870 COBBESPONDENCE, ETC. 



which have been addressed to you in relation to it, both by my prede- 

 cessor and by myself, have amply evinced the earnest desire of Her 

 Majesty's Government to arrive at some equitable settlement of the 

 controversy. It is, therefore, with feelings of disappointment that 

 they do not find in your note under reply any indication of a wish 

 on the part of your Government to enter upon negotiations based on 

 the principle of mutual concessions, but rather a suggestion that some 

 ad interim construction of the terms of the existing treaty should, if 

 possible, be reached, which might for the present remove the chance 

 of disputes; in fact, that Her Majesty's Government, in order to allay 

 the differences which have arisen, should temporarily abandon the 

 exercise of the treaty rights which they claim and which they con- 

 ceive to be indisputable. For Her Majesty's Government are unable 

 to perceive any ambiguity in the terms of Article 1 of the convention 

 of 1818, nor have they as yet been informed in what respects the 

 construction placed upon that instrument by the Government of the 

 United States differs from their own. They would, therefore, be 



flad to learn in the first place whether the Government of the United 

 tates contest that by Article 1 of the convention United States 

 fishermen are prohibited from entering British North American bay 

 or harbors on those parts of the coast referred to in the second part 

 of the article in question for any purposes save those of shelter, 

 repairing damages, purchasing wood, and obtaining water. 



Before proceeding to make some observations upon the other points 

 dealt with in your note, I have the honor to state that I do not pro- 

 pose in the present communication to refer to the cases of the 

 schooners Thomas F. Bayard and j\l <-ot, to which you allude. 



The privileges manifestly secured to United States fishermen by 

 the convention of 1818 in Newfoundland, Labrador, and the Mag- 

 dalen Islands are not contested by Her Majesty's Government, who, 

 whilst determined to uphold the rights of Her Majesty's North Amer- 

 ican subjects, as defined in the convention, are no less anxious and re- 

 solved to maintain in their full integrity the facilities for prosecuting 

 the fishing industry on certain limited portions of the coast which 

 are expressly granted to citizens of the United States. The com- 

 munications on the subject of these two schooners, which I have re- 

 quested Her Majesty's minister at Washington to address to Mr. 

 Bayard, can not, I think, have failed to afford to your Government 

 satisfactory assurances in this respect. 



Eeverting now to your note under reply, I beg to offer the follow- 

 ing observations on its contents: 



In the first place, you take exception to my predecessor having de- 

 clined to discuss the case of the David J. Adams, on the ground that 

 it was still sub judice, and you state that your Government are unable 

 to accede to the proposition contained in my note of the 1st of Sep- 

 tember last, to the effect that " it is clearly right, according to prac- 

 tice and precedent, that such diplomatic action should be suspended 

 pending the completion of the judicial inquiry." 



In regard to this point, it is to be remembered that there are three 

 questions calling for investigation in the case of the David J. Adams: 



(1) What were the acts committed which led to the seizure of the 

 vessel ? 



