56 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



ducted by Mr. J. W. Milner, with the assistance of Mr. R. E. Earll. 

 The propagation department was in charge of Mr. Frank N. Clark, of 

 Michigan. The machinery was superintended by Capt. H. C. Chester, 

 and it is to his ingenuity that we owe the construction of the apparatus 

 by which the actual work of hatching the codfish was rendered practi- 

 cable. The difficulty of using the apparatus employed for hatching 

 shad arose from the fact that while the eggs of the shad are heavier 

 than the fresh water, those of the cod are lighter than the salt water, 

 and new conditions had to be devised to keep the eggs down instead of 

 lifting them up. This problem, as already stated, was satisfactorily 

 solved, after many experiments, by Captain Chester, who is therefore 

 entitled to much credit for the success of the work. 



HALIFAX COMMISSION. 



In 1871 a convention was held by the United States and Great Britain, 

 at Washington, for the purpose of settling certain questions at issue be- 

 tween the two governments, notably that of the depredations upon 

 American commerce by Confederate cruisers, fitted out or supplied in 

 British ports ; and also certain disputed points in reference to the fish- 

 eries of British North America. 



The treaty agreed upon was not ratified by the several contracting 

 parties, consisting of the United States and the five British maritime 

 provinces, until 1873, when commissioners were duly appointed by the 

 respective governments, Mr. Alexander T. Gait being named by Great 

 Britain; Governor Clifford, of New Bedford, by the United States, and 

 Mr. Maurice Delfosse, the Belgian minister to the United States, as the 

 third. For various reasons, and partly owing to the death of Governor 

 Clifford, no definite action was taken until 1876, when Mr. E. H. Kellogg, 

 of Pittsfield, Mass., was appointed to succeed Governor Clifford; and 

 the place of meeting was fixed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the 15th of 

 June, 1877, and after receiving the British claim the commission ad- 

 journed until the 28th clay of July, 1877, when it reassembled and 

 continued in session until nearly the stipulated limit, in the month of 

 November. 



The United States commissioner was assisted by Mr. Bichard Henry 

 Dana and Mr. William H. Trescott. The British commissioner had, as 

 Ids counsel, one distinguished gentleman from each province, namely, 

 Mr. Joseph Doutre, for Canada ; Mr. S. B. Thomson, for New Bruns- 

 wick ; Hon. W. V. Whiteway, for Newfoundland ; Hon. Louis H. Davies, 

 for Prince Edward Island ; and Mr. E. L. Weatherbe, for Nova Scotia. 



At the request of the Secretary of State, I attended the meeting at 

 as early a date as my other duties would permit, arriving on the 17th of 

 August, and remaining until the 21st of October. 



The British commission had on its side the minister of marine, Mr. 

 A. Smith, assisted by Mr. W. F. Whitcher, the commissioner of fisheries. 



The deliberations of the court involved a careful consideration of all 



