PERIOD FROM 1871 TO 1905. 905 



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



WASHINGTON, January 28, 1887. 



(Received January 29.) 



SIR : With reference to your notes of the 19th and 20th of October 

 last, I have the honor to transmit to you herewith copy of a dispatch 

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

 state for the colonies relative to the cases of the American fishing ves- 

 sels Pearl Nelson and Everett Steele, which I am instructed by Her 

 Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs to communi- 

 cate to the United States Government. 

 I have, etc., 



L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. 



[Inclosure.] 



The Marquis of Lansdowne to Mr. Stanhope. 



GOVERNMENT HOUSE, December W, 1886. 



SIR: I had the honor of receiving your dispatch of the 22d of 

 November in regard to the case of the Everett Steele and Pearl Nel- 

 son, recently detained at Shelburne and Arichat, Nova Scotia, for 

 non-compliance with the customs regulations of the Dominion. 



The circumstances under which the conduct of these vessels at- 

 tracted the attention of the customs authorities were set out in the 

 privy council orders of the 18th of November, certified copies of 

 which were forwarded to you under cover of my dispatches of the 

 29th November. 



The information contained in these documents was obtained in 

 order to comply with the request for a report on these two cases which 

 you had addressed to me by telegram on a previous date. I have 

 now carefully examined the fuller statements made by Mr. Bayard, 

 both as to the facts and as to the considerations by which the conduct 

 of the local officials should in his opinion have been governed. You 

 will I think find, on reference to the privy council orders already 

 before you, that the arguments advanced by Mr. Bayard have been 

 sufficiently met by the observations of my minister of marine and fish- 

 eries, whose reports are embodied in those orders. 



It is not disputed that the Everett Steele was in Shelburne Harbor 

 on the 25th March and sailed thence without reporting. In con- 

 sequence of this omission on the master's part his vessel was, on her 

 return to Shelburne, in September, detained by the collector. The 

 master having 'explained that his presence in the harbor had been 

 occasioned by stress of weather, and that his failure to report was 

 inadvertent, and this explanation having been telegraphed to the 

 minister of marine at Ottawa, the vessel was at once allowed to pro- 

 ceed to sea ; her release took place at noon on the day following that 

 of her detention. 



In the case of the Pearl Nelson it is not denied that nine of her 

 crew were landed in Arichat Harbor at a late hour in the evening of 

 her arrival and before the master had reported to the custom-house. 

 It is obvious that if men were to be allowed to go on shore, under 

 such circumstances, without notification to the authorities, great 

 facilities would be offered for landing contraband goods, and there 



