104 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Stevenson would be forwarded to Lord Falkland, with instructions 

 to enquire into the allegations contained therein and to furnish a 

 detailed report upon the subject."'' Lord Russell was at that time 

 the Secretary of State for the Department referred to in Lord 

 Palmerston's note, and on April 9, 1841, upon receipt of Mr. 

 Stevenson's note, by reference from Lord Palmerston, he wrote to 

 Lord Falkland, then Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, trans- 

 mitting a copy of Mr. Stevenson's note and requesting him to make 

 immediate inquiry into the allegations contained therein, and to 

 furnish "a detailed report on the subject, for the information of Her 

 Majesty's Government."'' 



Nova Scotia's Case and the Ojnnion of the Crovm Officers. 



Meanwhile the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia had prepared 

 ' ' a case stated (raising the necessary questions as to the right of 

 fishery which the people of these Colonies possess) for the purpose of 

 being referred to the Crown Officers in England, in order that the 

 existing treaties and the rights of these North American Provinces 

 may be more strictly defined."'^ 



This case was forwarded by Lord Falkland with his letter of April 

 28, 1841, to Lord Russell, in which letter he says — 



I shall feel obliged by your Lordship's allowing the opinion of the 

 Crown Officers to be taken on the said case, and I am authorized by 

 the House of Assembly here to defray any expense that may be 

 incurred in obtaining such opinion. '^ 



This "case" after reciting the provisions of the fisheries articles 

 of the treaties of 1783 and 1818, and making reference to the British 

 Act of June 14, 1819 (59 Geo. III. Cap. 38), and the Nova Scotia Act 

 of March 12, 1836 (6 William IV., Chap. 8), proceeds as follows: 



Nova Scotia is indented with Bays, many of which reach from 60 

 to 100 miles into the interior, such as the Bay of Fundy, St. Mary's 

 Bay, the Bras d'Or Lake, and Manchester Bay; the land on the shores 

 is entirely British territory, and Nova Scotia proper is separated 

 from the Island of Cape Breton by a narrow strait called the Gut of 

 Canso, in some parts not wider than three quarters of a mile. In the 

 Bay of Fundy, St. Mary's Bay, and the Gut of Canso, Americans con- 

 duct the Fishery, and their Fishing vessels pass also through the lat- 

 ter, or anchor there, and not only fish, but by using bait, toll the 

 mackerel into deep waters, thereby injuring the profitable Seine 

 Fisheries of Fox Island and Crow Harbor, Arichat, St. Peter's Bay 



"Appendix, p. 406. & Appendix, p. 1043. ''Appendix, p. 1044. 



