21 8 FISHERIES ARBITRATION AT THE HAGUE 



appears on p. 588, together with a report of a committee of the 

 Privy Council of Canada. 



The Minister of Marine says in his report of 28th April, which 

 was thus passed on to Mr. Fish, and which appears on p. 588 : 



"that the wording of the minute of council referred to clearly shows, by 

 providing for the prevention of 'illegal encroachment by foreigners' on the 

 inshore fisheries of Canada, that the Canadian Government never contem- 

 plated any interference with rights secured to United States citizens by the 

 treaty in question between the British and American Governments." 



And towards the foot of that report, on p. 589, he says that the 

 terms 



"in arty case they could apply only to those waters within which our 'in-shore 

 fisheries' are situated, and in which neither American nor other foreign sub- 

 jects have any legal right to fish." 



So it appears that the broad words of the order in council were 

 inadvertent in extending beyond the carefully limited terms of 

 the treaty under which the order was issued; and we have here the 

 most exphcit and binding assurance to Mr. Fish that the statute 

 and the order in council were both confined — or perhaps I should 

 say that the order in council was subject to the same limits that the 

 statute expressed, confining the operation of both to the waters of 

 Canada not included within the grant of fishing rights by the treaty 

 of 1818. 



Then it is, after receiving this assurance, having this question 

 resolved, that Mr. Fish sent to Mr. Boutwell a letter requesting 

 him to issue a circular calling attention to this statute and order, 

 and guarding against penalties respecting inshore fisheries not open 

 to fishermen of the United States under the fishing grant of the 

 treaty of i8r8. 



Under that, Mr. Boutwell issued the circular to which I have 

 referred. And it so happened that along about that time there was 

 an amendment passed by the Canadian Parliament to this Act of 

 1868. On the 20th of May, 1870, Mr. Thornton sent a httle note 

 to Mr. Fish, which appears on page 589 of the United States Case 

 Appendix, sa)dng: 



"With reference to my note of the 14th ultimo to the Secretary of State, 

 in which I forwarded to him a copy of the Canadian act respecting fishing 



