The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1852-08-04

The following succinct view of the
whole question was furnished to the
Philadelphia Inquirer. by a gentle
man who has frequently contributed
to our columns Buff. Com. Adr, ]:
Previous to the embargo and COM
mercial restrictions in 1908, certain
{" privileges" were granted to Ameri-
can fishermen. The British govern
ment considered these privileges as
forfeited by the war, which followed
the troubles of 1S0>, and they refused
to regrant them without an equivalent.
The treaty of Client, and the CONNER
cial convention which followed it, were
both silent on the subject of the fisher
les. Our citizens, however, proceeded
as formerly to fish off the British coasts,
under the provisions of the old treaty.
They were Immediately ordered off,
and some were captured. Our gov
ernmeut obtained suspension of those
hostile orders and proceedings till the
two governments could make efforts
for adjusting the question.
The negotiations which followed re-
suited in a convention, which was sign
ed at London, on the 20th October,
/ 1918. The substance Of this was pub
lished in Mr.. Webster's letter. I'm
der this convention, American citizens
prosecuted the fisheries as they bad
been accustomed. within the Gulf oi
u. Lawrence and on the coast of Nova
Scotia, at three marine miles from the
land. But a new cause OF contention
soon sprung up, the people of Nova
Scotia insisting that the three miles
we're to be measured from the head
lands or extreme points Of land on the
coast or of the entrance Of the ba.r 5,
and not from the interior of such bays
or indeuts Of the coast. The govern
ment of Nova scotia proceeded to
seize and condemn a numb r of Amer
lean vessels which were fishing within
hcadlands, but yet a greater distance
than three miles from the land.
In 1871, Mr.. Stevenson, our Minis
ter to the Court of St. James, ad-
dressed a note to the Secretary OF
State for Foreign Affairs, COM laining
of these proceedings of the authorities
of Nova Scotia; and this complaint
was referred to the Governor of Nova
Scotia for explanation. The House Of
Assembly of that colony prepared a
case for the opinion of the law officers
of England, which was forwarded to
the imperial government by Lord Falk-
land, then Lieutenant Governor Of No
va Scotia. In reply, the law officers
of England expressed their opinion,
that the treaty of 1888 was annulled
by the war of 1872; that the rights Of
American citizens must now be con
sidered as defined by the convention Of
1918 and by that only that the pre-
scribed distance of three miles is to be
measured from the headlands or ex-
IRENE points of land,or of the entrance
of the bays, and not from the interior
of such bays, or the indents of the
coast that independently of treaty,
no foreign country has the right to use
or navigate the passage of Strait Of
Canso, that the convention did not ex-
pressly, or by implication. concede any
right of using or navigating the pass
age in question, and that American
citizens have no right to touch at oil
conduct the fisheries from the shores
of the Magdalen islands.
In consequence of the attempts Of
of the Government of Nova Scotia to
carry out the opinion thus given with
great strictness, American fisher
men have been frequently driven of
their fishing grounds; and in several
instances, their vessels have been seiz
ed and confscated. The complaints
lof our Minister in London were con-