251 



tempted to be guardted, and is pleased to declare that it 'possesses none 

 of the qualities of the law of civilized states hut its fcrnns.^ i 



"His excellency, in using this language, possibly sup|)osed that the 

 colonial act had attempted to give a construction to the treaty of 1818, 

 or had originated the penalty and mode of confiscation which he 

 deprecates. But had his excellency examined the act of the province 

 he has so strongly stigmatized, he would have discovered that, as re- 

 gaTds the limits within which foreign fishermen are restricted from 

 fishing, the colonial legislature has used but the words of the treaty 

 itself, ,and a comparison of the provincial act with an act of the impe- 

 rial Parliament, the 59 George III, ch. 38, would have shown him that, 

 as regards the description of the offence, the confiscation of the vessel 

 and cargo, and the mode of proceeding, the legislature of Nova Scotia 

 has, in effect, only declared what was already, and still is, the law of 

 the realm und^r imperial enactments. 



"Mr. Everett adverts to what he considers Hhe extremely objectionable 

 character of the course pursued by the provincial authorities in presuming to 

 decide for themselves a question under discussion between the two governments.^. - 



"But it is submitted, that if the American government controverted 

 the construction given to the treaty, the course pursued on tte part of 

 Nova Scotia, which made confiscation dependent on a judicial trial and 

 decision, was neither presumptuous nor inexpedient; nor could the ne- 

 cessity of security for .£60, or the risk of costs, in case of failure, 

 ofl[er any serious impediment to the defence in a matter which, as Mr. 

 Everett declares, the government of the United State* deems of great 

 riational importance. 



" Upon the other hand, if the American fishermen could only seek a 

 relaxation of the construction given to the treaty in England and Nova 

 Scotia, as a matter o? Javor, '■presumption'' would rather seem to lieon 

 that side which insisted oil ergoying the privilege before the boon was 

 conferred. ' 



"In any view of the matter, as the American fisherman was never 

 meddled with until he lasidi voluntarily passed the controverted limit, it 

 is difficult to comprehend why the American minister's proposition 

 would not stand reversed with more propriety than it exhibits in its 

 present form; for his excellency's regret might not unreasonably, it 

 would seem, have been expressed at ' the extremely objectionable course 

 pursued by American subjects in presuming to decide for themselves a qweslion. 

 under discussion between the two governments,^ by fishing upon the dis-r 

 puted grounds, and thereby reducing the provincial authorities to the 

 necessity of vindicating their claim or seeing it trampled on, before 

 any sanction had been obtained, either of legal decision or diplomatic 

 arrangement. 



"When Mr. Everett says that the necessity of fostering the intexests 

 of their fishermen rests on the highest ground of national policy, he ex- 

 presses the sentiment felt in Nova Scotia as regards the provincial wel- 

 fare ill connexion with this subject. The Americans are fortunate in 

 seeing the principle carried into practice ; for the encouragement af- 

 forded their fishermen by the government of the United States is not 

 $maU, and its strenuous, persevering, and successful efforts to extend 



