No. 318. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, March 11, 1874. (Received March 13.) SIR: With reference to several conversations which I have had the honor of holding with you upon the subject of the conveyance of slaves from Tripoli through the island of Malta to Turkey, partly in British vessels, I have been instructed to inform you that a communication has been received from the governor of Malta upon this subject. In it his excellency expressed some surprise that the consul of the United States should have informed you that, whether from negligence or from worse motives, the authorities of the island were accused of not preventing the slaves in question from being conveyed in British steamers to Turkey, when it was notorious that they were really slaves, and would remain in a state of servitude after their arrival in Turkey. His surprise, he said, was due to the circumstance that at the time when every possible effort was being made in Malta to ascertain the condition of the persons supposed to be slaves, and to prevent, as far as could be done according to law, any abuse of carrying a slave trade through that British possession, he was informed by the Crown advo cate that Mr. Adams, the United States consul, called upon him for information, and that, after seeing all the papers connected with the investigation, he left Sir A. Dingle with the impression that he was satisfied of the groundlessness of the above-mentioned accusation. If, however, there is any point upon which the consul of the United States may have considered that the Maltese authorities failed in their duties, the governor of the island would be glad to be informed of it. Earl Granville has further desired me to inform you that Her Majesty's consular officers on the north coast of Africa have been in the habit of reporting for some years past to Her Majesty's ambassador at Constantinople, and to the British consular officers in Egypt, every case in which they may have reason to suspect that slaves have been shipped for Turkey and Egypt, either by way of Malta or by any other route, and that Her Majesty's consuls, in both the above-mentioned countries, keep strict watch on all such arrivals, and have been instrumental in procuring the manumission of a large number of slaves. Regarding your suggestion that the Maltese authorities should be instructed to telegraph to Her Majesty's consuls in Turkey whenever there is reason to suppose that a case of this traffic is occurring, Earl Granville has directed me to inform you that instructions have been issued to the governor of Malta in the sense above indicated. I have, &c., No. 319. EDW'D THORNTON. Mr. Davis to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: With the view to enable this Department to answer an inquiry made by the Secretary of the Treasury upon the subject, I shall be much obliged if you will inform me whether the laws of Canada deny to American vessels the right of transportation of goods and passen gers between Canadian ports to the extent to which it is granted to Canadian vessels plying between ports in this country, where such transportation is not regulated by the provisions of articles 26, 27, or 30, of the treaty of Washington. I have, &c., No. 320. J. C. B. DAVIS, Acting Secretary. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Davis. WASHINGTON, April 6, 1874. (Received April 6.) SIR: With reference to your note of the 4th instant, I regret that I am unable to furnish the information desired by the Secretary of the Treasury without referring your inquiry to the governor-general of Canada. I shall, however, have much pleasure in doing so, but I should at the same time be glad to be able to inform him to what extent the right of transportation of goods and passengers is granted to Canadian vessels plying between ports of the United States, where such transportation is not regulated by articles 26, 27, or 30 of the treaty of Washington. I am unable to give him this information without your assistance, and should therefore be much obliged if you would put it in my power to do so. I have, &c., EDW'D THORNTON. No. 321. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR Referring to your note of the 6th instant, in which you request to be informed as to what extent the right of transportation of goods and passengers is granted to Canadian vessels plying between ports of the United States, where such transportation is not regulated by articles XXVI, XXVII, or XXX of the treaty of Washington, I have the honor to inclose herewith, for your information, a copy of a letter of the 11th instant, upon the subject, from the Secretary of the Treasury. I have, &c., [Inclosure.] Mr. Richardson to Mr. Fish. HAMILTON FISH. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., April 11, 1874. (Received April 13.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, transmitting a copy of a note from the British minister of the 6th instant, in which he expresses his willingness to obtain the information requested in the letter from this Department to you, dated the 31st ultimo, relative to the Canadian coasting trade, and desires to be advised to what extent the right of transportation of goods and passen gers is granted to Canadian vessels plying between ports of the United States where such transportation is not regulated by articles 26, 27, or 30 of the treaty of Washington. In reply, I will thank you to inform the minister that, if merchandise be brought into the United States in a Canadian vessel from a foreign port or place, and specified in the manifest, verified on oath or affirmation before the collector at the first port of arrival as destined for other districts in the United States, the importing vessel may proceed with the same from district to district in order to the landing or delivery thereof, the duties on such goods only as are landed or delivered in any district to be paid or secured in such district. But before such vessel can depart from the district in which she may first arrive for another district, if the departure be not within forty-eight hours after arrival, with merchandise brought in her from a foreign port or place, duties not having been paid or secured, the master or person in charge or command of such vessel is required to obtain from the collector of the district a copy of the report and manifest, certified by said collector, to which must be annexed a certificate of the quantity and particulars of the goods landed within his district, or of the goods remaining on board