Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1886-06-04
FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS-.
WASHINGTON, June 8. 1886.


| seizure of American fishing vessel
was presented by Mr.. Dawes, who said Their
/ seemed to be disposition in the part o
| Canada to harass our citizens on lawful com
merce. 1t seemed to many that there WA
| dilatoriness on the part of the government
He bad no doubt the COMMITTEES on Foreign
| Relations was giving the subject proper con
| sideration, but Mr.. Dawes inquired whether
| the committee could give some assurance
| that might go to the public that measures
would be taken which would protect our cit
| liens in their rights.
eign Relations had no power to protect
American citizens or commerce. That be-
longed to the executive department of the
government and was part of its duty
| under the laws of the United
States and the laws of nations. In
the absence of definite information
we presume that the executive department
of the government was doing every thing it
could to protect our citizens whose vessels
had been seized or unkindly dealt with by
the Dominion government. OF course it
might have happened that some of these YES
sels-it might possibly have happened that
all of them-had been guilty of violation
of the fishing laws of Canada. AS they had
been seized by the public authorities of Can
ada of course there must be public preten-
sion on the part of those officers that such
was the case. Mr.. Edmunds hoped that it
would turn out that the vessels were inno-
cent of any violation of Dominion law or
public law and had been engaged in doing
what was allowed by the intercourse
of nations, by the laws of their
own country and of the country
to which they had gone, and that
the seizures would therefore be dismissed
without the semblance of probable cause.
But that depended of course on judicial in
quiry in the first instance. He did not mean
to say that we would be bound to acquiesce
in the results of Canadian judicial inquiry
if we thought those results unjust and i'm
proper. If any of these vessels should be
condemned and the United States were of
opinion that the condemnation was unjust
we should not be bound by any principle of
public justice to acquiesce in it. If we had
any spirit left, as he thought we had, any
strength left, as he thought we had, though
for some reason we had not been successful
in getting a navy or arming our sea
coast, yet in some way the rights
of citizens of the United States
would be indicated if they had been
violated. Mr.. Edmunds said the President
if ne had signed the recent act of Congress
on this subject would now have had the
power to retaliate for any injustice done our
vessels in Canada or elsewhere. If that act
had become a law and if our British breth-
rem were straining point in order to force
US into convention of reciprocity or "free
fish" or anything else, it was now within the
power of the President to take such measures
as would tend to correct the abuse. So far
as the Committee on Foreign Relations was
concerned, however, the subject was too inn
mature to enable Mr.. Edmunds to make any
public declaration as to how the matter was
or what ought to be done about it.
Mr.. Dawes remarked that it could not have
escaped the observation of the committee that
armed cruisers were about the waters on the
borders of the ''three miles limit" in search of
American vessels in order that they might
under some pretense seize them. The entire
absence of any armed vessel of the United
States in those waters to protect our fisher
men in the exercise of lawful commerce led
Mr.. Dawes to inquire whether that absence
was from any lack of proper power in the
premises. He was aware Of the necessity of
proceeding with caution. There were those
engaged in the business affected, however,
who did not appreciate the necessity of de-
lay; but who, if they could have the assur-
ance OF SO high an authority that of the
Committee on Foreign Relations that no de-
lay arose from Indifference, he was quite sat-
isfed would have greater confidence in their
cause and in ultimate protection by the gov
eminent.
In reply Mr.. Edmunds said that no legisla-
tion was necessary unless it might be by she
appropriation of money, and hardly that, to
enable the President, who is commaDder-in-
chief of our army and navy, to send out any
vessel of the United States if we happened
to have one that could swim. He believed
we had one that could swim-one that had
been trying for several months to swim and
that had succeeded every time in swimming,
but had not yet, he believed, succeeded in
getting into the service of the United States.
Mr.. Edmunds presumed it would not be con-
sidered discourteous TO express the hope that
a ship of the United States government
would in due time appear in the northern
md at a rA9T0aptf11 ata a
from the shores of her majesty's dominion to
give some little encouragement to American
citizens engaged in lawful pursuits.
Mr.. Hale stated the circumstances that
gave rise to the dispatch yesterday from
Eastport, Me-, relating to orders said to have
been issued by the Canadian authorities af-
fecting the herring fisheries of the Canadian
people themselves and their business in her
rings with the people of Maine. This matter
seemed to Mr.. Hale to be the gravest thing
that had appeared on the horizon. If the
rumor was correct that the Canadian author
tiles had given directions to break up that
industry of their people in the course they
were pursuing it indicated a more profound
mischief than had heretofore been evinced.
could be done by the State depart
ment that would bring to the knowledge not
only of the fishermen of Maine and Massa-
United States just what the funda-
mental purpose of the Ottawa government
was, would be benefit to our people. No
question had been before the State depart
ment for some time that was so grave as this
question. Congress had already acted and
had put into the hands of the Preside the
power of fit and judicious retaliation, which
must be exercised as an administrative and
not a legislative power. Mr.. Hale was bound
to say that the people he represented and the
people of the United States generally were
looking with anxiety to see if the admins
tration come up to what had been the inten-
ton of Congress.
The Northern Pacific forfeiture bill was
laid over until Monday.
The bill indemnifying the Chinese for the
losses sustained in the Rock Springs riot was
taken up and Mr.. Mitchell argued against
paying the money provided for by this bill.
The bill providing for the taxation of rail-
road grant lands was then taken up.
After debate the bill was passed.
Mr.. VanWyck then called up the House
bill on the same subject and on his motion
the Committee on Public Lands was dis
charged from its further consideration. He
then moved the Senate bill as an amendment
in the nature of substitute to the House
bill. The motion was agreed to and the
House bill was amended accordingly. In the
vote of the two chambers thus
brought about the Senate, on motion of Mr..
Van Wyck, ordered committee of confer
ence. This has the effect of avoiding the
delay winch WOulO result ITOm GQ0 CONSIDER
alton of the Senate bill as an original propo-
sition in the House of Representatives and
puts it at once in the hands of a conference
committee.
Mr. Plumb submitted the conference re-
port on the postofice appropriation BILL
which he said he did not expect to call up
before next week as the principal subject of
the ocean mail subsidy amend
ment, was one on which several Senators
would desire to speak.
Mr. Allison, from the Committee on APP
reported the consular and dip
lomatic appropriation bill with amendments.
THE aggregate appropriation has been in
creased $40, 700.
Mr.. Evarts addressed the Senate on the
bill to indemnify the Chinese for losses in
Cured by the riots at Rock Springs. He
characterized the acts as disgraceful to any
community in which they occurred and dis
graceful to any government that would not
punish the guilty parties and repair the
damages done This he repeated and would