New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-08-17

remain Just exactly 90 hey were that there is no
ground 70 .oprensnd var &c tne dispositions OF
were before and the dispositions Of the Colonies 10
taate well known bsfore and that thsre wers
reasons for censure in any quarter. u must fall else
where, and not on the Administration. The Prestent
transferred the subject to Congress last December The
Senate Imply that this right because rejects tho
idea Of negotiation Who. then, has RICH, TO com
plain Congress. that the Executive has not acted
or 10 IL the Administration, that Congress has been
slenti
sbsll be told, indeed, that the notice Of the British
Minster ambiguous But II more annhiS
uous the well understood reserve pra sad By that
Government for dozen and more years past
The Executive IL not 10 be censured for NJ. hsr.
Ing resisted the Brit'sh force for there has seen
none there In hostility TO resist II has not resen.
ed indgniiy because there has been no indiSn'ty
offered This IL co. unless the Government Of the Uoit
ed States shall claim the right prescribe 10 the GJy
ernment OF Great Britain what portion of hsr naval
force he shall maintain on this station, and what on
that should Ike 10 how the Senate OF ihe 1t,ed
states would regard notice from the British Govern
ment that We must send not more than ons or iw0 OF
five, ten, war steamers or ship. OF the line OIL the
coast Of Nicaragua. or into the Mediterranean Inc
Executive has acted with al sui cent promptncss, and
when II seemed necessary, the "Msslssippt Was sent
into those wsters From accounts resolved appears
that Commodore Perry found the British suhori's al
herring practically 10 construction >o the Con
venton of lsls What Is the Mississippi to do1 She
mus. not protect fishermen who according to our o"a
construction encroschlpg, and those wac are NOT
seem 70 need no protection.
Sir, 10 has been compianed by the honorable SehNor
from Louisiana Mr SOULE thss Mr.. W SISTER )ncsd'd
too much 10 his official notice of July d, 1852 NOV,
here 10 Mr.. Webs,er's language After quoting the
treaty, be says
of this article fishing vessels Of the United States pre-
cludsd from Ell tering into the Bays" &c
And, 10 the same connection, he adds
I" Ii was undoubtedly orerQt IA he COnreaon o. 1913
70 make sOtdTye u cOHg 'sSi0a ~ Edytindf
That is 10 say, oversight TO use Language IN
that invention, which, by strict and rigid conHruc
cn, might be made ~ yield tae freedom OF thu great
bays
its then question of mere verbal cri ciin. Toe
Secretary does admit tha't1e rigorous clnssrucnn
10 tie juet and true And he does not admit thAt
there is any "concsssioh" In the sense OF the tord
which The honorable Senator adopts. Nov, other hon
cradle Senators II reco'lsct ar ,l.-l1d par:.cl aJ
that very accurate and exceedingly strong minded SEN
ator, the gentleman from Massachusetts,, NJ. DAVIS
conceded re4y roHd BEAR this rigorous cous'ouc
ton nsstpg nevertheless Just the Secretary If ste
did, that 1t forced and unjust one. Tne SsuaOr
from Louisiana dis ssuts from hi and other Senator's
and m-iLtsins that VIII not bear construction as alt
because he says that the oher portions Of the Coa
ventlon show that the bays described must be
BAYS within the British donlnions. He adds that
In order 10 bring bay within the dominion OF
any power must DC such that ia passage 10 the ssa
shall not exceed six miles In width and that hs shores
on both sides belong to the power claiming dominiol
over the wster Cannot assent 20 the force OF tails
argument of the honorable Senator from Lous!an1 |
the more inclined 10 go against H. because believe
It getting pretty late in tbs day TO lind rae S'cret.y
of State wrong In the technical aud legal construction
of instrument. IL might bsiug doubt over hts emf
nent character rs lawyer and diplomatic. Let "a
test the argument. The honorable Senator sly' that
where the Government occupies both sides OF the
coast. and where tho strait tnroush which the waers OF
the bay flow into the ocean Is not than six miles
wide, then there is dominion over il.
