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"These )n'ivilcyi'.s nnd comlitiuiis were, in relereiice tn ii country of wliicli u conHidevnlile portion 

 wns then nnsettleil, likely to ho ntteiuled with dift'erences of o])inion iis to what should, iu the profjre.ss 

 of time, be accounted a settlcnient from which American llsiiemien might be excluded. .These 

 differences in fact arose ; nnd, by the year 1818, the state of things was so far changed that Her 

 Majesty's Government thought it necessary, in negotiating the Convention of that year, entirely to 

 except the province of Nova Scotia from the nunil)er of tlie places which might lie frequented by 

 Americans, as being in part unsettled, and to provide that the fishermen of the United States should 

 not pursue their occupation within tlu-ee miles of the siiores, bays, creeks, aiul harlwurs of tliat and 

 other parts of Her Majesty's possessions similarly situated. Tlie jjrivilege resei-ved to American 

 tishermeii by the Treaty of i7<S;<, of taking fish in all waters, and drying them on all the unsettled 

 portions of the coast oi' these possessions, was accordingly, by the Convention of 1818, restricted as 

 follows : — 



" ' The I'nited States hereby venounce for ever any lilierty heretofore enjoyed or claimed by the 

 inhabitants thereof to take, tiry, ov cmv. tish on or within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, 

 creeks, or harboui-s of His ISritannic Majesty's dominions in Americn, not included within the above- 

 mentioned limits : provided, however, that the American fisliermen shall be admitted to enter siicii 

 Imys or harbours for tlio pui-jiosc of slieltering and repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood, and 

 of obtaining water, and for no other purpose whatever.' 



" The existing do\d)t aa to the construction of the provisiiin arises from the fact that a broad arm 

 of the sea runs n\> to the north-ea.st, between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotin. This 

 arm of the sea, l)eing commonly called the l?ay of Finidy, though not in reality possessing all the 

 characters usually implied by tiie term ' bay,' has of late years been claimed by the provincial author- 

 ities of Nova Scotia to be imhuU'd among 'the coasts, bays, creeks, and Iiarbours ' forbidden to 

 American fishermen. 



"An examination of tiic map is sufHcieiit to show the doulitful nature of this constr\iction. It 

 was notoriously the oliject of the Article of the Treaty iu (piestion to put an end to the difticulties 

 which had grown out of the opcriitinus of the fishermen from the United States, along the coasts nnd 

 upon the shores of the settled portions of the country ; and, for that jmrpose, to remove their vessels to 

 a distance not exceeding three miles from the saiiii\ In estimating this distance, the undei-signed 

 admits it to be the intent oi' thi' Ticaty, a.s it i.s itself reii^onalde, to have reganl to the general line of 

 the coast ; and to rousider its biiys, creeks, and hailmui's — ibii; is, the indentations usually .so accfani'ed 

 — as included within that line. I!ut the undin'sigiied cinniot inlniit it to be veiisonalih', iui^tead of thus 

 following the general directions of tlie coast, to dr.iw ii line from the .south-westerniuos'; jioint of 

 Nova Scotia to the teniiinalion of the north-eastern lioiindary betweeu the I'nited .States and New 

 I'.ruiiswick : aiul to consider the luiiis of the sea which will liitis be cut olf, and which cannot on that 

 line be less than sixty miles w ide, a.s one of the bays on the const? from which American vessels ire 

 oxchided. l!y this interpretation, the fishermen of the United States would be shut cait from the 

 waters distant, not three, but thirty miles from any ]iart of thr Cohmial coast. The inideisigned cannot 

 perceive that any assigiaible object of the restriction imposed by the Convention of 1818 on the fishing 

 ]irivilege acconled to the citizens of the I'nited States, by the Treaty of 178o, requires such a latitude 

 of construction. 



"It is obvious, that, by tlie teiius of the Treaty, the furthest distance to which tislnng vessels of 

 llie United States are obliged to hold themselves from the Colonial coasts and bays is three Jiiiles. Ihit, 

 owing to the ])eculiar configuration of these coa.sts, there is a sucecssion of bays indenting the shores 

 both of New IJriinswick and Nova Scotia, within any distaiue not less than three miles, — a ])rivilege 

 from the eujoyinent of which they will be wholly excluded, — in this part of the coa.si, if the broad arm 

 of the .sea which fiows uj) between New lirunswick and Xova Seotia is itself to lie considered one of the 

 forbithlen liays. 



" Lastly, — and tliis considcialion seems to ptit the matter beyond doubt, — the constniction set up 

 by Her Majesty's Colonial authorities would altogether indlily another and that a most iin]Kirtant 

 stipulation of the Treaty, abiaii which there is no controversy ; viz.. the privileges reserved to American 

 fishing vessels of takinj; shelter and ic]pairing damnyes in the bays within which they are forbidden to 

 iisli. Theri> is, of cour.se, no shelter nor means of repairing damages for a ves.sel entering the Bay of 

 Kundy, in itself considered. It is ueees.sary, before relief or succour of any kind can lie bad, to traveive 

 tlail broiicl aiiu of the sea, ami iciicii the bavs and harbouis I'projieily .so called) which indent the (oa.st, 

 iind whicii me no doulit the bays ami liurliours referred to in tiie Convention of 1,S1,S. The |irivile,i;e 

 ot iiiteriiii,' the latter in extremity of weather, reserved by the Treaty, is of the titniosl ini]iort4nicc. It 

 enables the fisiierman, whose equipage is always very slender.- that of the ' Washiiij;ton' was four men 

 all told, — to pursue his laborious occupation with comparative safety, in the a.s.suranee thul, in one of 

 the suildeii and dangercais changes of weather so frcqutuit and so terrible on this iron-Iiouml coast, he 

 can tiike shelter in a iiiii/hhiiKriiii/ nnd friendly port. To forliid him to approach within thirty miles of 

 that ]iort, excc])! for shelter in extremity of weather, is to fiabid him to resort there for that iiuipose. 

 It is keeping liiiii at such a distance at sea > wholly to destroy the value of the privilege expressly 

 icser\fd. 



"In fact, it would follow, if the construction contended for by the Ikitish Colonial authorities 

 Were sustained, that two eutirily different limitations would exist in reference to the right of shelter 

 icserved to Anu'rican vessels on the shores of Her Majesty's Colonial posses.sions. They would Ir' 

 allowed to fish within three nnles of the place of shelter along the greater part of the coast ; while, in 

 refereiiee to tile entire extent of .-.jiore within the liav of Kandy, they would Im wholly prohibited from 

 tishint; along tiic coast, and winild be kept at a distance of twenty or thirty miles from any place of 

 iefuL;e in case of extremity. There are certainly no obvious iirinciples which render such a construction 

 probable." 



In August 1844, llic American schooner ''Argus'' was seized while (ishing off 



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