upon which duties are to be paid or secured in some other district, and the master or person having charge or command of such vessel is also required to give bond, with one or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the collector of the district in which the vessel may first arrive, in a sum equal to the amount of the duties on the residue of the cargo, according to the estimate of the collector. Within twenty-four hours after the arrival of the vessel in another district, the master, or person in command or charge thereof, is required to report to the collector of such district, exhibiting the certified copy of his first report, together with a certificate, as aforesaid, from the collector of every district within which any of the merchandise brought in such vessel shall have been landed, and the quantity and particulars thereof. The bond given as above will be canceled or discharged within six calendar months from the date thereof, on the production of a certificate from the collector of the district for which the goods have been reported, testifying the due entry and delivery of the goods in such district, or upon due proof, to the satisfaction of the collector by whom the bond was taken, that such entry and delivery were prevented by some unavoidable accident or casualty, and if the whole or any part of the goods shall not have been lost, that the same have been duly entered and delivered in the United States. The master of any foreign vessel, laden or in ballast, arriving in the waters of the United States from any foreign territory adjacent to the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United States, must report at the office of the collector or deputy collector of customs nearest the point at which such vessel enters the waters of the United States, and present her clearance and manifest; and such vessel is not permitted to proceed farther inland, either to take or unload cargo, without a special permit from such collector or deputy, to be indorsed upon her clearance or manifest. All vessels from any foreign contiguous territory, with cargo, must be actually unladen at the port of first arrival in the United States, in order to the inspection, entry, and appraisement of the cargo, if not duly corded and sealed, or if an inspector be not placed on board at such port at the request of the master, owner, or consignee of the cargo, and at his expense, who shall accompany the vessel to the place of destination, and if it be in another district, deliver her to the collector thereof, or if it be in the same district, superintend the unloading and inspect the cargo. Trusting that the information given above may be sufficient to serve the purpose of the minister's inquiry. I remain, &c., Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, May 14, 1874. (Received May 15.) SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith copy of an act passed on the 28th of March last by the colony of Newfoundland, to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty of Washington, as far as they relate to that colony. This act was specially confirmed by the Queen on the 12th instant, and I have been consequently instructed by the Earl of Derby to request you to invite the President of the United States to issue the necessary proclamation, so that the provisions of the above-mentioned treaty may be carried into effect, with regard to Newfoundland, at as early a date as possible. Should you think it expedient that a protocol should be signed, as was the case with regard to Canada and Prince Edward Island, I shall be happy to call at the Department of State whenever you shall be pleased to summon me. I have, &c., [Inclosure.] EDW'D THORNTON. ACT OF THE NEWFOUNDLAND COLONY. Anno tricesimo septimo Victoria Reginæ, Cap. II. AN ACT to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty of Washington, as far as they relate to this colony. [Passed March 28, 1874.] SECTION 1. Power to governor to declare articles of treaty in force. SEC. 2. Governor may make orders, &c. SEC. 3. Suspending clause and duration of act. Whereas a treaty between Great Britain and the United States of America was signed at Washington on the eighth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and was duly ratified on the seventeenth day of June in that year, containing the following articles, viz: It is further agreed, that the provisions and stipulations of articles eighteen to twenty-five of this treaty, inclusive, shall extend to the colony of Newfoundland, so far as they are applicable; but if the Imperial Parliament, the legislature of Newfoundland, or the Congress of the United States, shall not embrace the colony of Newfoundland in their laws enacted for carrying the foregoing articles into effect, then this article shall be of no effect; but the omission to make provision by law to give it effect by either of the legislative bodies aforesaid shall not in any way impair any other articles of this treaty." Be it therefore enacted by the governor, legislative council, and assembly, in legislative session convened, as follows: 1st. The governor may, at any time hereafter, by his proclamation to be published in the Royal Gazette of this colony, declare that, after a time to be therein named, the provisions and stipulations of the said articles eighteen to twenty-five of the said treaty, inclusive, as set forth in the schedule to this act, shall extend to this colony of Newfoundland so far as they are applicable; and after the time so named in such proclamation, the provisions and stipulations of the said articles shall come into full force, operation, and effect in this colony, so far as the same are applicable, and shall thenceforth so continue in full force, operation, and effect, during the period mentioned in article thirty-three of the said treaty, recited in the schedule to this act, any law of this colony to the contrary notwithstanding. 