Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-10-20
IT'S A SHAM BATTLE.
Sir John Macdonald's Opinion of the Fisheries Agitation.
CANADA'S POSITION STATED.

Sir John At Last Speaks Up and Assure,
 Canadians That Everything will b,
 Lovely After t,ie American EIection-H.
 Thinks the Agitation Means Nothing.
 OTTAWA, Oct. 2O-The talk of the hour i Sir John Macdonsld's speech at the ChapIear banquet yesterday, when he outlined Cana da's future policy regarding the fishery diff culty. His speech is an assurance that Canada will not back down, and his remark: are regarded as official
 He said: II have no doubt that soma nj you have felt rather annoyed and irTitated almost insulted, by the language that ha. been used by some of the public men-states men of the United States-by some of tht threats that were held out with regard te Canada; but am proud of the calm dignity with which Canadians have met all ths threats; the coolness with which Canada has looked upon the threats, which we can afford to look on calmly, because have got right and justice on our side. If this were an ordi nary season in the United States we might really feel irritated and insulted; but we know that this is a mere theatrical display oi both the great political parties of that coun. try. 1t Is sham battle. The leaders of the two parties there are trying to gain ma jor-
 
 abuse England and Canada as a portion of Great Britain is rather a practical way of affecting the vote, and, therefore, if on the oneside a statesman says anything against England or Canada, the statesman on the other side gets up and goes one better
 AS thls game goes on they perhaps may, like other gamesters, lose their coolness and moderation. Our course has been plain and will be plain. A treaty was settled, and we Canadians had distinguished representative at Washington to help on the drawing up of that treaty. I mean Sir Charles Tupper whom you all admire. The settlement of that treaty is an honest, fair and honorable settlement of question that has hitherto caused certain amount of friction between the United States and Canada It is an hon. est attempt on the part of the negotiations on both sides to remove all causes of i'll feeling between the two countries There are some concessions on our part, and some core spending concessions on the part of the United States. We were told by the great Liberal party that We had abandoned every thing; we had sacrificed the interests of Can ada and had given up everything to the Americans and kept nothing for ourselves, But what occurred in the states? We saw both houses, the house of representatives and the senate of the United States, stating that Canada and England had got the best of the bargain. They absolutely refused to ratify the treaty.
 Ut was 8 fair treaty, and believe after the election is over, after the temporary fever has subsided, and when they get to the calm and eoolness that characterizes the American, they will look with more favorable eyes upon the treaty, and that they will have another arrangement based on the same lines and principles as the treaty which they have rejected. l hope and believe that will be the case. Whether it be or not, our course as a government, the course of the parliament as a parliament, the course of the people as ap- proving the action of the parliament and the government, will be to say: We have rati- fled that treaty, we are anxious to carry it out, and if you don't choose to accept it we cannot help it. The responsibility rests upon your shoulders. We will rely upon the treaty of 1918, and we will just rest upon the law and let the law take its course, and if there be any difficulties as to the construction oi that treaty we must find some mode by arbitration, or otherwise, to decide what the true legal meaning of the convention of ISIS is That will be the course of the Canadian government; that will be the course of the Canadian parliament; that will be the course approved by the vast majority of the people. We have no fear that there will be any diff culty with the United States. If there be any question of the construction of the treaty we can leave to some tribunal selected by both sides to settle what these obstacles are. >