MESSAGE.

The Governor General transmits for the information of the SENATE, and the HOUSE OF COMMONS, certain despatches and correspondence between the Governments of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island and the Imperial Government, in reference to the Fishery Clauses of the Treaty of Washington.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

OTTAWA, 29th April, 1872.

LISGAR

(Copy-No. 28.)

The Governor of Newfoundland to the Governor General.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, NEWFOUNDLAND, 20th March, 1871.

MY LORD, I have the honor to transmit herewith to your Lordship the Copy of a correspondence which has recently taken place between Mr. Vail, Provincial Secretary, N.S., and Mr. Bennett, the Premier of my Government, relative to a Resolution which was passed on the 17th February last, in the House of Assembly N.S.

I have transmitted copies of the correspondence in question to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and to the Lieut.-Governor of Nova Scotia.

His Excellency Governor General

I have, &c,

(Signed,)

STEPHEN J. HILL.

The Right Hon. Lord Lisgar,

G.C.B., G.C.M.G., &c., &c., &c.

Correspondence between Mr. Vail, of Halifax, Province of Nova Scotia, und Mr. Bennett of Newfoundland.

(Copy.)

TELEGRAM FROM HALIFAX,

18th February, 1871.

"Passed resolution yesterday, thirty to three, protesting against transfer Fisheries "or sacrificing them to Imperial or Canadian interests, you better join."

To the Hon. C. F. Bennett.

(Signed,)

W. B. VAIL.

(Copy.)

Reply to foregoing.

21st February, 1871.

"Cannot see at present the propriety or utility of protesting; will write by mail." C. F. BENNETT.

(Signed,)

(Copy.)

Mr. Bennett to Mr. Vail.

SAINT JOHN'S,

2nd March, 1871.

SIR, I sent you the other day a telegram in reply to yours of the 18th ult., to the effect that this Government could not then see the propriety or utility of joining in a protest upon the subject referred to in your telegram. We are ignorant of the whole circumstances which led to the action you took in the matter, and should we find them such as call forth our sympathies on behalf of the course you deemed proper to take, the question would still arise with us, as to the propriety or utility of our joining you in that protest.

It is the desire of this Government to avoid any collision with the Imperial wishes that do not necessarily demand our interference. We view England as our actual Protector-She has always acted not only justly but generously towards us--We have no apprehension that she will, in any way, prejudice those rights and privileges which she so liberally granted to the people of this Colony under their valued Constitutional Charter. She has left us to exercise our own discretion and free-will to enter the Confederation of the North American Provinces under the Dominion or not. And we have every confidence that she will protect us in the enjoyment of those rights and privileges which are so essential to our prosperity and happiness.

The Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor General. (Copy--Canada-No. 503.)

DOWNING STREET,

3rd September, 1871.

MY LORD,--I have the honor to transmit to your Lordship for your information, Newfoundland No, copies of Despatches, dated the 14th and 25th of July, which I 55-14 July, 1871. have received from the Governor of Newfoundland, and the LieuP. E. Island No. tenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island, apprizing me that their 59-25 July, 1871. Governments have acceded to the wishes of Her Majesty's Government that United States Fishermen should be admitted during the present season to the provisional use of the privileges granted to them by the Treaty of Washington, so far as concerns those Islands, together with copies of the answers which I have returned to those despatches.

I have, &c.,

(Signed,)

The Lord Lisgar, G.C.B., &c., &c., &c.

Governor The Right Honorable

KIMBERLEY.

(Copy-No. 55.)

Governor Hill to the Earl of Kimberley.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

NEWFOUNDLAND, 14th July, 1871. MY LORD,-1. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's Despatch No. 23, of the 17th June, enclosing copies of the Treaty, signed at Washington, on the 8th May, by the Joint High Commissioners, which has been ratified by Her Majesty and by the President of the United States,-of the Instructions to Her Majesty's High Commissioners and Protocols of the Conferences held by the Commission,-of two notes which have passed between Sir E. Thornton and Mr. Fish,-and of a Despatch of 17th June, which your Lordship has addressed to the Governor General of Canada, stating the views of Her Majesty's Government on these important documents.

2. I observe in the copy now before me, of the Despatch of Mr. Secretary Fish, (8th May, 1871,) to Sir E. Thornton, an omission which bears very materially upon the peculiar interests of this Colony, respecting the immediate acquiescence of the Government of Newfoundland, in the opinions of Her Majesty's Government, as regards the prompt admission of American Fishermen to the provisional use, so far as this Island is concerned, of the privileges granted to them by the Treaty.

3. Respecting the immediate admission of American Fishermen into British Waters, Mr. Fish writes, "As several articles of the Treaty which has been signed this day, relating to the admission of citizens of the United States to fish within the territorial "waters of Her Britannic Majesty, on the coast of Canada, Prince Edward's Island, and "Newfoundland, cannot come into full operation until the Legislation contemplated in "that instrument shall have taken place, &c., &c., &c., &c.," and again in writing of the restoration to British subjects of certain duties by Congress, Mr. Fish observes "that any duties which may have been collected on and after the first day of July next, "on fish-oil and fish, (except fish of the inland lakes and of the rivers falling into the same, and except fish preserved in oil) the produce of the Fisheries of the Dominion "of Canada, and of Prince Edward's Island, shall be returned and refunded to the parties paying the same, if a similar arrangement is made with respect to the admission "into the British possessions of fish-oil and fish (with the like exception) being the pro"duce of the Fisheries of the United States," the word Newfoundland, included in the first extract of Mr. Fish's Despatch is excluded from the latter, and if intentional, the omission in question may act detrimentally towards the future acceptance of the terms of the Treaty by the Colonial Legislature.

