The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-08-25
.oao., nv which the question has been

nS711 had according to the conditions OF the
treaty been formally terminated, Inc
President made the results that woula now
from this action plain and unmls Iaatut py
warning all citizens Of the OnIeq to them bv
these articles will exist after July ISL, 1909.
This termination of the treaty had been uS-
creed by an overwhelming vote OF DOM a
branches of Congress, and was now nlauo
final and effective by the President pIIocdia ~
nation. This course had been earnestly 1e-
sired by the American fishermen, was iu 4Is
understood by them and was compleitte ,
without protest from single citizen OIL INC
United States.
Five weeks after President Arthur's pro,
clamation was issued, his term closed, anu
with the new administration Mr.. Bayard be-
came Secretary of State. In three or four
days after he had been installed in office the
British minister, Honorable Sackyille West
submitted proposal to continue the reclpro-
cal fishing arrangements until January l.
1886 After brief correspondence MI
Bayard accepted the offer. In other words.
Mr.. West and Mr.. Bayard made treaty OF
their own by which American fishermen were
to be allowed to fish in British waters SIX
months longer, and British fishermen should
freely fish in American waters for the same
period. When Mr.. West first proposed this
extension of time in his note of March II, he
based his suggestion solely upon the gener-
Gus ground that as the treaty would terml-
nate during the fishing season considerable
hardship might be occasioned to American
fishermen If they were compelled to desist
fishing at that time" This exact point had
been foreseen, had been carefully considered
by Congress, by the President, by the State
Department, and by the American fishermen
themselves. In popular parlance, they
had discounted it, and were fully
prepared for it, when to their exceed
ing surprise the British minister seemed
to be moved with compassion for
their possible sufferings. Apparently with
out other motive than disinterested benevo-
lence, Mr. West was anxious to allow them
six months more of that precious time which
the Halifax commission had declared to be
worth to American fishermen half million
dollars per annum.
But reading little farther in this re mark
able dl plomatlc correspondence, we 1lnd
that Mr.. West instead Of actingfrom motives
of pure generosity towards American fish
ermen was really paving the way for a
shrewd trade and new. treaty. A regular
understanding between himself and Mr.. Bay
ard was reduced to writing, showing that he
received large consideration for leaving
the British waters open to American fisher
men six months longer. The consideration
was pledge from Mr.. Bayard under date of
June 10Th, 1885, that the President would at
the next session of Congress recommend
the appointment of commission in which
the governments of the United States and
Great Britain shall be respectively repre-
sented, charged with the consideration and
settlement, upon a Just, equitable ana ana
honorable basis. The entire questions OF the
fishing rights other two governments and
of their respective citizens on the coasts OF
the United States and British North Amer
ica.' The stipulation was definite and re-
duced to writing that I'm cieao and IN con
sideration Of such promised recommends
tons by the PRESIDENT the British would for
the ensuing six months enforce no restrict
i've regulations against American fishermen.
In addition to all this Mr.. Bayard gave sig
nificant intimation to Mr.. West that the re-
our custom laws upon Canadian fish might
be brought before the commission thus prom
ised.
Accordingly, in the following December,
six and half months after Mr.. Bayard' s
memorandum pledge that the President
would make the recommendation to Con-
gress, the President actually did incorporate
It in his annual message and gave in Ian
guage which was transcript 0er6Gtanl OF the
words which Mr. Bayard gave to Mr.. West.
1t would certainly be apart from my desire
to pass any personal criticism upon the
President, of whom | wish at all times to
speak in terms of respect but, viewing this
as public question and speaking only with
the freedom of a private citizen, must eX-
press my belief that this transaction was
throughout most extraordinary and unpre-
cedented. 1t was extraordinary and unpre-
cedented and altogether beyond his proper
power for Secretary of State in the recess
of Congress to revive any part OF treaty
which Congress had expressly terminated :;
it was extraordinary for Secretary OF State
to begin negotiations for the renewal OF a
treaty which every department OF Govern
ment had just united in annulling; 1t was
extraordinary for Secretary OF State to en-
ter into trade with foreign Minister Tor a
present benefit to be paid for by the future
action of the Government, and most OF all
was it extraordinary that pledge should be
given to foreign Government that the
President of the United States should In the
future more than half year dlstant.make
a specific recommendation, on SPECIFIC sub
ject, in specific words to the Congress of the
United States. That pledge was given and
was held in the British foreign office in Lon
don, and it took from the President all the
power of reconsideration which the lapse OF
time and the change Of circumstances might
suggest and impose. ItrObbed the President
He was no longer free to insert In his annual
message of December what might then seem
expedient on the question of the fisheries,
but was under honorable obligations to IN
sert word for word, letter for letter, the eX-
act recommendation which the Secretary OF
State in the preceding month OF June had
promised and pledged to the British Minis
try. The matter presents curious specula-
ton in the working of our Government.
What, for instance, could or should the
President have done, if before the date of his
annual message he had become convinced, as
a large majority of the Senate were con-
WINGED, that it was not expedient to organize
an International Commission on the Fisher
les. He would then have found himself en-
barrasSed between this pledge given to Tor
eign government in June and his CONVICTIONS
of duty to the citizens of the United States
in the ensuing December.
Congress could not be induced to concur in
the Presidents recommendation for an In
for ofi oil Gnn1nlic ciOn the fisheries and
so the scheme for which Mr.. Bayard and Mr..
West had made such extraordinary prepara-
tons came to naught. 1t would have been
strange indeed if any other result had been
reached. Congress had Tor several years
been diligently endeav0ring to free the coun-
try from the burden of the treaty provisions
respecting the fisheries and it could not be
expected that they would willingly initiate
measures for new treaty that would proba-
bly, in the end be filled with provisions as
odious and burdensome to the American fish
ing interest as those from which they had
just escaped.
As soon as it became evident that Con-
gress would not accept the proposal for a
new commission, the government OF the Do
minion of Canada, with the presumed APP
prevail of the Imperial government, began a
series of outrages upon American fishing
vessels and fishing crews-seeking in every
way to destroy their business and to deprive
them of their fishing rights. That course
CUullHuco w blllo OetJ cbiiu 10 duOPpSu Wy INV
Canadian government with the deliberate in
tention and obvious expectation of forcing
concessions from this government. few
facts IN the long controversy over the fishery
question may be pertinently recalled as bear
ing ON the present situation.
Let us frankly admit at the outset that we
are governed in this matter by the terms of
the treaty of 1878. OF the injustice of which
this country was made the victim before that
treaty was ratified, we need not here and
now speak. We accepted the treaty OF 1878
in good faith, and through it largely curtail-
ed privileges which were the birthright of
American fishermen, those hardy men went
to work under it and by their enterprise
largely expanded their misunderstanding
III an amazing ratio the number of the YES
sells, their aggregate tonnage, and the num-
Der of men engaged in the hazardous call
ing. This rapid progress alarmed the Cana
dams, and with the view of REFRESHING rival
ry and Gripping American fishermen, new
construction was applied to the treaty nearly
a quarter of century after it had been IN
peaceful operation.
From 1911 to 1915, it was for the first time
contended by Great Britain that the Amerl-
can right to fish within three miles from
shore meant three miles from the headlands,
which marked the entrance to bays, and on
this new and strained construction OF the
treaty they sought to exclude American fish
ermen even from the Bay of Fundy which
is sixty miles wide at its mouth. After a
long diplomatic discussion, maintained with
signal ability by Edward Everett, our minis
ter at London, Lord Aberdeen "a name
identified with justice and magnanimity in
more than one generation-then at the head