108 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



attentioi] in iiis note of March 27, 1841, and upon which, as above 

 stated, tlie British Government never expressed their views in reply 

 to Mr. Stevenson's note, attention is particularly directed to the 6th 

 paragraph of the opinion, whicli holds that under the treaty this 

 right "is conceded in general terms, unrestricted by any condition 

 expressed or imphed, limiting it to vessels duly provided at the com- 

 mencement of the voyage; and we are of opinion that no such condi- 

 tion can be attached to the enjoyment of the liberty." 



The opinion of the Law Officers was withheld from the Colonial 

 Govermnent by the British Government until November 28, 1842, 

 when Lord Stanley forwarded it to Ijord Falkland at Halifax with a 

 letter of that date in which he says — 



I enclose for your information a copy of the Report, which on the 

 30th August was received from the Queen's Advocate and Her 

 Jklajesty's Attorney General, on the case drawn up by Your Lordship ; 

 since that date the subject has freciuently engaged the attention of 

 myself and my colleagues, with the view of adopting further meas- 

 ures if necessary, for the protection of British interest in accordance 

 vnih the law as laid down in the enclosed Report. We have, how- 

 ever, on full consideration come to the conclusion, as regards the 

 Fisheries of Nova Scotia, that the precautions taken by the Provin- 

 cial Legislature appear adequate to the purpose, and that being now 

 practically acquiesced in by the Americans, no further measures are 

 required." 



Inasmuch as Great Britain had not as yet replied to Mr. Stevenson's 

 protest against the adoption of Nova Scotia's proposed ''headland 

 theory" and the United States had not been informed of the opinion 

 on the subject rendered by the Law Officers of the Crown, Lord 

 Stanley's statement that the precautions taken by the Provincial 

 Government were ''now practically acquiesced in by the Americans" 

 was a wholly unwarranted assumption on his part, and neither 

 then nor subsequently vras it justified by tlie facts. 



Seizure of tlie Washi7igto7i and the Argus. 



Upon the strength of the Crown Officers' opinion sustaining the 

 ''headland theory" interpretation and regardless of the imfhiished 

 state of the negotiations on the subject between Great Britain and 

 the United States, the provincial authorities of Nova Scotia pro- 

 ceeded to ])ut the new interpretation into practical operation, and 

 on the 10th of May, 1843, an officer of the provincial customs service 



"Appendix, p. 1046. 



