916 



CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 



Whenever a fishing vessel of the 

 United States shall be seized for 

 violating the provisions of the 

 aforesaid convention by fishing or 

 preparing to fish within 3 marine 

 miles of any of the coasts, bays, 

 creeks, and harbors of Her Bri- 

 tannic Majesty's dominions in- 

 cluded within the limits within 

 which fishing is by the terms of 

 the said convention renounced, 

 such vessel shall forthwith be re- 

 ported to the officer in command 

 of one of the said national vessels, 

 who, in conjunction with the offi- 

 cer in command of another of said 

 vessels of different nationality, 

 shall hear and examine into the 

 facts of the case. Should the said 

 commanding officers be of opinion 

 that the charge is not sustained, 

 the vessel shall be released. But 

 if they should be of opinion that 

 the vessel should be subjected to 

 a judicial examination, she shall 

 forthwith be sent for trial before 

 the vice-admiralty court at Hali- 

 fax. If, however, the said com- 

 manding officers should differ in 

 opinion, they shall name some 

 third person to act as umpire be- 

 tween them, and should they be 

 unable to agree upon the name of 

 such third person, they shall each 

 name a person, and it shall be de- 

 termined by lot which of the two 

 persons so named shall be the um- 

 pire. 



ARTICLE IV. 



The fishing vessels of the United 

 States shall have in the estab- 

 lished ports of entry of Her Bri- 

 tannic Majesty's dominions in 

 America the same commercial 

 privileges as other vessels of the 

 United States, including the pur- 

 chase of bait and other supplies; 

 and such privileges shall be exer- 



cers, one of them belonging to a 

 foreign country, who, if they 

 should disagree and be unable to 

 choose an umpire, must refer the 

 final decision of the great inter- 

 ests which might be at stake to 

 some person chosen by lot. 



If a vessel charged with infrac- 

 tion of Canadian fishing rights 

 should be thought worthy of 

 being subjected to a " judicial ex- 

 amination," she would be sent to 

 the vice-admiralty court at Hali- 

 fax, but there would be no redress, 

 no appeal, and no reference to 

 any tribunal if the naval officers 

 should think proper to release her. 



It should, however, be observed 

 that the limitation in the second 

 sentence of this article of the vio- 

 lations of the convention which 

 are to render a vessel liable to 

 seizure could not be accepted by 

 Her Majesty's Government. 



For these reasons, the article 

 in the form proposed is inadmis- 

 sible, but Her Majesty's Govern- 

 ment are not indisposed to agree 

 to the principle of a joint inquiry 

 by the naval officers of the two 

 countries in the first instance, the 

 vessel to be sent for trial at Hali- 

 fax if the naval officers do not 

 agree that she should be released. 

 They fear, however, that there 

 would be serious practical diffi- 

 culties in giving effect to this ar- 

 rangement, owing to the great 

 length of coast and the delays 

 which must in consequence be fre- 

 quent in securing the presence at 

 the same time and place of the 

 naval officers of both Powers. 



This article is also open to grave 

 objection. It proposes to give the 

 United States fishing vessels the 

 same commercial privileges as 

 those to which other vessels of the 

 United States are entitled, al- 

 though such privileges are ex- 

 pressly renounced by the conven- 

 tion of 1818 on behalf of fishing 



