New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-12-06

of the Convention. was emphatical1y re-
iacta.l hv the American commiseioners. and
thereup0n was abandoned by the British
rlen;npfentiaries. and article /. a. it now
stands in the convention. was substituted.
If however Il he said that this claim ia
forr1o6 ~, rrov;nc;aI or colonial statutes
and not. ,,non the Convention. thin govern
ment can not hnt regard them al uufTiendly
and in contrayention of the spirit if not Of
the letter of the treaty.. for the faithful
execution of which the imperial govern
ment ia alone responsible. Anticipating
that an aftemnt NAV possibly be made by
the Canad;an authorities in the coming sea-
son to ra,,eat their nnneiqhborly acts toward
re,,eat their unneiehh0riv acts toward our
fishermen. I recommend YOU to confer upon
the Executive the mower to suspend by
proclamation the operation of the laws
merchan,iise In bond across the territory Of
the United States to Canada; and, further,
shonld such an extreme measure become
necessary. to suspend the. operation Of any
laws whereby the vessels of the Dominion
of Canada are permitted to enter the waters
of the United States.
A like unfriendly disposition has been
manifested on the part of Canada in the
maintenance of claim Of right to exclude
the citizens of the United States from the
NAVIGATION of the st, Lawrence. This river
constitutes a natural outlet to the ocean for
eight States, with an aggregate population
of about II 900 900 inhabitants, with an
aggregate tonnage of 66l 1867 tons upon the
waters which discharge into it. gssg
The foreign commerce Of our ports on
these waters is open to British competition,
and the major part Of it is done in
British bottoms. 1t the American Seamen
he excluded from this natural avenue tOthe
ocean. the monopoly of the direct commerce
of the Lake pOrts with the Atlantic would
>. l., <1.o;,
Atlantic VOYAGES having an access to our
Lake norts which would be denied to Amer
;can vessels on similar VOYAGES. To state
smch a proposition is to refilte its justice.
During the administration Of Mr.. John
Ouincy Adams Mr.. Clay unanswerably de-
monstrated the natural right OF the citizens
Of the United States TO the navlgauon OF
this river, claiming that the act OF tne Con,
gress of Vienna in opening the khine ana
other rivers to all nations showed
the Judgment of European jurists
and statesmen that the inhabitants OF q
country through which navigable river
passes have a natural night ENJOY tne
navigation of that river to and into the sea,
even though passing through the terrltorles
of another power. This right does not ex-
clude the cO-equal right OF the sovereign
possessing the territory through which the
river debOuches into the sea, 10 make sucn
regulations relative to tho poiice OF the
navigation as may be reasonably necessary,
but these regulations should De iraMea IN
liberal spirit OF amity and should not I'M
pose needless burdens upon the commerce
| which has the right OF transit. 1t has
been found in practice more advantaseous
to arrange these regulations py mutual
| agreement.
The United States are ready 70 inak1 any
reasonable arrangemeng as 70 tne ps.e1 polacc u
the st. lawrence "ncn III ,anaS o;,, nu ssSa hv
| by Great Britain. II tne claim ma!c oy
| Mr.. Clay was just, When the popuiauS1 ol
States DoroeahS & On .nc % 'no tos,
was only 3,4OoVoU, IL now derives gIea11er g1
force and equity from the mcteassu ~ pof4,ha of 4he
ton, wealth, produc!lon anu .onn"sc oi 'n0
States on the Canadian 1rontler.
| Since Mr.. Clay advanced his argument in
behalf Of our right, the principle for which
he contended has been frequently and by
various nations recognized by law or by
! treaty, and has been extended to several
other great rivers. By the treaty concluded
| at Mayence in 1881, the Rhine was declared
free from the point where it is first navi-
gable unto the sea.
By the convention between Spain and
Portugal, concluded in 1885, the navigation
of the DOurO throughout its whole extent
was made free for the subjects OF Doth
crowns In 1853 the Argentine COnfedera-
ton, nv treaty, threw open the free navlga-
ton of the Parana and Uruguay to the
merchant vessels of all nations. In 1886
the Crimean war was closed by treaty
which provided for the free navigation OF
the Danube. In 1858 Bolivia, by treaty,
declared that it regarded the rivers Anna.
zon and La Plata, in accordance with fixed
principles of national law, as highways or
channels opened by nature for the COM
merce of ali nations. In 1859 the Paraguay
was made free by treaty, and in December.
1866, the Emperor of Brazil, by imperial
decree, declared the Amazon to be opened
| to the frontier of Brazil tOA the merchant
ships of all nations.
The greatest living British authority on
| this subject, while asserting the abstract
right of the British claim, says: 1t seems
, difficult to deny that Great Britain may
ground her refusal upon strict law; but 1t IS
, equally difficult to deny, first, that she ex-
ercises harshly an extreme anu nara law;
secondly, that her conduct with respect 10
: the navigation of the st. Lawrence is in
, claring and discreditable inconsistency with
her conduct with respect to the navigation
of the Mississippi"
, On the ground that she possessed small
, domain in which the Mississippi took its
rise, she insisted on the right to navigate
the entire volume of its waters. On the
ground that she possesses both banks OF tne
St. Lawrence, where it disembogues itself
, into the sea, she denies to the United States
the right of navigation, though about one
half Of the waters of Lakes Ontario, Erie
Huron and Superior and the whole OF Lake
Michigan, through which the river flows, are
! the property of the United states.
> The whole nation is interested in securing
= cheap transportation from the agriculture
, States of the West to the Atlantic seaboard
To the citizens OF these States it secures
: greater return Tor their LABOR. 10 the III