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Statute of George 111. pnsscd to enforce tliat (Onvrntion ; yrt so libi'ml was the nritisli 

 Govenrr.ont that tlioy absolutely rctniiri'd eruizcrs, bot'ore seizinu; any ouc oi' these vessels 

 wiiich uiiy;ht be I'ound trt spassing over the lines, to give a warning of two or three days, 

 and sometimes of twenty-four hours', as the case might be. You c..n see at once wlmt 

 was the effect of giving these instructions : Every Anieriean vessel unless she persistently 

 remained in these waters, and h?Iicd contrary to law, must ol necessity escape. If they 

 were found Hshing in prohibited waters, they were warned off, and told not to offend again, 

 but they could not be seized, of course, unless they committed an offence contrary to that 

 warning; and yet these officers are represented as if they wore a body i f naval fnebootcrs. 

 If you judge of their chai-ncter from the lan;;uage of Mr. Dana, you would imagine tiiat they 

 were a lot of pirates, who remained in their harb>>urs, with liros banked and steam up, 

 ready to rush out on unoffending tishing vessels, to cateli and bring them into port, and 

 then to divide the plunder. This is the most extraordinary language that, i tliinic, was 

 ever used to characterize a respectable body of men, or that will ever agiiin be u»ed, in 

 any Court, and especially in a High Court of .Justice, such as this. Tlu' instruilions state 

 that :— 



" Aniprioau vessels found within these limits, sliciuld be wanu'd, that liy t'li^agin^;. or jni'paiinj^ to 

 cn;:pigein tishinr;, they will bo liable to Cort'i'ituro. inid .ilioiihi r«riir the iH'ticf lo depart, irhlrli is iniittin- 

 filattd hy tlir lau\i 0/ Xora Scotia. Ntw Bruii.iiric/-, and J'riiur Edward IMand. if witliiii tlic -wnti'is of 

 one of those Colonies under circumstanees ol' suspieii)!!. I?iit they should not be cuiiicd into port, 

 except aflir vil/t'l nud persiri ring nc<ilcrl nj the iriintin;/s irliivli llicij /ntiy liiirr ,;-irired, uml in ciise it 

 siiould become neeiss;iiy lo juoeeed lo t'ori'eituic, ciises sliouKl, if possible, be .selected Ibr lliiit e.xtrenie 

 step in wliieh the <illence ol tishing ^m been committed idtliin three mihx 0/ land." 



Mr. Fo.ster. — What year is that r 



Mr. Thomson. — 1866, April 12th. This was just after the exiiiiation of the Recipro. 

 city Treaty. 



3/?'. Foster. — Vessels were seized svitboui warning. 



Mr. T/iomson. — Eventually this was tlie case, simply because it was found to be of no 

 use to treat these fishermen in this lenient manner. It had no etfect on tlieni. if they 

 could in any way possibly avoid the cutters. They took these coiicissiotis rather as a 

 right than as a favour, and in every instance in whicli they were tried, took the advantage 

 they conferred without showing any gratitude at all. They em'.eavduied, iit all hazards, to 

 force themselves into '' jsc bays; imd then eventually to force thiinselves into the 

 prescribed limits; and so it was at last found necessary b; tli(; Doniiiiiou (iovernment to 



give up the warning system. 



It was found that to warn these vessels wiis simply to gi\e 



them the right, the moment that they received warning, to sail out, and then the moment 

 that the cutter turned her back, to sail in again; that is to say, thiv save<l themselves 

 from being caught by a cutter at all. They received several uariings, I thiiik, and 

 even if they had only one, they had the chance to esuap' , aiul the result was that 

 nothing at all was done towards repressing the evil. T'lese instructions, tluretijre, had to 

 be altered, and made more stringent; but, nevertheless, it was still rc(|nirefi that vessels 

 should not be seized, except when caught flagrante delirlo, and actually hshin.'.^, or 

 preparing to fish, within the prescribed limit, in truth, to ;)reseivo these waters, as they 

 ought to be preserved, the moment that a vessel has once eitered the limit, and incurred 

 forfeiture, no matter wiierc she sails to afterwards, she should be liable to be seized, and 

 oiigbit to be seized, in my humble judgment, and condemned, unless it could be clearly 

 shown that the captain, when he entered such liudt, supposed that he was not eoniinitting 

 any breach of the law, and believed that he was four or five miles offshore, when, m f'act, 

 he was within tiie three-mile limit. In such ease, of course, no harshness should he 

 extended towards him. I will show you, however, before 1 get through, that the Aiucricau 

 Government itself, having heard of these complaints — I dare say very much in the language 

 which Mr. Dana has thought proper to use on this occasion — sent, down Com nodore 

 Shubrick to make inquiries into this matter ; and you will find that Commodore Shubrick 

 found tli.it these stories were utterly unfounded. 



A despatch dated the 9th Septend)er, 1853, was as follows: — 



"(No. 23.J ' PllI.Sl'KToN,' Ar roKTSMOUTH, N.II., 



■■ Sejitemhrr HI, IS.'-i.'!. 



"Sir, — My despatches from the Ist to the 14th, inclusive, have informed the Deinirtnienl of the 

 movements of this ship up to the IGth of Aniju.st. 



■• After leaviiii,' llulifu.v, I ran along the ecmst of Nova Scotiu \'> llie Siniil of Caii.so. whieh 1 

 entered on the evening of the 17th, anil aneliored at Sand Point. On tlie next day I aiieiiored 

 siietes.sivilv at I'ilot (..'o\e mid .Ship ll«rb(air. .At eaeh cif t he.se jilaei .-; ildigeiii innuiry was niude of 

 the liia.',terf. of Anieriean vessels, and, at the hi.sl, ofotir t'onsnlar .Vgeiit. in relation to tlie treatiKent of 

 our tishiiij^ ves-jel.s by the armeil vessels of other nations, and no instaiin; was learned of any inijiroper 



1 



