264 MISCELLANEOUS 



and indirectly connected with our fisheries and its resulting trade. 

 This state of things, which was beneficial also in no small degree to 

 the subjects of the United States, undoubtedly created a condition 

 of general prosperity and contentment among the classes of British 

 subjects referred to, such as had never previously existed. 



On the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty in 1866, by the Act 

 of the government of the United States, both parties, viz : the subjects 

 of Great Britain and those of the United States were remitted to 

 their respective former status under the terms and provisions of the 

 London Convention of October 20th, 1818, and the several Colonial 

 enactments based on, and in accordance therewith, supplemented by 

 such exceptional rights in favor of foreign fishing vessels as the 

 license system or policy has created and conferred. To that status I 

 beg now to advert. And first with regard to the rights of American 

 fishermen under the convention of 1818, although no small amount of 

 official correspondence and even controversy between Great Britain 

 and the United States has taken place on this subject, particularly 



Srevious to the Treaty of Washington 1854, commonly known as the 

 eciprocity Treaty, the right of American fishermen to participate in 

 the fisheries on the coasts of British North America are very clearly 

 defined by the latter part of the first article of the Convention of 

 1818 : "And the United States hereby renounce forever any " liberty " 

 heretofore enjoyed or claimed by the inhabitants thereof to take, dry 

 or cure fish on or within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, 

 creeks, or harbors of His Britannic Majesty's Dominion in America, 

 not included within the above mentioned limits." (The limits here 

 referred to are specified in the same article, and have no application 

 to the matter in hand) " provided however that the American fisher- 

 men shall be admitted to enter such bays or harbours for the purpose 

 of shelter, and repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood and of 

 obtaining water, and for no other purpose whatever. " But they shall 

 be under such restrictions as may be necessary to prevent their taking, 

 drying, or curing fish therein, or, in any other manner whatever abus- 

 ing the privileges hereby reserved to them." 



Notwithstanding the just and indisputable construction of the 

 terms of this article by Her Majesty's Government, to the effect that 

 the Government of the United States have thereby renounced the 

 right of fishing not only within three miles of the Colonial shores, 

 but also within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of any 

 British bay or creek, and although Her Majesty's Government is 

 advised that American vessels engaged in fishing, might be lawfully 

 excluded from navigating the Strait of Canso, yet as I apprehend, 

 it is not the desire of Her Majesty's Government, or of the Govern- 

 ment of this Dominion, to either waive or enforce the more extensive 

 but legal construction of the article already cited in the foregoing 

 respects, the policy of granting American subjects the liberty to fish 

 .within three miles of the Colonial shores, and the conditions upon 

 which such liberty is to be permitted, became, on this branch of the 

 subject, questions of very serious moment, and entitled to very serious 

 and mature consideration. Upon the first of these points, I think I 

 may assume that both the Imperial and Dominion authorities, enter- 

 tain no other idea than that of insisting, under any circumstances, 

 upon the absolute right to exclude American fishermen from any free 

 participation in the inshore fisheries. Any other policy would, I 



