786 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 



purpose of shelter and of repairing damages therein, of purchasing 

 wood and obtaining water, and for no other purposes whatever; of 

 all of which you will take notice and govern yourself accordingly." 



The passage quoted would, as Your Lordship has pointed out, have 

 affected all foreign vessels, whether belonging to the United States 

 or not. The mistake was however, detected and the "Warning" 

 issued in a revised form from which the paragraph which I have 

 quoted was omitted and replaced by the words or all of which you 

 will take notice and govern yourself accordingly." 



I enclose herewith copies of the warning in its original and in its 

 amended form. It is possible that Your Lordship or the American 

 Minister may have seen the warning before it had been amended in 

 the manner which I have described. The amended form which 

 merely recites Art. I of the Convention of 1818 and the Canadian 

 Statute of 1868, appears to me to be entirely free from objection. 

 The latter of these Statutes is, as Your Lordship is aware, substan- 

 tially the same as the Imperial Act of 1819 (59 Geo. III., cap. 58) 

 although the provisions relating to hovering are taken from another 

 Imperial Statute (9 Geo. III., cap. 35). The law of the United States 

 as to hovering is, I believe, the same as that embodied in this Statute. 



The concluding paragraphs of the circular No. 371 to which, and 

 not to the warning, Your Lordship's telegram of the 4th of June 

 may have been intended to refer, are also, I think, open to objection. 

 After reciting the Dominion Act of 1868, which, like the Imperial 

 Statute of 1819, applies to foreign vessels generally, the circular pro- 

 ceeds to mention specially certain acts as violations, not of either of 

 the Statutes in question, but of the Convention of 1818, and declares 

 that if "such vessels or boats," that is, any foreign fishing vessels or 

 boats, are found committing those acts they are to be detained. As, 

 however, the Convention has reference to the fishing rights of the 

 United States and not to those of other foreign powers, the passages 

 which I have quoted are, I think, certainly open to the criticism not 

 only that they assume that the acts described are violations of the 

 Convention, but that they seek to apply whatever penalties may be 

 enforced against parties contravening the Convention to vessels to 

 which those provisions are not properly applicable. 



This point has been considered by my Government with every de- 

 sire to revise the circular in such a manner as to remove all reason- 

 able objections to it upon these or other grounds, and I have much 

 pleasure in informing Your Lordship that the circular will be re- 

 issued with the following concluding paragraphs in lieu of those re- 

 ferred to above: 



"Having reference to the above you are requested to furnish 

 any foreign fishing vessels, boats or fishermen found within three 

 marine miles of the shore within your district with a printed copy 

 of the warning enclosed herewith. 



"If any fishing vessel or boat of the United States is found fishing 

 or to have been fishing or preparing to fish, or if hovering within the 

 three mile limit, does not depart within twenty-four hours after 

 receiving such warning, you will place an officer on board of such ves- 

 sel and at once telegraph the facts to the Fisheries Department at 

 Ottawa and await instructions." 



The effect of these words will be that every foreign fisherman 

 found within the three mile limit will receive a warning which will 



