DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 413 



eludes those considerations of good neighborhood and mutual accom- 

 modation, with which the Government of Great Britain would other- 

 wise have been anxious to enter upon the adjustment of this part of 

 the negotiation. A right claimed without qualification, on the one 

 side, affords no room for friendly concession on the other; total 

 admission, or total rejection, is the only alternative which it pre- 

 sents." When Mr. Clay renewed the claim of right, in 1826-7, he 

 was answered in precisely the same way, as appears from a letter 

 addressed to him on the 21st of September, 1827, by Mr. Albert 

 Gallatin: "The British Plenipotentiaries will not entertain any 

 proposition respecting the navigation of the St. Lawrence, founded 

 on the right claimed by the United States to navigate that river to 

 the sea." In the case of the fisheries, as well as in that of the River 

 St. Lawrence, the United States have rendered negotiations imprac- 

 ticable, by advancing claims of right which cannot be recognized. 



Under the Reciprocity Treaty, which the United States saw fit 

 to abrogate, the right to use, not only the River St. Lawrence, but 

 the Canadian ship canals, was conceded to their citizens; and since 

 the abrogation of that treaty, all applications by the United States 

 Government, or b}^ American citizens, for permission to use either 

 the river or canals, have been granted, in return for which courtesy 

 the American authorities have recently refused to permit a British 

 vessel to navigate the Sault St. Marie Canal without any justifiable 

 reason. 



It is quite unnecessary to discuss the ground of the American claim 

 to the free navigation of the River St. Lawrence, as for all practical 

 purposes the concession of the right would be valueless unless accom- 

 panied by a permission to use the Canadian ship canals. 



The Committee of the Privy Council have agreed upon a Minute 

 which may afford Her Majesty's Government sufficient ground for 

 making to the United States such a communication on the subject 

 of the fisheries as they have suggested in this Report, and they 

 respectfully submit it for your Excellency's approval. 



Certified WM. H. LEE. 



Clerk Privy Council Canada. 



PRIVY COUNCIL CHAMBER, 



Ottawa, 27th December, 1870. 



246 No. 155. 1871, February 16: Letter from the Earl of Kimber- 

 ley (British Colonial Secretary] to Lord Lisgar (Governor- 

 General of Canada}. 



(Confidential.) 



DOWNING STREET, February 16, 1871. 



MY LORD, You have already been informed by Telegram of the 

 views of Her Majesty's Government upon the Fishery Questions, but 

 I think it will be convenient, with reference to the pending negotia- 

 tions, that a somewhat fuller statement of those views should now 

 be placed on record. 



It would not be possible for Her Majesty's Government to pledge 

 themselves to any foregone conclusion upon any particular point 

 connected with these negotiations, but they have anxiously considered 



