The precise provisions of that Article will be seen by reference to the Convention. Its general result is as follows: 1. American fishermen may fish," in common with the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty," in certain specified parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and on the shores of the Magdalen Islands, with liberty to dry and cure fish on the shores of certain of the unsettled-or with the consent of the inhabitants of the settled bays, harbours, and creeks of Newfoundland and Labrador. 2. Except within the above limits American fishermen are not to take, dry, or cure fish on or within three miles of the coasts, bays, creeks, and harbours of British North America. But they may enter such bays and harbours for certain specified purposes under such restrictions as may be necessary to prevent abuse by fishing or otherwise. I. With regard to Newfoundland and Labrador, the Convention does but continue within certain geographical limits, and subject to a qualification in respect to the curing of fish, the privileges which have hitherto been exercised under the Reciprocity Treaty. It does not, therefore, call for much observation. It is only requisite to say that although the privilege of drying and curing fish on the Magdalen Islands is not expressly given to American fishermen, Her Majesty's Government have no desire at present to exclude them from it, nor to impose any narrow construction on the word "unsettled." A bay containing a few isolated houses is not to be considered as "settled for the purpose of this clause of the Convention. On the other hand, naval officers should be aware that Americans who exercise their right of fishing in Colonial waters in common with subjects of Her Majesty, are also bound, in common with those subjects, to obey the law of the country, including such Colonial laws as have been passed to ensure the peaceable and profitable enjoyment of the fisheries by all persons entitled thereto. 222 The enforcement of the Colonial laws must be left as far as the exercise of rights on shore is concerned, to the Colonial authorities, by whom Her Majesty's Government desire they shall be enforced with great forebearance especially during the present season. In all cases they must be enforced with much forebearance and consideration, and they must not be enforced at all by Imperial officers if they appear calculated to place the Americans at a disadvantage in comparison with British fishermen in the waters which. by the Treaty of 1818, are opened to vessels of the United States. On the contrary, their unequal operation should, in this case, be reported to their Lordships, a copy of the Report being at the same time sent to the Governor of the Colony. II. Fulley explanation is necessary respecting that part of the Convention by which the United States renounce the right of fishing, except within the permitted limits-"on or within three miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours" of British North America, and are forbidden to enter such bays or harbours, except for certain defined purposes. The Act of Parliament (59 Geo. III, cap. 38), already mentioned, subjects to forfeiture any foreign vessel which is found fishing, or having fished, or preparing to fish, within the prohibited limits, and authorises the enforcement of this forfeiture by the like means and in the same Courts as may be resorted to under any Act of Parliament in the case of any offence against the laws relating to Customs, or the laws of trade and navigation. The statutory mode of enforcing the law against Customs' offences committed in the Colonies will be found in the Act 16 and 17 Vict., cap. 107, and particularly in the 2nd, 183rd, 186th, and 223rd clauses. But as it would probably be held under this Act that a vessel could only be seized safely by a naval officer "duly employed for the prevention of smuggling" (section 223), it will be probably more convenient for naval officers to take advantage of the procedure authorised by the 103rd clause of the Merchant Shipping Act, which is a law relating to "trade and navigation." Under that clause (of which a copy is annexed) any commissioned officer on full pay in the military or naval service of Her Majesty may seize any ship subject to forfeiture, and bring her for adjudication before any Court having Admiralty jurisdiction in Her Majesty's dominions. It will probably be advisable, as a general rule, that officers of the navy should proceed against vessels engaged in unlawful fishing under the Act of George III and the Merchant Shipping Act, which extend to all the closed waters of British North America, and do not require the officer's authority to be fortified by any Colonial commission or appointment. But more extended powers are conferred by the above-mentioned local Acts of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, on persons commissioned by the Lieutenant-Governors of these Colonies, and any officer who is permanently charged with the protection of the fisheries in the waters of any of these Colonies may find it useful to obtain such a commission. It will invest him with a special authority in the waters