822 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 



and especially to the instructions from the lords of the admiralty to 

 Vice- Admiral Wellesley, in which that officer was directed to observe 

 great caution in the arrest of American fishermen, and to confine his 

 action to one class of offenses against the treaty. Mr. Bayard, how- 

 ever, appears to have attached unwarranted importance to the cor- 

 respondence and instructions of 1870, when he refers to them as im- 

 plying " an understanding between the two Governments," an under- 

 standing, which should, in his opinion, at other times, and under 

 other circumstances, govern the conduct of the authorities, whether 

 imperial or colonial, to whom under the laws of the Empire is com- 

 mitted the duty of enforcing the treaty in question. 



When, therefore, Mr. Bayard points out the " absolute and instant 

 necessity that now exists for a restriction of the seizure of American 

 vessels charged with violations of the treaty of 1818 " to the conditions 

 specified under those instructions, it is necessary to recall the fact 

 that in the year 1870 the principal cause of complaint on the part 

 of Canadian fishermen was that the American vessels were trespass- 

 ing on the inshore fishing grounds and interfering with the catch of 

 mackerel in Canadian waters, the purchase of bait being then a mat- 

 ter of secondary importance. 



It is probable, too, that the action of the imperial Government was 

 influenced very largely by the prospect which then existed of an ar- 

 rangement such as was accomplished in the following year by the 

 treaty of Washington, and that it may be inferred, in view of this 

 disposition made apparent on both sides to arrive at such an under- 

 standing, that the imperial authorities, without any surrender of im- 

 perial or colonial rights, and without acquiescing in any limited con- 

 struction of the treaty, instructed the vice-admiral to confine his 

 seizures to the more open and injurious class of offenses which were 

 especially likely to be brought within the cognizance of the naval 

 officers of the imperial service. 



The Canadian Government, as has been already stated, for six 

 months left its fishing grounds open to American fishermen, without 

 any corresponding advantage in return, in order to prevent loss to 

 those fishermen, and to afford time for the action of Congress, on the 

 President's recommendation that a joint commission should be ap- 

 pointed to consider the whole question relating to the fisheries. 



That recommendation has been rejected by Congress. Canadian 

 fish is by prohibitory duties excluded from the United States market. 

 The American fishermen clamor against the removal of those duties, 

 and, in order to maintain a monopoly of the trade, continue against 

 all law to force themselves into our waters and harbors, and make our 

 shores their base for supplies, especially for bait, which is necessary to 

 the successful prosecution of their business. 



They hope by this course to supply the demand for their home 

 market, and thus to make Canada indirectly the means of injuring 

 her own trade. 



It is surely, therefore, not unreasonable that Canada should insist 

 on the rights secured to her by treaty. She is simply acting on the 

 defensive, and no trouble can arise between the two countries if 

 American fishermen will only recognize the provisions of the conven- 

 tion of 1818 as obligatory upon them, and until a new arrangement 

 is made, abstain both from fishing in her waters and from visiting 



