DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 363 



One inquiry was. whether the fishermen of the United States have 

 any authority to enter any of the -bays of that province to take fish. 

 These officers, Messrs. Dodson and Wilde, reply that no right exists 

 to enter the bays of Nova Scotia to take h'sh, "" as they are of opinion 

 the term headland is used in the treaty to express the part of the land 



excluding the interior of the bays and inlets of the coasts." 

 216 Now it so happens that no such term is used in the treaty, 

 and their decision based on its falls to the ground. 



They were also specifically asked to define what is to be considered 

 a headland. This they did not attempt to do. The headlands of the 

 Bay of Fundy have never been defined or located, and from the con- 

 tour of the bay no such headlands properly exist. 



These officers held that the American fishermen, for the reason 

 named, could not enter the bays and harbors of Nova Scotia. But the 

 Bay of Fundy is not a bay or harbor of the province of Nova Scotia, 

 and was never included in its limits. The Bay of Fundy is bounded 

 on one side by Nova Scotia, and on the other by New Brunswick, 

 and it is not clear that either the question proposed, or the answer 

 given, was designed to include this large arm of the sea. 



It is also said that Mr. Webster has conceded the point in issue in 

 a notice given to American fishermen. The claims now asserted were 

 not put forth till many years after the treaty of 1818; and it was not 

 till 1852 the British government gave notice that seizures would be 

 made of fishermen taking fish in violation of the construction of the 

 treaty of 1818, as then claimed by them, when Mr. Webster, to avoid 

 the collisions that might arise, issued a notice setting forth the claims 

 put forth by England. 



In one part of his notice he says: " It was an oversight to make so 

 large a concession to England ; " but closes by saying: " Not agreeing 

 that the construction put upon the treaty by the English government 

 is conformable to the intentions of the contracting parties, this in- 

 formation is given that those concerned in the fisheries may under- 

 stand how the concern stands at present, and be upon their guard." 



Mr. Webster subsequently denied relinquishing, in any manner, by 

 this notice, the rights of the United States, as claimed under this 

 treaty. 



Detached expressions quoted from it, to sustain a different opinion, 

 can hardly be regarded, under such circumstances, as an authority. 



I have seen no other argument or suggestions tending, as I think, 

 to sustain the grounds taken by the British government. 



On the other hand, I have adverted, briefly, as I proposed, to the 

 history of the fisheries: the views expressed by the negotiators of the 

 treaty of 1818, as to the object to be effected by it; the subsequent 

 practical construction of it for many years; the construction given to 

 a similar article in the treaty of 1783; the evident meaning to be 

 gained from the entire article of the treaty taken together, and from 

 the term " coasts " as used in the treaty of 1818, and other treaties in 

 reference to this subject ; and the whole combine, as I believe, to sus- 

 tain the construction contended for by the United States. 



I am therefore of opinion, the owners of the Washington should 

 receive compensation for the unlawful seizure of that vessel by the 

 British government, when fishing more than three miles from the 

 shore or coast of the Bay of Fundy, 



