118 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



of exclusion exercised by Great Britain over the fishing vessels of the 

 United States, entering the bays of the sea on the British North 

 American Coast.*^ 



On account of vigorous opposition from Nova Scotia, however, 

 nothing further was done b}'' the British Government toward relaxa- 

 tion at that time. The positions taken, as above indicated, by Great 

 Britain and Nova Scotia on this subject are discussed in the following 

 extract from a despatch sent on December 4, 1852 by Mr. Everett, 

 then Secretary of State, to Mr. Ingersoll, the American Minister at 

 London, with reference to this question, which at that time was again 

 under consideration : 



Nothing is more certain than that this precise question was under 

 the consideration of Her Majesty's government at this time, in conse- 

 quence of my complaints. This I shall prove by an authority 

 which Lord Malmesbury will admit to be decisive. 



On the 19th May, 1845, just four weeks after Lord Aberdeen 

 informed me that my letters of the 25th of March and 2d of April 

 iiad been referred to the Colonial Office, Lord Stanley (now the Earl 

 of Derby, and at that time Secretary of State for the Colonies) wrote 

 a despatch to Viscount Falkland, governor of Nova Scotia, of which 

 the following is an extract: 



"Her Majesty's government, having frequentl}'' had before them 

 the complaints of the minister of the United States in this country, 

 on account of the capture of vessels belonging to fishermen of the 

 United States by the provincial cruisers of Nova Scotia and New 

 Brunswick, for alleged infractions of the convention of the 20th of 

 October, 1818, between Great Britain and the United States, I have 

 to acquaint your lordship that, after mature deliberation, her 

 Majesty's government deem it advisable, for the interests of both 

 countries, to relax the strict rule of exclusion over the fishing- vessels 

 of the United States entering the bays of the sea on the British North 

 American coasts." 



''I have to request that your Lordship will inform me whether you 

 have any objections to offer, on provincial or other grounds, to the 

 proposed relaxation of the construction of the treaty of 1818 between 

 this country and the United States." 



The above is all of this important despatch which the colonial 

 authorities have thought proper to publish. The only cases of cap- 

 ture of our fishermen, of which I had specifically complained, were 

 those of the '' Washington" and "Argus;" and the above letter of 

 Lord Stanley, of course, demonstrates that I gave the American pub- 

 He no "incorrect view" when I led them, by my letter of 26th 

 April, 1845, to suppose that on my instance her Majesty's govern- 

 ment had under consideration, at that time, the question of extending 

 to the other outer bays the relaxation which had taken place in 

 reference to the Bay of Fimdy. 



a Appendix, pp. 537-538 



