BRITISH, COLONIAL AND OTHEE COHKESPONDENCE, ETC. 281 



at the mouth of it, would be prevented under this clause from being 

 so entered. That is to say, an American vessel, could not enter such 

 a bay without passing within three miles of some shore, either the 

 main shore or the shore of the Island : and this provision is inserted 

 to avoid the possible interpretation that inasmuch as such a bay is 

 more than ten miles wide, they could enter it. If they could not have 

 entered it under their own construction of the treaty, then they can- 

 not enter it under this treaty, although the mouth of the bay may 

 be more than 10 miles wide. That is the construction which I under- 

 stand, and believe to be the true one, of this clause, about which there 

 has been a good deal of discussion. The 6th, 7th and 8th clauses 

 deal with mere formalities as the mode in which the delimination of 

 the lines is to be decided. Article 9 is as follows : 



" Nothing in this treaty shall interrupt or affect the free navigation 

 of the Strait of Canso by fishing vessels of the United States." 



The 10th Article of the treaty provides that United States fishing 

 vessels entering the bays or harbors referred to in Article one of this 

 treaty, shall conform to harbor regulations common to fishing vessels 

 of Canada or Newfoundland. The Article goes on to deal with the 

 four cases justifying the entrance of vessels into one of our ports 

 under the treaty of 1818. It says: 



They need not report, enter, or clear, when putting into such bays 

 or harbors for shelter or repairing damages, nor when putting into 

 the same, outside the limits of established ports of entry, for the pur- 

 pose of purchasing wood or of obtaining water; except that any such 

 vessel remaining more than twenty-four hours, exclusive of Sundays 

 and legal holidays, within any such port, or communicating with 

 the shore therein, may be required to report, enter, or clear; and no 

 vessel shall be excused hereby from giving due information to board- 

 ing officers. 



The object of this is plainly to make clear that when they come in 

 for these four purposes they need not be dealt with as trading ves- 

 sels. In effect the latter part of the paragraph amounts to this 

 that if they stay in the port longer than is necessary for the purposes 

 specified in the treaty of 1818, then they shall be dealt with as ordi- 

 nary trading vessels. The conclusion of this Article is as follows: 



They shall not be liable in such bays or harbors for compulsory 

 pilotage ; nor, when therein for the purpose of shelter, of repairing 

 damages, of purchasing wood, or ot obtaining water, shall they be 

 liable for harbor dues, tonnage dues, buoy dues, light dues, or other 

 similar dues; but this enumeration shall not permit other charges 

 inconsistent with the enjoyment of the liberties reserved or secured 

 by the Convention of October 20, 1818. 



This also applies to the four purposes for which American fishing 

 vessel are authorized to enter our ports by the treaty of 1818. It 

 is merely to remove the pretention, that a vessel entering a harbor 

 for the purposes of shelter, or repairing damages, or purchasing 

 wood or obtaining water which are really purposes justifiable on 

 the broad principles of humanity shall be liable for compulsory 

 pilotage or any of those dues which are imposed upon trading vessels 

 making use of those ports. 



* * * * * * * 



This examination of the treaty seems to me to bring out at least 

 I intended it to do so the changes which have been made from the 



