INTRODUCTION cxxxi 



by H. M. Govt as to the expediency of extending to the whole of the coasts of the Brit- 

 ish possessions in N. America, the same liberality with respect to the U. States fishing 

 boats as H. M. Govt have recently thought fit to apply to the Bay of Fundy; and I 

 have to request that your Lordship would inform me whether you have any objections 

 to offer, on provincial or other grounds, to the proposed relaxation of the construction 

 of the Treaty of 1818 between this country and the U. States."' 



There are four points worthy of note in this remarkable communica- 

 tion: first, the British Government was forced to a consideration of the 

 question by the frequent complaints of improper seizure of American 

 vessels by provincial authorities of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 

 The question was thus put in a concrete form and in a way which not 

 only facilitated interpretation, but which required a justification for 

 deeds actually committed; second, the British Government reached its 

 conclusion "after mature deliberation"; third, Great Britain proposed 

 to regard as bays not in any general sense, but "in the sense of the Treaty 

 only those inlets of the sea which measured from headland to headland 

 at their entrance the double of the distance of three miles"; fourth, the 

 action taken was at the instance of the Foreign Ofi&ce. 



Lord Stanley evidently regarded the determination of the govern- 

 ment as an interpretation, not as a modification of the treaty. He 

 requested objections to the proposal on other grounds; that is to say, 

 on political and economic as distinct from local reasons. The provin- 

 cial authorities regarded the proposal as involving consequences " both 

 immediate and remote, most injurious to British Colonial interests," and 

 the home government withdrew the proposal. Lord Stanley, in a note 

 dated September 17, 1845, addressed to Lord Falkland, Lieutenant 

 Governor of Nova Scotia, stated "from your statements that any such 

 general concession would be injurious to the interests of the British 

 North American Provinces we have abandoned the intention we had 

 entertained upon the subject, and shall adhere to the 'strict letter of 

 the Treaties, which exist between Great Britain and the U. States 

 relative to the fisheries in North America, except in so far as they 

 may relate to the Bay of Fundy which has been thrown open to the 

 Americans imder certain restrictions."" 



If Lord Stanley's proposal be regarded as a concession it nevertheless 

 must be considered as a concession based upon the treaty, not as an 

 abrogation of its terms. An examination of the various instructions 

 issued to naval officers on duty in North American waters shows that 

 they were invariably directed not to seize American vessels, imless 



'Dispatch from Lord Stanley to Viscount Falkland, dated May ig, 1845. (Appendix, 

 British Case, pp. 14s, 146.) 



^ Appendix, British Case, p. 151. 