of the Colony to which it relates, to bring into port any foreign vessel which continues within these waters for twenty-four hours after notice to quit them, and, in case she shall have been engaged in fishing,. to prosecute her to condemnation. It will also enable him to prosecute the forfeiture of the vessel, if it shall be found to have prohibited goods on board. But this power it would be undesirable to exercise, as Her Majesty's Government do not at present desire officers of the navy to concern themselves with the prevention of smuggling. These being the powers legally exercisable by officers of Her Majesty's navy, it follows to consider within what limits and under what conditions they should be exercised. Her Majesty's Government are clearly of opinion, that by the Convention of 1818, the United States have renounced the right of fishing, not only within three miles of the Colonial shores, but within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of any British bay or creek. But the question what is a British bay or creek is one which has been the occasion of difficulty in former times. It is, therefore, at present, the wish of Her Majesty's Government neither to concede, nor, for the present, to enforce any rights in this respect which are in their nature open to any serious question. Even before the conclusion of the Reciprocity Treaty, Her Majesty's Government had consented to forego the exercise of its strict right to 17 & 18 Vict., c. 104, s. 103. exclude American fishermen from the Bay of Fundy; and they are of opinion that during the present season that right should not be exercised in the body of the Bay of Fundy, and that American fishermen should not be interfered with either by notice or otherwise, unless they are found within three miles of the shore or within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of a bay or creek which is less than ten geographical miles in width in conformity with the arrangement made with France in 1839. American vessels found within these limits should be warned that by engaging or preparing to engage in fishing they will be liable to forfeiture, and should receive the notice to depart which is contemplated by the laws of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, if within the waters of one of these colonies under circumstances of suspicion. But they should not be carried into port except after wilful and persevering neglect of the warnings which they may have received; and in case it should become necessary to proceed to forfeiture, cases should, if possible, be selected for that extreme step in which the offence of fishing has been committed within three miles of land. Her Majesty's Government do not desire that the prohibition to enter British bays should be generally insisted on, except when there is reason to apprehend some substantial invasion of British rights. And in particular, they do not desire American vessels to be prevented 223 from navigating the Gut of Canso (from which Her Majesty's Government are advised they might be lawfully excluded), unless it shall appear that this permission is used to the injury of Colonial fishermen, or for other improper objects. I have it in command to make this communication to your Lordships as conveying the decision of Her Majesty's Government on the subject. I have, &c. (Signed) EDWARD CARDWELL. No. 139.-1868, September 14: Letter from Mr. Campbell to the Canadian Secretary of State. OTTAWA, September 14th, 1868. SIR, I beg to state for the information of the Government, that during the present season, in consequence of the refusal of the American fishermen, passing through the Strait of Canso, to pay the tonnage dues now exacted, the officers of the customs there have prevented such vessels from having their former business transections [transactions] with the merchants and others in that locality, and from landing, refitting, or obtaining supplies there. The effect of this prohibition is that a very lucrative and extensive trade, long enjoyed by my constituents, has been entirely cut off, and has been transferred to Prince Edward Island, where, although there is said to be in force a similar ordinance to our own in relation to tonnage dues, I have still reason to believe that the violation of such ordinance is a matter or daily recurrence, and that in fact the American fishermen on the coasts and in the ports of Prince Edward Island are permitted as ample privileges as they ever enjoyed during the existence of the Reciprocity Treaty. a Hertslet, vol. v, p. 89; Convention of August 2, 1839. Arts. IX and X. I need not remaind [remind] you that the treaty between Great Britain and the United States, in relation to the Fisheries of British North America, is equally operative on the coasts of Prince Edward Island as it is on the coasts of Nova Scotia, under the facts as I assume them to exist. The knowledge of such being the scope of the treaty, on the part of my constituents, largely aggravates the very serious damage to which they have been subjected. Under these circumstances I deem it my duty very respectfully to solicit the attention of the Government to this important subject, and it will be a matter of great gratification to myself and to those on whose behalf I am interested, to learn at as early a day as may be convenient, that steps have been taken by the Government to ascertain the facts in relation to this matter with a view to some practical and beneficial result. