New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-03-03
SECRETARY B1YARD'S OFFENCE


SECRETARY B1YARD'S OFFENCE
Secretary Bayard makes bad matter worse
when he attempts to justify his treaty. HIS
defence which we find in "1hc Boston Globe"
relates mainly to details which have escaped
destructive criticism. He rcpudiatcS the charge
that the headlands pretcnson has been sane
toned, and explains the principle on which
American fishermen have been excluded from
various wide bays. The object, he says, "waS
TO let our fishermen know with dcfintcncss
where they could and where they could not
fish. We therefore took the lighthouses on
palpablc points of the coast and VIC drew The
line from lighthouse to lighthouse wherever
bay was to be included as an exclusive British
bay.o This is the principle on which dcmta-
ton has been effected in Chalcurs, Egmont.
Miramichi and other large bays. The British
MIGHT gain GOOD deal Of water 10y this opera
ton. since the bays were sometimes fifteen or
twenty miles wide, but American fishermen
would have what was Of greater importance
light on the precise extent OF their fishing
grounds. They could see the lighthouses and
always be able TO tell at a glance whether they
were within or outside of the jurisdiction of
Canada This is the SecretaTy's naive way of
iustifying the exclusion Of American fishermen
from bays which they have the right to enter
under strict construction Of the Treaty Of
1918. Ii has been known for seventy years
lnat Canada has wanted all the water it could
claim for exclusive fishing rights. II has not
been suspected that American fishermen crayed,
not water, but light.
The Presidents declaration that "the head
land theory of imaginary Ines had been aban-
doncd is virtually interpreted by Secretary
Bayard as meaning that lighthouses have been
substituted for headlandS and that the Bay Of
Iundy has not been formally closed against
American fishermen. As lighthouses arc to be
found at the eXtrcmtics of all conspicuous
headlands, this concession apparently involves
merely change of phrascOOgy. il is no longer
the hcadlands prctenson Of imaginary lines,
but the lighthouse delimitation of precise lines.
As for the Bay of Fundy. we had supposed that
the right Of free entry had been absolutely
determined in the case of the schooner Wash
ington and that The British Government had
never revived that prepostcrous claim. Sec
rotary Bayard apparently considers it a great
achievement that he has been enabled to hold
Oh to rights which in recent years have not
been questioned. If he wishes to know what
the American doctrine has been on all these
matters of delimitaton, let him read Mr.. Tres
cots patriotic definition of American rights
"To-day wherever an English subject can sail
o boat or drop a line we have the right to do so,
except, and only except, so far as we have
limited that right by the Treaty Of 1918. BY
that treaty we consented to exclude ourselves
from fishing within line running three miles
from the coast and from nothing else" So
long as Great Britain seeks to exclude Amer
lean fishermen from commercial privileges by
The naIToweSt possible construction OF the
words "and for no other purpose whatever"
American diplomatsts should hold that three
miles from shore means three miles, and not
four, six, ten or twenty miles.
Secretary Bayard warns he country of the
very great danger of pressing the other side
to yield what they cannot yield with honor"
Apparently he has signed this treaty because
ne considers it safer and more discreet to COM
nit the United States Government to the craven
policy Of yielding what it cannot yield with
honor. of we are to enter upon this proposed
policy of retaliation" he exclaims, "that means
commercial warfare, and how long before it
will be followed by another kind Of warfare
do not know The Secretary does not need TO
distress himself with apprehensions of war
between the United States and Great Britain.
War there will not be, for the reason that for
the sake of the fisheries England will not risk
the temporary sacrifice of an immense foreign
trade and the permanent loss Of Canada, with
n revolution in Ireland thrown in. The Re
talation Act will protect Americans in their
rights without dragging the country inc war.
A Secretary of State occupies too digniiicdsa
position to warrant indulgence in pusillanimous
talk.