PERIOD FROM 1871 TO 1905. 895 



Sir L. S. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard. 



BRITISH LEGATION, 



Washington, January 19, 1887. (Received January 21.) 

 SIR : With reference to your note of the 23d of September last, I 

 have the honor to inclose to you herewith a copy of a dispatch from 

 the governor-general of Canada to Her Majesty's secretary of state 

 for the colonies, inclosing a report from his Government on the case 

 of the United States fishing vessel Crittenden. 

 I have, etc., 



L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. 



[Inclosure No. l.J 



Lord Lansdowne to Mr. Stanhope. 



CANADA, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, 



Ottawa, December 4, 1886. 



SIR : In reply to your dispatch of the 12th of October last, trans- 

 mitting a copy of a letter with its inclosure from the foreign office, 

 requesting to be furnished with a report in the case of the United 

 States fishing vessel Crittenden, I have the honor to forward here- 

 with a copy of an approved minute of the privy council of Canada 

 embodying a report of my minister of marine and fisheries, to which 

 is appended a statement of the customs officer at Steep. Creek on the 

 subject. 



I have, etc., LANSDOWNE. 



[Sub-inclosure.] 



Certified copy of a report of a committee of the honorable the privy 

 council, appro ved by his excellency the governor-general in council, 

 on the 16th November, 1886. 



The committee of the privy council have had under consideration 

 a dispatch, dated 12th October, 188C, from the secretary of state for 

 the colonies, transmitting a copy of a letter from Mr. Bayard, United 

 States Secretary of State, to the British minister at Washington, call- 

 ing attention to an alleged denial of the rights guaranteed by the con- 

 vention of 1818 in the case of the American fishing schooner Critten- 

 den by the customs officer at Steep Creek, in the Straits of Canso, 

 Nova Scotia. 



The minister of marine and fisheries, to whom the dispatch and in- 

 closure were referred, submits a statement of the customs officer at 

 Steep Creek, and observes that the captain of the Crittenden violated 

 the customs laws by neglecting to enter his vessel, as requested by 

 the customs officer, and landing and shipping a man clearly exceeded 

 any freaty provision he was entitled to avail himself of. 



It would appear that the remark made by the customs officer " that 

 he would seize the vessel " had reference solely to the captain's viola- 

 tion of the customs regulations, and, the minister submits, cannot be 

 construed into a denial of any treaty privileges the master was entitled 

 to enjoy. 



The committee, concurring in the above, respectfully recommended 

 that your excellency be moved to inform the right honorable the 