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, (Signed,) Hon. H. L. LANGEVIN, C. B., STEWART CAMPBELL, M. P., Secretary of State, Canada. No. 140.-1868, September 15: Memorandum of Mr. Campbell, M. P. for Guysborough, Nova Scotia. MEMORANDUM. Mr. Stewart Campbell, after communication this day with the Honourable the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, begs to submit the following remarks in connection with his letter of yesterday's date conceived in general terms, and addressed to the Honourable the Secretary of State. During the continuance of the Reciprocity Treaty, and even during the season of 1867, a very large and lucrative trade and business, extending a distance of 25 miles interiorly from the Strait of Canso, had existed between the merchants and inhabitants of the County of Guysborough and the American fishermen passing through the Strait. This trade and business consisted in the sale to the Americans of very many thousands of barrels manufactured by the people of that county; in the sale of salt, bait and necessary fishing and other supplies, in the storage of the cargoes and materials of such vessels and in the refitting of the same. This trade and business had rendered. the western side of the Strait of Canso (embracing three convenient harbours and forming a portion of the County of Guysborough) the constant resort of American fishing vessels, and a very prosperous and progressive section of the Province. During the present season, the Department of Customs, through its officers, by a strict construction of the treaty between Great Britain and the United States, have put a stop to all commercial intercourse between the American fishermen and the constituents of Mr. Campbell, in consequence of the refusal by the former to pay the tonnage dues now exacted from them. The effect of this prohibition has been to transfer to Prince Edward Island the whole of the advantageous trade heretofore subsisting and as a natural con 224 sequence a very serious depression at this moment exists in that community. Mr. Campbell has good reason to believe that the American fishing vessels are now admitted to equally ample privileges in Prince Edward Island as they enjoyed previous to the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty, he having been credibly informed that during the present season, notwithstanding the fact of there being in the Island a similar regulation in reference to tonnage dues as exists in the Dominion of Canada, the American fishing vessels do not pay such dues, while they are constantly to be found within the prohibited limits of the coasts of that Island, and carrying on commercial intercourse in the ports and harbours thereof in violation of the treaty with Great Britain. The treaty is of course equally operative when licences are not obtained at Prince Edward Island, as it is on the coasts of Nova Scotia, and the constituents of Mr. Campbell, with the knowledge of this fact, feel as they have reason to feel much aggrieved by the destruction of their trade under the peculiar circumstances. Mr. Campbell regrets to be obliged to say that he anticipates considerable commercial embarrassment in the community whose interests he represents, as the consequence of the diversion of the trade in question. Mr. Campbell would add, that he has also reason to believe that much of the fish landed by the Americans on Prince Edward Island, is in reality British caught fish, while it is exported thence to the United States as fish caught in American bottoms. Ottawa, 15th September, 1868. No. 141.-1868, September 15: Report of Hon. Peter Mitchell, Canadian Minister of Marine and Fisheries. DEPARTMENT OF MARINE AND FISHERIES, Ottawa, 15th September, 1868. The Minister of Marine and Fisheries to whom have been referred, for Report to Council, the letters of Stuart Campbell, Esq., M.P., of the County of Guysborough, Nova Scotia, under date 14th and 15th instant, in relation to the exercise of privileges by American fishermen, and the construction to be placed upon the Treaty of 1818, begs to report That Mr. Campbell alleges, that under the Reciprocity Treaty, a trade of considerable magnitude grew up in the Province of Nova Scotia, and especially in that part of it bordering upon the Straits of Canso, between the people of that Province and American fishermen frequenting our waters; that a considerable market was afforded for the farmers in the supplying of these fishermen; that the manufacture of barrels had sprung up to a great extent along the Straits, giving employment to great numbers of people, and that a large business was done through the local merchants in supplying the American vessels with salt and other outfits for the prosecution of their business; that business practically continued even since the termination of the treaty until the present year, when, as he alleges, the |