297 



• The second Instance is from the letters ot'the Hon. G. R. Young (*• 

 distinguished gentleman of Nova Scotia) to Mr. Stanley.* 



" As early as the month of March," wrote Mr. Young, "if any stranger; 

 approached'the coasts of Nova Scotia, his observations would induce him 

 to believe that he was advancing to the territory of some great commer- ' 

 cial state. At a short distance from the shore, and on the banks and 

 most productive fishing grounds, he would perceive fleets or continuous ■ 

 lines of small shallops ; and if the day and season were auspicious, he 

 would discover that their crews were busily employed in drawing forth 

 the treasures of the deep. Seeing them thus anchored within view, nay^ '• 

 within almost the shadow of the more, and employed in appi-opriating 

 the resources which would appear to belong to it, the deduction would be 

 irresistible that they had recently left the neighboring harbors, and were: 

 manned by tlieir inhabitants. He would, however, be in error. On 

 inquiry he would learn that they have come a distance of three hundred 

 miles, to avail themselves of the privilege — that they belonged to a rival 

 state, and that they enjoyid the right by virtue of a treaty, which the gw&m- 

 ment have bestowed without necessity and without return. He would learn,, 

 also, that this liberal concession was highly disadvantageous to theinhab-. 

 itants on the coast by lessening the productiveness of the fishing? 

 grounds." 



That the ministry consented to act on the opinion of the Queen's ad- 

 vocate and her Majesty's attorney general, with much reluctance, is 

 very obvious. The first proof is found in their delay in transmitting it 

 to the colonial goviernor who furnished the "case" on which it is 

 founded. In the despatch which accompanied it at last, Lord Stanley 

 remarks that " the subject has frequently engaged the attention of my- 

 self and my coUegues, with the view of' adopting further measures, if 

 necessary, for the protection of British interests in accordance " there- 

 with. But he adds : " We have, however, on full consideration, come 

 to the conclusion, as regards the fisheries of Nova Scotia, that the pre- 

 cautions taken by the provincial legislature appear adequate to the 

 purpose, and that being now practically acquiesced in by the Ameri-: 

 cans, no ftirther measures are required." The opinion thus disposed of 

 in November, 1S42, was suffered to rest until the capture of the Wash- ■ 

 ington and the Argus. Mr. Everett's arrangement in 1845 was, in 

 effect, an abandonment of the whole matter. 



Seven years of comparative quiet on the fishing grounds elapse, and 

 we ai;e brought to the exciting events of 1852. , 



There is another remarkable circumstance connected with this con- 

 troversy, which should not escape notice — namely, that New Bruns- 



vessels nearer the shore than three miles outside of ^ line drawn from opposite Iieadlands of a bay. 

 Ifoticithstanding the opinion of the English crown law officers, this interpretation of the treaty isiil, 

 tJirow the argument entirely into the Itapds of the Americans. If the headlands be low, or the 

 bay wide, like the entrance to the Bay of Cha]eur,'lt is not possible for the fishermen to knov^ 

 or to estimate, their true position in regard to those headlands. The horizontal line of visioq, 

 from the deck of a schooner, is intercepted by the convexity of the earth at a distance of six 

 or eight miles. Itis not to be concealed that a capture made, or a shot fired, under these 

 arcumstances, might produce war. And if war be the result, can Britain rely on the hearty 

 cioroperation of the proyincials 7 Exceedingly doubtful. Will the Canadians submit to Kavo 

 their flourishing towns and villages destroyed, and their familiba slaughtered, in ordef'to pro- 

 tect a few unprofitable fisheries in the Gui of St. Lawrence V 

 * Now ibe Earl of Derby. 



