10 



full notice having l)een pieviouwly given them, a serious 

 feeling might have arisen between the countries immediately 

 interested. After considerable correspondence between the 

 respective Governments of London, Ottawa and Washing- 

 ton, it 'Was agreed that steps should he taken at the earliest 

 date possible for the appoi?itinent of a joint Comrnission 

 " chanjed 'with the consideration and settlement, upon ajiist, 

 equitable and honorable basis, of the entire question, of the fish- 

 ing rights of the two (rovernments and their respective citizeiis 

 on the coasts of the United States and of British No7'th Amer- 

 ica." Accordingly, during the past season American fisher- 

 men freely freimented the waters of the Dominion. How- 

 ever, Canada had no other course open to her in this per- 

 jilexing dilemma, involving such important international 

 considerations, than to agree to the temporary arrangement 

 in question, with the hope that the difficulty would be satis- 

 factorily settled in the way proposed. It is pleasant to tiud 

 that President Cleveland is evidently desirous of arriving at 

 a just and honorable solution of the question as soon as 

 possible. In his message to Congress in December last, he 

 exi)resses his opinion that " in the interest of good neigh- 

 borhood and of the conmiercial intercourse of adjacent com- 

 munities, the question of the North American fisheries is one 

 of large importance." After recommending that Congress 

 provide for the appointment of a Commission, he proceeds 

 to say : " The fishing interests being intimately related to 

 other general questions dependent upon contiguity, consid- 

 eration thereof, in all their equities, might also properly 

 come within the province of such a Commission, and the 

 fullest latitude of expression on both sides should be per- 

 mitted." 



It is obviously injurious to all sides that these interna- 

 tional issues should be of cimstant occurrence, when it has 

 always been possible to settle them for a long term of years, 

 if not for all time. The Canadians have always felt — and 

 President Cleveland ai)i)arently felt the same way — that the 

 fishery question is intimately connected with the commercial 

 rtilatious of the two countries, and that it should bo ar- 

 ranged in the shape of a new Reciprocity Treaty like that 

 of 1854. 



It would therefore appear that the claim made by Canada 

 that the United States are now entitled to such rights as 

 wore given them under the treaty of 1818, and to no others, 

 is not without some foundation. It appears that every 

 treaty subsequent to that of 1818, has been rescinded bff the 

 United States. These different treaties were but fenipo7nry 

 relaxations or modifications of the treaty of 1818 and in- 

 tended so to be when agreed to, and with all of them annulled 

 tluuo must be a recurrence to that of 1818 where it is 



