the purchase of bait or 

 ice is not prohibited by any imperial or Cana- 

 dian statute or order in Council ; that the impe- 

 rial statute of 1819 being still in force, all Cana- 

 dian legislation on the same subject is null and 

 void; that since the treaty of 1818 and the 

 imperial statute of 1819 were admitted to be in 

 force, further privileges have been conceded 

 to United States vessels ; that the " Ella M. 

 Doughty " was under United States law licensed 

 to touch and trade at foreign ports; that 

 the vessel entered St. Ann's for shelter, and 

 not for bait, but the captain purchased bait 

 that was offered him, intending to use it solely 

 beyond Canadian limits ; that the vessel neither 

 fished, took fish, dried fish, cured fish, nor 

 prepared to fish within three marine miles of 

 any Canadian coast or bay; that the port of 

 St. Ann's is a commercial port of Canada into 

 which vessels may enter and depart from, sub- 

 ject only to the customs regulations ; and that 

 so much of the treaty of 1818 as provides that 

 fishermen shall be permitted to enter bays and 

 harbors for the purposes therein set forth, has 

 relation to bays and harbors generally ; but 

 that with reference to St. Ann's and all other 

 harbors constituted commercial ports, there did 

 not exist, either in the laws of Great Britain 

 or Canada, or in any treaty or convention, 

 any prohibition against the entry into such 

 ports, in time of peace, of any vessel whatso- 

 ever belonging to a friendly nation, for the 

 purpose of obtaining necessary or reasonable 

 supplies for their reasonable voyages and occu- 

 pations ; that pursuant to a royal proclamation 

 of Nov. 6, 1830, United States vessels were 

 authorized to export freely goods from Canada 

 to any foreign country, and that by subsequent 

 legislation of the Imperial Parliament all regis- 

 tered and licensed vessels of the United States, 

 as to voyages from and to British ports, and as 

 to trading at such ports as incidental to such 

 voyages, were made subject to the same prohi- 

 bitions and restrictions, and none other, to 

 which British vessels similarly engaged were 

 then subject ; BO that the "Ella M. Doughty" 

 was fully authorized to purchase bait. 



On July 2, the schooner " City Point," of 

 Portland, Me., put into Shelburne, N. S., the 

 captain claims, for the purpose of getting her 

 decks calked ; the Canadian authorities allege 

 that it was to obtain a prearranged supply of 

 bait. Two men were landed, and water was 

 taken on board, before the vessel reported at 

 the custom-house. The vessel was detained 

 by the collector of customs, and then upon in- 

 structions from the Dominion Government was 

 seized for violating the customs laws, by the 

 cruiser " Terror." Two other Portland schoon- 

 ersthe "C. B. Harrington" and George W. 

 Gushing" were also seized at Shelburne. 

 All three were subsequently released upon de- 

 posit of fines of $400 each by Consul-General 

 Phelan, the deposit being made upon condition 

 that the amount be returned in case the seiz- 

 ures should be declared illegal. 



On Aug. 18, the mackerel-schooner " How- 

 ard Holbrook," of Gloucester, Mass., was seized 

 at Port Hawkesbury, 0. B., by the collector of 

 customs, for having violated the customs laws 

 three weeks previously by calling at the same 

 port without reporting at the custom-house. 

 The vessel was released on payment of $200. 



The first vessel seized for fishing within the 

 three-mile limit was the "Highland Light," 

 which was seized on Sept. 1 by the cruiser 

 " Hewlett " while in the act of fishing within a 

 mile and a half of the shore, near East Point, 

 P. E. I. Among other vessels seized for not 

 reporting at custom-house were the " Pearl 

 Nelson," of Provincetown ; the "Marion 

 Grimes," of Gloucester; and the "Everett 

 Steele," of Gloucester. The latter was seized 

 by the cruiser "Terror" in September, for 

 having put into Shelburne in March without 

 reporting. Fines of $400 were imposed in 

 each instance. 



It is not easy to determine whether the 

 United States or Canada suffered the more by 

 the revival of the Washington Treaty. In 

 spite of the duties, the Canadian fishermen ex- 



Eorted large quantities of fish to the United 

 tates, at unusually high prices. American 

 fishermen suffered less from being excluded 

 from the Canadian fishing-grounds than from 

 being denied facilities for obtaining supplies 

 and forwarding fish by rail. The greatest suf- 

 ferers were the numerous Canadians, who in 

 the past have lived by selling supplies to the 

 American fishermen. Considerable excitement 

 was created among the classes directly inter- 

 ested on both sides of the frontier. The New 

 England fishermen seemed to regard every 

 seizure, not as a matter of police, but as an 

 act of war. The United States Government, 

 while strongly favoring a new treaty or the 

 appointment of an international convention, 

 took exception to the Canadian Government's 

 method of enforcing its interpretation of the 

 existing treaty. The United States Govern- 

 ment insisted that the British headlands doc- 

 trine is false and untenable; that seizures 

 ought not to be made on suspicion, but only if 



