DESPATCHES, EEPOKTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 113 



turbed the peace among the inhabitants on the shores; and, for 

 several years before the war, the complaints to this Government had 

 been so great and so frequent, that it had been impossible not to pay 

 regard to them. I said that I had not heard of any such complaints 

 before, but that, as to the disputes arising from the competition of 

 the fishermen, a remedy could surely with ease be found for them, by 

 suitable regulations of the Government ; and with regard to the peace 

 of the inhabitants, there could be little difficulty in securing it, as 

 the liberty enjoyed by the American fishermen was limited to un- 

 settled and uninhabited places, unless they could, in the others, obtain 

 the consent and agreement of the inhabitants. 



The answer which was so promptly sent to the complaint relative 

 to the warning of the fishing vessels, by the captain of the Jaseur, 

 will probably be communicated to you before you will receive this 

 letter. You will see whether it is so precise, as to the limits within 

 which they are determined to adhere to the exclusion of our fishing 

 vessels, as Lord Bathurst's verbal statement of it to me, namely, to 

 the extent of one marine league from their shores. Indeed, it is to 

 the curing and drying upon the shore that they appear to have the 

 strongest objection. But that, perhaps, is because they know that 

 the immediate curing and drying of the fish, as soon as they are 

 taken, is essential to the value, if not to the very prosecution of the 

 fishery. I have no expectation that the arguments used by me either 

 in support of our right, or as to the policy of Great Britain, upon 

 this question, will have any weight here. Though satisfied of their 

 validity myself, I am persuaded it will be upon the determination 

 of the American Government and people to maintain the right that 

 the continuance of its enjoyment will alone depend. 



No. 18. 1815, September 25: Extract from Letter from Mr. Adams 



to Lord Bathurst (British Secretary of State}. 

 * # * * # - 



In the conference with your Lordship, with which I was honoured 

 on the 14th instant, I represent to you, conformably to the instruc- 

 tions which I had received from the Government of the United 

 States, the proceedings of several British officers in America, and 

 upon the American coast, marked with characters incompatible not 

 only with those amicable relations which it is the earnest desire of 

 the American Government to restore and to cultivate, but even with 

 the condition of peace which had been restored between the two 

 countries by the treaty of Ghent. 



It was highly satisfactory to be informed that the conduct of Cap- 

 tain Lock, commander of the sloop of war Jaseur, in warning 

 67 American fishing vessels not to come within sixty miles of the 

 coast of His Majesty's possessions in North America, was un- 

 authorised, and that the instructions to the British officers on that 

 station, far from warranting such a procedure, had directed them 

 not even to molest the American fishing vessels which might be 

 found pursuing that occupation during the present year. In offering 

 a just tribute of acknowledgment to the fairness and liberality of 

 these instructions issued from your Lordship's office, there only re- 



92909 S. Doc. 870, 61-3, vol 4 18 