Nov, then, the tut OF Canso Is most indispensable
communication for our fishermen from the Ataeuc
Ocean the Northumberland Straits aud 10 the III ~
St Lawrence, for a which any one will very
readily see by referring 10 the map; yet the Ga. OF
CansO Is only three quarters OF ollie wide sh u.d
be sorry 10 adopt argument which Great Britain
might turn agans. US to exclude US from that Imp W
Again recall the honorable Senator'S argument viz:
1.-TWO things unite To give country donlnipn over "n
Inland sea The first L. thar the land on ooIn sides m st
be " hin the dominion of the Government csiIi.ag
jurisdiction, and then that the strait Is more than
six miles wide; but th-ti the srIs more than ak
miles vide no such jurisdiction can be claimed. Now,
sir this Argument seems 10 me 10 prove too much.
tb 1t wOad Gvesi The UOited States OF the harbOr
Boston, all the land around which belongs 70 Mss9a
chusets the United states, while the mouth ct tho
bay IL SIX miles wide Ii would surrender dominion
over Long leland Sound-s dominion which think the
State of New York and the Unircd States would nut
willingly give up. Il would surrender DslaHare Bay;
il woulc surrender think, Abemarle Sound aud the
Chesapeake Bay; aud believe IL would surrender the
Bay OF Monterey, and perhaps the Bay o.! San traa
cisco, the Pacific coast
Sir it seems to me- that we have been sborng for thu
last fortnight under a strange misspDfehension theS
we have been arguing here the freedom Of the
Of open and broad seas-.he freedom Of great bays.
which freedom Is not practically denied or ne 1ly
brought In out son lt 10 true THAI the British )vern
deny right 70 enter the great bays bu. 1t /,
equally true that they have done for thirty years
and Il is equally true, moreover that for thirty years
have practically exercised the right and tia. we
exercising IL ust have done throus hout
all hat period
Now, how has ell this confusion come Into the Sea.
ate and how Is ii that alarming perpexios, and
bewilderng the country In so idle and cruel manner
What ground has there bedn for assuming that tho Brit
ish Government had determined to revise toe CocSen
on of 1879 and TO enforce its construction by arms
On what did senators base thier apprehensous and
build this excitement The honorable senator from
Michigan, (Mr CAs) quoted from three newspapers, but
neither of them organ of the Imports, oGgern
men, nor even a British newspaper lie quoted fcon
ms rely provincial newspapers aud believe that ~,
Of the three papers anti ministerial papers Mofeov
err, such they they did not assume speak by All
thority but only on report and by way OF conjecture
Perhaps with those papers the Wish vas faher q
the thought and the thought that their brethren dova
South would soon take lesson from the presence
OF assumed extraordinary force IN the fisheries.
My honor able friend from Louisiana based hs
censure the administration for possibly negp'a,'
ing away valuable national rights on what he called
semi official announcement" of the fact ia The tt'e
graph, small newspaper In this city, which Is no. as
III derstand organ OF this Administration, bu, con
pretend to than desire perhsps II II should
survive as fear it may not, become the organ OF
future The honorable Senator, however. most
candidly confessed, when called UPON 10 name the pa
per, that he called the announcement semi Official,
from any official character that the paper bore, but
from the authoritative language which It aeunsd-
case may be easily made out against the Admiuis,ra
tioD, you will quote from tho papsrs, friendly or
otherwiie, which make up their articles from tse-
graphic reports. Now, II provincial newspapers are
authority one side OF the case am sure that they
are equally the other. | am very happy to
produce sucb for the purpose of testing tue equenn.
lty of ths Senate. read from The Ner B'NrsDicker,
a provincial paper of the date Of August ,, 1857;
Nearly ell the American papss we have ssen labor under
the impression that the Imperial Govern ment Is
an enforce the L-f construction to the Cover-
ton OF 1918 by the Crown oil Gers CT England, and prevent
Aner from fsbng except az the distance OF three
miles outside Of lines from headl1ni to eadaod
We have good authority for asserting that soch Is not the
It quite that suce tho opinion of the Attorney Gen
neral and Advocate General England given upon the
caeubued by the Legislature VI Nova Sc0iis the Gov
eminent Of that Colony upon the urgent se of the &
ermon has eynced desire to cary out the extreme legal
view Of hat Convention bat tho pesl Government has
steadily refused take that view Of the cae conceging
that Aneric fishermen might properly claim f.h sny
Il ~ IL.