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4. My Ministers, however, to whom I have communicated the whole of the important documents respecting the Washington Treaty, are willing to consider this omission as unintentional, and although anxious to obtain information on this point, have resolved to comply at once with the wishes of Her Majesty's Government as regards the admission, during the present season, of citizens of the United States to the povisional use of the privileges granted to them by the Treaty, so far as lies in the jurisdiction of the Government of Newfoundland to bestow.

5. There is another point in reference to the correspondence relative to the Treaty to which my Advisers invite your Lordship's attention. The copy of Sir E. Thornton's reply (9th May, 1871,) to Mr. Fish, contains, in connection with the re-payment of Import Duties by Congress, the following words, "the above mentioned Colonial Gov"ernments, who would be asked to grant the immediate and certain right of fishing "within the territorial waters of those Colonies whilst the return of the Import Duties "on fish from the 1st July next, promised by the United States, is prospective and "contingent on the action of Congress," the words, "on fish oil" following the words, that any duties which may have been collected on and after the first day of July next," in Mr. Fish's note to Sir E. Thornton, are in the reply thereto (from which the above extract is taken) omitted. The Executive Council beg to be advised on this head.

6. I beg to transmit to your Lordship, copy of a Minute of Council, signifying assent on the part of the Government of Newfoundland, to the request 7th July, 1871. contained in your Lordship's Despatch, No. 28, of 17th June, respecting the Treaty of Washington.

In compliance with the request made by Earl Kimberley in his Despatch of 17th June to His Excellency the Governor, it is agreed to accede thereto.

SIR, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch, No. 55, of the 14th of July, communicating to me the consent of your Government to the provisional admission of United States Fishermen during the present season to the privileges granted by the Treaty of Washington so far as concerns the Colony under your Government.

Her Majesty's Government have learnt with much satisfaction that the Newfoundland Government have so willingly acceded to their wishes in this respect.

I have drawn Lord Granville's attention to the two questions raised in your Despatch on the correspondence which passed on this subject between Sir Edward Thornton and Mr. Fish.

MY LORD,-In continuation of my Despatch No. 5, of the 12th instant, I have now the honor to forward a Minute prepared by my Advisers in which they record the result of their deliberations on the subject of the Treaty of Washington and the other important documents which were forwarded to me with your Lordship's Despatch No. 22, of the 17th June, last.

2. It is stated in the Minute that "the different Governments and Legislatures of "this Colony have always hoped that these Fisheries (the Fisheries of Prince Edward "Island) would have done much to secure the advantages of another Reciprocity Treaty,

"or of some Tariff concessions authorizing the free admission into the United States) of "the products of our Agriculturists who form the majority of our population, and which would have resulted in promoting the prosperity of the Colony," and that in the opinion of the Council the Inhabitants of Prince Edward Island are now asked to "surrender "to the Citizens of the United States these invaluable Fisheries without receiving in "return any just or fair equivalent such as was hoped to be obtained.

In deference, however, to the strongly expressed wish of Her Majesty's Government in the matter, the Committee of the Executive Council (without giving any pledge as to "the ultimate action of the Legislature), recommend that the application made by the "United States Government be acceded to, so that American Fishermen may be at once "allowed during the present season the provisional use of the privileges granted to them "by the Treaty ;"--and I have the honor to report that the Custom House Officers were yesterday instructed to discontinue the enforcement of the Fishery Laws for the present season, and until further orders.

3. I caused the United States Consul at this Port to be notified accordingly, and I simultaneously dispatched a similar notice to Sir Edward Thornton by telegraph.

4. I may add that in the event of the Acts necessary to give effect to the Treaty being passed by the Legislature of Prince Edward Island, my Government will apply to your Lordship for permission to send a representative to Halifax, for the purpose of conferring with the Agents of the Imperial Government, whose appointment is provided for in the concluding paragraph of Article 23 of the Treaty, and of urging upon him the claims of this Island to a just share, proportionate to the value of our Fisheries, of whatever compensation may be awarded as an equivalent for the privileges which the Colonists are asked to surrender. My Government are of course aware that Great Britain and the United States are to be represented before the Halifax Commission, each by one agent only, but they believe that it would be competent to Her Majesty's Government to authorize the Imperial agent as aforesaid to receive information on the subject of our Fisheries from a representative to be appointed by the Government of Prince Edward Island, and this, should the Legislature assent to the Treaty, is what my Government hope that your Lordship will be pleased to accord.

5. I am confident that your Lordship will receive with much satisfaction the intimation contained in this despatch and that the prompt and loyal action of the Government of Prince Edward Island will predispose Her Majesty's Government to comply as far as possible with any reasonable request which my Advisers may consider it to be their duty to prefer.

At a meeting of a committee of the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island,

The Committee of Council having under consideration despatch No. 22, dated at Downing Street, the 17th of June, 1871, from the Right Honorable Earl Kimberley,