41 
ast of Newfoundland, cannot be more clearly stated than 
have been in the memorial to the Secretary of State made 
Messrs. Forrest & Shearer in 1889, a copy of which will 
d in Appendix I. 
riefly stated, these facts were as follows:—In 1882 Messrs. 
est & Shearer erected a factory at St. Barbe; in 1883, 
ar at Port Saunders; and in 1889, still another at John 
hers Cove. There were no houses or buildings of any kind 
i Saunders in 1883, and neither French nor English fisher- 
i hed been in the habit of fishing or drying fish there for 
ry years prior to the erection of the factory. From the date 
establishment of the factory until the autumn of 1887 
was no interference with it or protest against its operations 
French naval officers, but in August of the latter year the 
war-ship “ Pearl” visited Port Saunders, and destroyed 
er traps and buoys belonging to Messrs. Forrest & Shearer 
thout giving them any warning of their intention, or formally 
mplaining of their operations. 
June, 1887, the commander of the British war-ship “ Bull- 
tog” notified the manager of the factory that the commander of 
e F ench naval division complained that the operations of the 
story interfered with the “ enjoyment” of the fishing rights of 
ertain French fishermen, and he therefore ordered the manager 
desist from setting traps for lobsters within certain specified 
nits. The complaint appears to have been an unfounded one, 
1c > the French had not previously fished in the neighbourhood 
Saunders; and that it was made vexatiously is proven by 
: B fact that during the four previous years no complaint had 
en made against the operations of the factory. 
e action of the commander of the “ Bullfrog” in complying 
the representation of the French commander without due 
ry into the facts, or without regard to them, is an apt illus- 
on of one cause of complaint in Newfoundland, where the 
| officers, indeed, are excused upon the ground of obedience 
ders, but where the supineness of the British Government is 
vantageously compared to the spirited conduct of the French 
orities, and where it is felt that the rights of British subjects 
less regarded by the British Government than the expediency 
eping the peace. 
On the 24th of September, 1887, the commander of the 