2d. The governor in council may, by any order or orders to be made for that purpose, do any act or thing, in accordance with the spirit and intention of the said treaty, which shall be found necessary to be done on the part of this colony to give full force, operation, and effect to the said treaty; and any such order shall have the same effect as if the same were expressly enacted in this act. 3d. This act shall not come into operation until Her Majesty's assent thereto shall have been given; and shall remain in force during the term of years mentioned in article number thirty-three in the schedule of this act. SCHEDULE. Articles of the treaty of Washington of the eighth of May, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, which are referred to in the foregoing act: ARTICLE 18. It is agreed by the high contracting parties that, in addition to the liberty secured to the United States fishermen by the convention between Great Britain and the United States, signed at London on the twentieth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, of taking, curing, and dressing fish on certain coasts of the British North American colonies, therein defined, the inhabitants of the United States shall have, in common with the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, the liberty, for the term of years mentioned in article thirty-three of this treaty, to take fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea-coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbors, and creeks of the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the colony of Prince Edward Island, and of the several islands thereunto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts and shores and islands, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish: Provided, That in so doing they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with British fishermen in the peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their occupancy for the same purpose. It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies solely to the sea-fishery. and that salmon and shad fisheries, and all other fisheries in rivers and the mouths of rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for British fishermen. ARTICLE 19. It is agreed by the high contracting parties that British subjects shall have, in common with the citizens of the United States, the liberty, for the term of years mentioned in article thirty-three of this treaty, to take fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the eastern sea-coasts and shores of the United States, north of the thirty-ninth parallel of north latitude, and on the shores of the several islands thereunto adjacent, and in the bays, harbors, and creeks of the said sea-coasts and shores of the United States and of the said islands, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the said coasts of the United States and of the islands aforesaid for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish: Provided, That in so doing they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with the fishermen of the United States in the peaceable use of any part of the said coasts in their occupancy for the same purpose. It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies solely to the sea-fishery, and that salmon and shad fisheries, and all other fisheries in rivers and the mouths of rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for fishermen of the United States. ARTICLE 20. It is agreed that the places designated by the commissioners appointed under the first article of the treaty between Great Britain and the United States, concluded at Washington on the fifth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, upon the coast of Her Britannic Majesty's dominions and the United States, as places reserved from the common right of fishing under that treaty, shall be regarded as in like manner reserved from the common right of fishing under the preceding articles. In case any question should arise between the government of Her Britannic Majesty and of the United States as to the common right of fishing in places not thus designated as reserved, it is agreed that a commission shall be appointed to designate such places, and shall be constituted in the same manner, and have the same powers, duties, and authority, as the commission appointed under the said first article of the treaty of the fifth of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four. ARTICLE 21. It is agreed that, for the terms of years mentioned in article thirty-three of this treaty, fish-oil and fish of all kinds, (except fish of the inland lakes, and of the rivers falling into them, and except fish preserved in oil,) being the produce of the fisheries of the Dominion of Canada, or of Prince Edward Island, or of the United States, shall be admitted into each country, respectively, free of duty. ARTICLE 22. Inasmuch as it is asserted by the government of Her Britannic Majesty that the privileges accorded to the citizens of the United States, under article eighteen of this treaty, are of greater value than those accorded by articles nineteen and twentyone of this treaty to the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, and this assertion is not admitted by the Government of the United States; it is further agreed that commissioners shall be appointed to determine, having regard to the privileges accorded by the United States to the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, as stated in the articles nineteen and twenty-one of this treaty, the amount of any compensation which, in their opinion, ought to be paid by the Government of the United States to the government of Her Britannic Majesty in return for the privileges accorded to the citizens of the United States under article eighteen of this treaty, and that any sum of money which the said commissioners may so award shall be paid by the United States Government, in a gross sum, within twelve months after such award shall have been given. ARTICLE 23. The commissioners referred to in the preceding article shall be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: One commissioner shall be named by Her Britannic Majesty, one by the President of the United States, and a third by Her Britannic Majesty and the President of the United States conjointly; and in case a third commissioner shall not have been so named within a period of three months from the date when this article shall take effect, then the third commissioner shall be named by the representative at London of His Majesty the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. In case of death, absence, or incapacity of any commissioner, or in the event of any commissioner omitting or ceasing to act, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner hereinbefore provided for making the original appointment, the period of three months, in case of such substitution, being calculated from the date of the happening of the vacancy. The commissioners so named shall meet in the city of Halifax, in the province of Nova Scotia, at the earliest convenient period after they have been respectively named, |