PEEIOD FROM 1905 TO 1909. 991 



4. I trust that you will be able to inform me at an early date that 

 the Arrangement outlined above is agreed to by your Government. 

 I have, &c. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 



Governor MacGregor to Lord Elgin. 



[Telegraphic.] 



[Received September 8, 1906.} 



Referring to your telegrams of the 3rd September, chief desire of 

 my responsible advisers is to prevent our fishermen from selling fish 

 to or working for Americans. They earnestly urge proclamation of 

 Act No. 1 of 1906, and undertake to apply it only to our own people 

 and to leave in abeyance questions of the lighthouse dues, customs 

 entrance, nationality of American crews, purse seines, and under- 

 take preservation of peace, and without your sanction to enter into 

 no case against Americans. I am sending by next mail Minutes and 

 despatch. 



Governor MacGregor to Lord Elgin. 



[Telegraphic.] 



[Received September 15, 1906.] 



I am desired by my Ministers to state that they have learned with 

 profound regret that His Majesty's Government has, without refer- 

 ence to this Colony, proposed to the United States' Ambassador, as 

 one of the terms of a modus vivendi, the suspension of the Foreign 

 Fishing- Vessels Act this year, which was only adopted after consulta- 

 tion with His Majesty's Government and mainly with a view to 

 enable the Government of this Colony to deal with the local fisheries 

 and thus secure during the coming autumn peaceable conduct of the 

 fisheries. 



They respectfully submit that any arrangement embracing the 

 suspension of that Act interferes with the internal affairs of the 

 Colony and is in violation of the pledge furnished by Lord Salisbury 

 through the British Parliament of the 5th May, 1891, during the 

 debate on Newfoundland Fisheries Bill, "that the Government of 

 this Colony is given unlimited power with respect to its internal 

 affairs." They had hoped and expected that before a modus vivendi 

 was proposed to the United States' Government a full text of the 

 same would have been submitted to this Government and thus have 

 afforded an opportunity for suggestion or remonstrance. They also 

 submit that the reasonableness of this expectation was warranted 

 by the statement of Lord Salisbury in the debate on the Newfound- 

 land Fisheries Bill of the 28th April, 1891. The suspension of the 

 Act under reference renders them entirely powerless to carry out 

 their fisheries policy and to secure that peaceable conduct of the 

 fisheries during the coming season for which so much anxiety has 

 been expressed by His Majesty's Government. 



