276 APPENDIX TO BRITISH CASE. 



the Atlantic Ocean by a line from Cape Sable, on the southern coast 

 of Nova Scotia, to the islands in the Penobscot Bay ; and in the dis- 

 cussion respecting our northeastern boundary it was contended on 

 the part of England that the rivers east of Penobscot Bay all emptied 

 into the Bay of Fundy. This diagonal line would be little short of 

 two hundred miles in length. It is impossible to be definite in such 

 an inquiry; but these facts indicate the great extent of this oceanic 

 indentation, and how far it is from being a sheltered sheet of water 

 separated from the ocean and protected from it by marked projecting 

 headlands. It averages probably about fifty miles in width, and 

 includes within its circuit numerous bays, such as Penobscot Bay, 

 Frenchman's Bay, Passamaquoddy Bay, and Machias Bay, in Maine, 

 and the Bay of Mines, Chignecto Bay, and Bay Norte, in Nova 

 Scotia and New Brunswick, together with several others. Such an 

 expanse of water is geographically and politically a part of the 

 Atlantic Ocean. 



But, Sir, this is a strange way of settling great international ques- 

 tions of jurisdiction by referring them to the decision of the Law 

 Officers of a Government. Such questions involve the most important 

 and delicate points of foreign intercourse, and should be the subject 

 of negotiation, not of legal reference. We thus arrive, Sir, at what 

 the British authorities consider the " encroachment " of our fisher- 

 men, and for which they have recently made provision. No doubt 

 occasional infractions of the Treaty occur, which the ordinary 

 164 force in those regions is competent to prevent or to > punish. 

 No one defends such acts, nor will our Government make any 

 reclamation in relation to them. But the complaint of throwing out 

 offal and furnishing bait to the fish, and other grievances of a simi- 

 lar nature, are rather small matters to become the subject of con- 

 troversy between two great nations. If the British colonists would 

 imitate the industry, and skill, and enterprise of pur fishermen, it 

 would be far better for them than these eternal complaints because 

 a neighbouring people seek to obtain a portion of that beneficent 

 bounty which is offered to the human race. Their proximity to the 

 places of fishing, and their possession of the whole coast, would give 

 them advantages which ought to ensure their superior success, if 

 they would put their shoulders to the wheel, instead of calling for 

 help across the Atlantic. And, besides, the rigid pursuit of this 

 object where our fishermen are concerned is in singular and un- 

 friendly contrast with the conduct of the British Government to- 

 wards the French and Dutch fishermen even in time of war. The 

 former is marked with a spirit approaching persecution, while the 

 latter is characterized by just moderation. 



There is also a decided contrast between the force now employed 

 and the force called out upon former and similar occasions. In 1817 

 one vessel only the Dee was ordered upon this kind of service, 

 when strong remonstrances were made by the colonies. 



In 1836 Lord Glenelgin informed the Governor of Nova Scotia, 

 in answer to his representations, that the British Minister at Wash- 

 ington had been instructed to ask the friendly cooperation of the 

 American Government, and that one small vessel would be sent to 

 Nova Scotia, and another to " Prince Edward's Island." But times 

 have changed. Whether the change is to go on remains to be seen. 

 Certainly a just comity would have dictated a similar guarded course 



