734 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 



Sir E. Thornton to Earl Granville. 



[Substance received by telegraph, April 5.] 

 [Extract] 



WASHINGTON, April 4, 1881. 



With reference to your Lordship's telegram of the 2nd instant, I 

 have the honour to inform you that I called this morning upon Mr. 

 Elaine at the State Department, and stated that Her Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment acceded to his request that the fishery claims should be 

 referred for assessment to him and myself, or to Delegates named by 

 us. I presumed that by the fishery claims your Lordship intended 

 to signify the Fortune Bay claims and those described in Mr. Evarts' 

 despatch to Mr. Lowell No. 110, the contents of which were commu- 

 nicated to you by the latter. 



I went on to say that I was afraid that we should not be likely to 

 agree upon the amount of damages to be paid on account of the 

 claims in question, and that it would therefore be very desirable that 

 we should name a third person who should decide in the event of our 

 disagreeing. But Mr. Blaine replied that Mr. Evarts' original pro- 

 posal, to which he had now reverted, did not include any reference 

 to a third person, and that his Government was not prepared to 

 acquiesce in such a reference, to which he thought the subject of the 

 claims was not adapted. 



In answer to my inquiry, Mr. Blaine said that he would rather 

 negotiate the matter with me than leave it to Delegates named by us. 

 He added that he would examine the documents upon the subject as 

 soon as he could, and would then invite me to meet him. 



In the course of the conversation Mr. Blaine said that he should 

 have preferred to have negotiated on the basis of a lump sum, and 

 that, having now carefully examined the claims already presented, 

 and considered possibility of any further claims which might be 

 brought forward, he would have been prepared, on behalf of his Gov- 

 ernment, to accept the sum of 16,OOOZ., and to give a receipt in full 

 for all claims for interruption of American fishermen on the coasts 

 of Newfoundland or of its dependencies which may have arisen up 

 to the 4th March, 1881. 



I replied that Her Majesty's Government now preferred that the 

 claims should be assessed, and was disinclined to negotiate upon the 

 basis of a lump sum. 



Sir E. Thornton to Earl Granvttle. 



[Substance received by telegraph, April 22.] 

 [Extract] 



WASHINGTON, April 25, 1881. 



On the 21st instant I had an interview with Mr. Blaine at the 

 State Department with regard to the Fortune Bay claims and those 

 arising from United States' fishermen having been prevented from 

 fishing for bait. 



Mr. Blaine considers that the offer which he had made to accept 

 16,000?. in full of all claims of the class above mentioned up to the 



