PERIOD FROM 1871 TO 1905. 941 



[Inclosure No. 2.] 



Mr. Bayard to Mr. Prior 



DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 



Washington, May 1, 1887. 



SIR: Your letter of the 13th instant in relation to the claim pre- 

 ferred by you because of the alleged refusal of the commander of the 

 Canadian cruiser Critic to permit the restoration to your fishing ves- 

 sel, the Sarah H. Prior, ot a valuable seine lost at sea and carried 

 into Malpeque by a Canadian vessel, has been received. 



As you were informed, by my letter of January 28 last, your 

 original complaint of December 28, 1886, with the accompanying 

 affidavit of the captain and crew of the Sarah H. Prior purporting to 

 set forth the facts of the case, was laid before Her Britannic Maj- 

 esty's minister at this capital. My note and Sir Lionel West's ac- 

 knowledgement thereof are printed on pages 7 and 8 of the inclosed 

 executive document. 



I am now in receipt of Sir Lionel's reply, covering an approved 

 report of a committee of the Dominion privy council, of which a copy 

 is inclosed for your information. 



The question appears to have been one of compliance with the 

 usual wreckage and salvage laws, and wholly disconnected from in- 

 ternational right and duty. 



The sworn statements of the master of the Sarah H. Prior as to the 

 refusal of the commander of the Critic to permit the restoration of 

 the seine are controverted. 



It is alleged that, on the regular course of proceedings for the re- 

 covery of his property through the receiver of wrecks being pointed 

 out to Captain McLaughlin, the latter "then said that as the seine 

 was all torn to pieces, he would- not bother himself about it." 



It appears, from the letter addressed to you, May 2, by Mr. M. J. 

 Foley, receiver of wrecks at Souris, Prince Edward Island, and which 

 you send to me for my information, that the seine in question, after 

 proper care during the winter, is still at your disposal on payment of 

 the adjudged salvage, $25. This sum, it may be noted, is that which 

 Captain McLaughlin offered in the first instance to pay to the mas- 

 ter of the John Ingalls. 



Inasmuch as the rights of salvage are private rights, to be settled in 

 judicial forums, and as no obstacle now exists, or appears to have at 

 any time existed, to the recovery of your lost property by institution 

 of a suit in the usual form, I am unable to discover any connection 

 between the subject-matter of your complaint and any treaty of the 

 United States with Great Britain, or ground for Government inter- 

 position. 



Wreck-master Foley's letter is herewith returned to you, a copy 

 being retained on file with your letter. 



I am, etc., T. F. BAYARD. 



