CONGRESS. (CANAL TOLLS.) 



195 



of each vessel to furnish u sworn statement nf the 

 uiniiiint and kind of cargo, and the nuinbcr of juw- 



. .1. aint tin- ile-tination of tin- same, and 

 Mirh proui of tin- actual delivery of such cunro or 



.it sonic ix>rt or place within the limit* 

 uUivc iiunie.l as he shall ileein satisfactory ; ami until 

 Mich proof is furnished such freight and passengers 

 may In- considered to have been luuded ut some port 

 or place out>idc ot' those limits, and the amount of 

 . liieh would have accrued it' they had been so 

 delivered shall constitute a lien, which may bo en- 

 forced against the vessel in default wherever und 

 whenever found in the waters of the United States. 



Mr. Blount, of Georgia, said in explanation of 

 (he measure: "Mr. Speaker, Article XXVII of 

 the Treaty of Washington, concluded May 8, 

 1*71, provides: 



The Government of her Britannic Majesty engages 

 to urge upon the Government of the Dominion of 

 Canada to secure to the citizens of the United States 

 the use of the Welland, St. Lawrence, and other canals 

 in the Dominion on terms of equality with the inhab- 

 itants of the Dominion; and the Government of the 

 United States engages that the subjects of her Britan- 

 nic Majesty shall enjoy the use of the St. Clair Flats 

 omul on terms of equality with the inhabitant* of the 

 United States, and further engages to urge upon the 

 State governments to secure to the subjects of her 

 Britunnic Majesty the use of the several State canals 

 connected with the navigation of the lakes or rivers 

 traversed by or contiguous to the boundary line be- 

 t \\een the possessions of the high contracting parties 

 on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the 

 United States. 



" The President of the United States has in 

 two messages during this session of Congress 

 failed the attention of the Congress of the United 

 States to the condition of the rights of American 

 citizens in the use of the Welland, St. Lawrence, 

 and other Canadian canals. The twenty-seventh 

 article of this treaty was intended to give our 

 own citizens the same right to use these canals 

 that was accorded to the citizens of Canada. It 

 wa- in contemplation at the time of its ratifica- 

 tion that the people of Canada should have from 

 their territory north of the Great Lakes the right 

 to transport their merchandise of various sorts 

 through Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, 

 and Ontario into Canada, east into the Atlantic 

 < )i-e;in. and into the marts of the world. Except 

 by a concession on the part of the United States 

 of the right to pass the St. Clair Flats Canal 

 and of the right to pass the Sault St. Marie 

 ( 'anal, subsequently acquired by the Government 

 of the United States, it would have been impos- 

 sible tor her to have carried by that route this 

 dee] >- water route her products. 



" She was enabled, through it. to have an 

 interchange of products either way; and what 

 was the consideration to the people of the 

 Tinted States! That the great Northwest 

 should be allowed to transport through these 

 lakes, through the Welland and St. Lawrence 

 Canals, and through Canada, and to her own 

 ports on the Ontario, her own products. That 

 was the intent on the part of the Government 

 of the United States and of the high contract- 

 ing parties. It turned ort, however, that the 

 Canadian (iovennneiit, with a view of affecting 

 advantageously the interests of the St. Lawrence 

 Canal, provides a rebate of 18 cents on such 

 art ides as shall pass the Wetland Canal and the 

 St. Lawrence Canal to Montreal. It has left 



there the duties at 2 cents per ton. This 



was not ucco.-dcd to American vessels passing 

 through the Welland Canal and landing at 

 ports on the Ontario and at other ports. 



" Hy an order in council it was provided that 

 where there was a transshipment at the Welland 

 Canal or at Kingston, this rebate should obtain 

 notwithstanding the transshipment. Hy virtue 

 of the operation of that order of council all 

 Iran-shipments on the American side, even 

 where the vessels went through the St. Lawn-nee 

 canals, were deprived of the benefit of the re- 

 bate. It was claimed on the part of the Cana- 

 dian Government that as the rebate applied to 

 " vessels," and our vessels were covered by its 

 terms provided their cargoes took the lines indi- 

 cated by the order, there was absolute equality ; 

 but the language of the treaty shows that it had 

 relation not to vessels but to citizens. 



" It was intended for the benefit of the con- 

 sumers in our own country ; it was intended to 

 give advantages to our ports; it was intended 

 to give advantages to our transportation com- 

 panies. The Canadians have sought, by this 

 technical construction, to evade the spirit of the 

 treaty. The proposition in the pending bill is 

 to allow the President of the United States to 

 prescribe tolls to be levied at the St. Mary's 

 Canal on products passing through there, and 

 also to provide that those tolls shall not operate 

 against American vessels plying to ports within 

 our own territory. 



" The object is to apply to Canadian citizens 

 using that canal a rule similar to that which the 

 Canadians apply to American citizens using 

 their canals. It is expected that in this way we 

 shall secure a recognition of our rights under 

 the treaty. It is believed that the result of this 

 course on the part of our Government will be to 

 put an end to the delay and evasion which have 

 characterized the negotiations of the Canadian 

 commissioners with our State Department upon 

 this subject, and to compel on the part, of Cana- 

 da a recognition of our rights under the treaty. 



"The President of the United States, inter- 

 preting this treaty, says : 



The treaty aims to secure to the citizens of the 

 United States the use of the Welland, St Lawrence, 

 and other canals in the Dominion on terms of equal- 

 ity with the inhabitants of the Dominion. It was 

 intended, 



says he, 



to give to consumers in the United States, to our own 

 people engaged in railroad transportation, and to 

 those exj>orting from our ports, equal terms in paw- 

 ing their merchandise through these canals. 



"If this is a correct interpretation and I be- 

 lieve it is why should we submit to a ruinous 

 and wrongful interpretation 1 The suggestion 

 comes. 'We might abrogate this treaty.' Is 

 that (lie way for this great Government to meet 

 this issue in the protection of the treaty rights 

 of its citizens? No, sir; it should stand man- 

 fully and heroically for their rights, and meet 

 whatever emergencies may arise as they arise. 



"This bill provides simply for the application 

 of the rule laid down by the Canadian authori- 

 ties in reference to their own merchandise 

 nothing more, nothing less. Let them conform 

 to the terms of the treaty, and the President has 



