Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-01-20

such an uniounded, not 10 say impudont, claim.
II Great Britain whether stung by the rivalry her
fishermen or her sailors had experienced put forth
such pretensions, no dread Of Waterloo should
have prevented their plump denial. She bad no
valid claims, and If she had, the time TO have as
serted them was in the treaty Of peace in lsl3.-
The treaty Of 1918 was a weak surrender on our
part Of rights which peculiarly belonged to us, ana
Of other rights which belong to all other nations
which choose TO assert and exercise them MOI
won BY the blood and treasure Of the parent coun-
try, they belonged 10 us by the right OF discovery
and occupancy, and because while we were ye'
colonies our rights were fought for and our tue
confirmed By our own yalOr but neither the
French nor the British ought to be permitted to
monopoizc sea-fsheries.
By any rule Of facts or principle in the partition
Of territory and rights, when our independent
was acknowledged we were entitled to all the fish
cries rather than Great Britain, and might with
much more propriety have insisted. not only that
we would not be excluded, but upon excluding
the British. We had always enjoyed them ~ %
larger extent than all the world beside, and they
were Of greater value to us. Il is time the world
refused to put letters the sea- and il any nation
persists in such expansive despotism it challenges
resistance. Exclusive rights 10 the products of
the ocean is relic Of icudal ages and as 0dious
to nations as are some laws to common people
Il should be noticed that when Nova Scotia was
coded to Great Britain by the treaty Of Utrecht,
the French subjects were thereafter excluded from
fishing within thirty leagues of the coast and this
exclusion was renewed in the treaty OF Paris,
1863, by which Spain was also excluded from fish
ing rights in the neighbOrhoOd Of Newfoundland.
50 it would appear that these exclusive claims
have within the century past diminished from
thirty leagues To three marine miles from the
coast
But we did agree in 1918, let us say IL in sack
aI nj uuHn IA fulff ha ria ll Uur
fishing grounds and acknowledge some Of the
exclusive rights Of the Hudson Bay Company
and we did agree TO renounce forever " hook and
line, bob and sinker ON our own m0tiOn--any
liberty heretofore enjoyed to take, dry, or cure
fish within three marine miles Of any coasts, bays,
creeks, or harbors Of his " Brtanic Nlajesty's
dominion in America.
As a general international rule. the exclusion
Of foreign fishermen within three miles from the
shores Of any county is not perhaps, TO be COM
planned Of, but from these fisheries, never having
been so excluded prior 10 1878, it was strange
remuneration on the part Of the American nego-
tators, and cannot be atoned for with anything
ess than the complete restoration oi our ancient
rights.
Among the many treaties made between the
United states and Great Britain there are four
which will never be likely to increase the self
esteem of Americans mean those Of 1891,
1915, 1918 and 1854. The inclusons and cxclu-
sons very noticeable in those treaties show not q
lack Of ability upon the part Of the American
neg0tiat0rs Of the three earliest treaties, but a
lack Of weight in the cannon known 10 be behind
them. The last named treaty was negotiated
shortly after gross attempt had been made TO
bully US into similar compact by sending q con-
siderable fleet of vessels of war 70 seize by force
and stealth and coniiscate, as they did seize and
confiscate, hundreds Of the vessels of our hardy
fishermen for pretended infrgction of British
rights under new Interpretation given by them
TO the old treaty of 1918 This was an ailront
that should have barred reciprocity treaties for
ever. Peace is eminently our necessity, but not
more necessity here than it is to Great Britain.
Is it too much to claim that hereafter we shall
treat and be treated by her, when we treat at all
AS her equal and, as to re iiprocty, not to treat
at all No commercial privileges are worth pur-
chasing. The interests OF nations dictate poll
oes Of mutual benefits, and these will grow
They cannot be bought with price Let us do
our duty,
Mr. Morrill, said that there were many draw
backs connected with Canada (Which he specfed)
which would disappear il the British provinces
were consolidated with the United States For
the present. however, the United States have
room and verge enough to spread all OF its surplus
capital, population and enterprise upon the pru-
res OF the West and the sayannns of the South
10 might not be wise 10 weaken our strength hy
diffusion over a broader surface than at present
50 greatly tempts our national enterprise If
neghboring provinces, welded TO aristOcatic
titles, though unsupported by estates, choose to
cling to style of government whose chief
strength discoses nt every fresh alarm the fact of
dependency, and 50 lag behind and retard their
progress for half century, why in an economi-
cal view, the United States can afford to wait
When these provinces seek that aggrandizement
which naturally flows over all the parts of free
independent and prosperous nation, by n union
Of interests and honors, by internal weld
ing together Of all their material forces and
political aspirations, by an unreseryed and ui-
calculating assumption Of privileges and duties,
it will be time enough to consider what measures
will best advance their general welfare.