58 CASE OF GKEAT BRITAIN. 



It is submitted that there is nothing in the treaties of 1783 or 

 1818 which has such effect. 



Legislation which is common to every maritime country for the 

 protection of its sea-coast, and is aimed at permitting foreign vessels 

 to enter, rather than to exclude them from its bays, harbours, and 

 coast waters, cannot be, in any sense, treated as unreasonable or as 

 embarrassing to persons who have been expressly or impliedly granted 

 the privilege of entering by treaty, statute, or otherwise. 



The slightest consideration will indicate the great importance of 



such legislation in the present British American colonies. Their large 



extent of sea-coast, their thickly-wooded shores, their numerous bays 



and harbours, their scattered population, and the prevalence of fog, 



render it of the utmost importance, not only that there should be 



customs laws, but that these laws should be capable of being 



67 simply but strictly enforced. This can be accomplished only 



by requiring the master of each vessel to enter or report at 



customs immediately on arrival, and by enforcing obedience to this 



regulation by penalties. 



It is submitted on the part of Great Britain that the implied 

 obligations cast upon Great Britain by the treaty with respect to 

 American fishing vessels is fully met by affording to the inhabitants 

 of the United States reasonable facilities for bringing and main- 

 taining vessels in treaty waters, and that a fair line may be drawn, 

 which, on the one hand, gives American fishermen all necessary 

 rights and privileges to carry on their fishing operations, and, at 

 the same time, affords the British colonies a fair measure of protec- 

 tion against such liberties being used for any improper or fraudulent 

 purpose. 



UNITED STATES LEGISLATION. 



That customs laws, having somewhat similar provisions to those 

 now in force in Canada, were reasonably within the contemplation of 

 the treaty, is made clear by the legislation, on parallel lines, enacted 

 by the United States between the treaties of 1783 and 1818. Some of 

 the enactments then made were as follows : 



1789, July 31, cap. 5. The master of every vessel from a foreign 

 port was required to deliver two signed manifests to the first United 

 States officer coming on board, and to report at customs within forty- 

 eight hours after arrival. (App., p. 777.) 



1790, August 4, cap. 35. The master of every vessel was required, 

 within twenty-four hours after arrival in a port of the United States, 

 to report to the chief officer of customs, and within forty-eight hours 

 after arrival to make a further report in writing, unless all the re- 

 quired information had been given at the time of the first report. 

 All collectors, naval officers, surveyors, inspectors, and the officers of 



