Lincoln telegraph. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1836-1846, 1838-05-03

remaining one among the most important
of them all, was still insisted upon, viz
that the St. Johns and Restigonche should
be treated by the supposed commission as
not being Atlantic rivers according to the
meaning of those terms in the treaty. With
reference to that part OF Sir Chas. commu.
nicaion which seeks to strengthen the
ground heretofore taken on this point by
the British Government, by calling to It's
aid the supposed confirmation of the arbi-
ter, the Secretary felt himself warranted
in questioning whether the arblter had ever
given his opinion that the rivers st. John
Restigouche cannot be considered accor-
ding 10 the meaning OF the treaty, as rivers
falling into the Atlantic; and he insisted
that it was not the intention ofthe arbiter
to express the opinion imputed to him.
The Secretary also informed Sir. Charles
that the President could not consent to
clog the submission with the condit on pro-
posed by his Majesty's Government; that a
just regard to the rights of the parties, and
proper consideration Of his own duties,
required that the new submission, il made,
should be made without restriction or
qualification upon the discretion of the
commissioners, other than such as resulted
from established facts and the just interpre-
tation of the defnitive treaty, and such as
had been heretofore and were nov again
rendered TO his Britannia Majesty's Gov
eminent, that he despaired of obtaining a
better constituted tribunal than the one
proposed that he saw nothing unfit or i'm
proper in submitting the question as to the
character inwhich the ST. John and Restl-
gouche were to be regarded, to the decis-
ion Of an impartial commission; that the
parties had heretofore thought it proper so
to submit it, and that it by no means fol-
lowed that because commissioners chosen
by the parties themselves, without an UNI
pire, had failed to come TO an agreement
respecting it, that the same result would
attend the efforts of commission different
ly selected. The Secretary closed his note
by stating that the President had no new
proposal to offer, but would be happy to
receive any such proposition as his Britain
mic Majesty's Government might think it
expedient to make, and by intimating that
he was authorized to confer with Sir Chas.
whenever it might suit his convenience,
and comport to the instructions ofhis Gov
ernmeht, with respect to the treaty bound
airy or conventional substitute for it.
On the 18th of May, 1885, Sir Charles
r. Vaughan expressed his regret that the
condition which his Majesty's Government
had brought forward as an essential pre-
liminary to the adoption Of the Presidents
had been declared to be inadmis
sible by the American Government.
Sir Charles confidently appealed to the
tenor Of the language of the award of the
arbiter, to justify the inference drawn from
it by his Majesty's Government in regard
to that point in the dispute which respects
the rivers which are to be considered as
falling directly into the Atlantic. The
of the United States, in what
was understood to be the opinion Of the ar
bitter, was invited, he said, because the
new commission could not enter upon their
survey in search of the highlands Of the
treaty, without previous agreement be-
tween the two Governments, what rivers
ought to be considered as falling into the
Atlantic; and that if the character in which
the Restigouche and ST. John were to be
regarded, was question to be submitted
to the commissioners, the Presidents pro-
position would assume the character Of
new arbitration, which had been already
objected to by the Secretary. Sir Charles
also stated that while his Majesty's Gov
ernment had wished to maintain the decis-
ions of the arbiter, on subordinate points,
their mention had not been confined to those
decided in favor of British claims; that the
decisions were nearly balanced in favor of
either party, and the general result of the
arbitration was so manifestly in favor Of
the United States, that to them were as
signed tlIree-ifths Of the territory in dis
pute, and Rouse's point, to which they had
voluntarily resigned all claim.
Sir Charles acknowledged, with much
satisfaction, the Secretary's assurance that
if the President possessed the same power
as his Majesty s Government over the ques-
ton of boundary, he would have met the
suggestion of conventional line, contain
ed in Sir Charles's note of 3lst of May,
1888, in a favorable spirit; he lamented
that the two Governments could not coin
eide in the opinion that the removal of
the only difficulty in the relations be-
tween them was attainable by the last pro.
posal ofthe President, as it was the only
one in his power to offer in alienation of
the task of tracing the treaty, line to which
the Senate had advised that any further
negotiation should be restricted; he said
that he was ready to confer with the Secre-
tary, whenever it might be convenient to
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