1188 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



natural and proper that our fishermen should have the liberty to 

 enter ' for the purpose of shelter, &c.' 



"As to the Bay of Fundy, the government of her Britannic Maj- 

 esty have relaxed their previous interpretation of the treaty. The 

 following extract from the letter of Lord Aberdeen, in 1845, to the 

 American Minister, Mr. Everett, will explain the views of her Maj- 

 esty's government so far as relates to this bay : 



716 " ' The undersigned will confine himself to stating that, after 

 the most deliberate reconsideration of the subject, and with 

 every desire to do full justice to the United States, and to view the 

 claims put forward in behalf of the United States citizens in the 

 most favorable light, her Majesty's government are nevertheless still 

 constrained to deny the right of the United States citizens, under 

 the treaty of 1818, to fish in that part of the Bay of Fundy which, 

 from its geographical position, may properly be considered as in- 

 cluded within the British possessions. 



" ' Her Majesty's government must still maintain and in this view 

 they are fortified by high legal authority that the Bay of Fundy 

 is rightfully claimed by Great Britain as a bay within the meaning 

 of the treaty of 1818 ; and they equally maintain the position which 

 was laid down in the note of the undersigned, dated the 15th of April 

 last, that with regard to the other bays on the British American 

 coast, no United States fishermen has, under that convention, the 

 right to fish within three miles of the entrance of such bays as are 

 designated by a line drawn from headland to headland at that en- 

 trance. 



" ' But, while her Majesty's government still feel themselves bound 

 to maintain these positions as a matter of right, they are neverthe- 

 less not insensible to the advantages which would accrue to both 

 countries from a relaxation of the exercise of that right to the United 

 States as conferring a material benefit on their fishing trade, and to 

 Great Britain and the United States conjointly and equally by the 

 removal of a fertile source of disagreement between them. 



" ' Her Majesty's government are also anxious, at the same time 

 that they uphold the just claims of the British crown, to evince, by 

 every reasonable concession, their desire to act liberally and amicably 

 towards the United States. 



" ' The undersigned has accordingly much pleasure in announcing 

 to Mr. Everett the determination to which her Majesty's government 

 have come, to relax in favor of the United States fishermen that right 

 which Great Britain has hitherto exercised, of excluding those fisher- 

 men from the British portion of the Bay of Fundy; and they are 

 prepared to direct their colonial authorities to allow henceforward the 

 United States fishermen to pursue their avocations in any part of 

 the Bay of Fundy, provided they do not approach, except in the 

 cases specified in the treaty of 1818, within three miles of the entrance 

 of any bay on the coast of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.' 



" You will perceive, therefore, the only point at issue between the 

 two governments, and understand the views of the Executive on the 

 same, as above briefly but plainly set forth. 



" The President does not allow himself to believe for a moment 

 that her Majesty's government designs, by her large force in that 

 quarter, to do more than protect her subjects in the enjoyment of 

 those rights conceded by our government, and especially enjoins it 



