2 COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



language of the treaty itself, His Majesty's Government attributes 

 to it. 



2. His Majesty's Government observes that some attempt has been 

 made in the Case of the United States to draw a distinction between 

 the action of Great Britain and that of the Colonies. 



It appears to be suggested that, at some times and on some points, 

 the British Government did not take the same view of the construc- 

 tion of the treaty as the Colonial Governments, and that Great 

 Britain was indisposed to claim the full rights for which the Colonies 

 contended. The evidence before the Tribunal lends no support to 

 this suggestion, and His Majesty's Government desires to record an 

 emphatic dissent from it. 



There have been periods when the British Government, for reasons 

 of Imperial policy, has been anxious to avoid the possibility of fric- 

 tion with the United States and has, for a time, been willing to 

 forego the enforcement of the treaty to its full extent. But the 

 British Government has never expressed any disagreement with the 

 Colonies as to the construction of the treaty on any single one of the 

 points now under discussion. On the contrary, it will be found that 

 throughout the correspondence Great Britain has repeatedly declared 

 her concurrence in the view taken by the Colonial Governments, and 

 even in cases in which it has seemed inadvisable for a time to enforce 

 the treaty in its entirety, the concession has been invariably 



3 accompanied by a statement of the full rights which Great 

 Britain and the Colonies alike claimed. 



Complaint is made in the Case of the United States of aggressive 

 action on the part of the Colonies and of the extreme view taken by 

 them of their rights. This appears to be a subject which is not mate- 

 rial to the issues now under discussion, but in case, at any stage, the 

 Tribunal should desire to enquire into it, His Majesty's Government 

 will be prepared to deal with it fully. A consideration of the evi- 

 dence will show that there is no ground for the complaint made on 

 this head in the United States Case. 



For the same reasons which prevent the British Government from 

 entering at the present stage into any details with regard to the com- 

 plaint made as to the conduct of the Colonial Governments, His 

 Majesty's Government also abstains from setting out the complaints 

 which might be made with regard to the action of the United States 

 Government, in connection with the disputes which from time to time 

 arose. Both heads of enquiry are alike irrelevant. 



