liberty during the present season, I am directed by the President to express to you his hope that Her Majesty's government will be prepared, in the event of the ratification of the treaty, to make on their own behalf, and to urge the governments of the Dominion of Canada, of Prince Edward Island, and of Newfoundland, to make for the season referred to, within their respective jurisdictions, such relaxations and regulations as it may respectively be in their power to adopt, with a view to the admission of American fishermen to the liberty which it is proposed to secure to them by the treaty. The Government of the United States would be prepared at the same time to admit British subjects to the right of fishing in the waters of the United States, specified in the treaty; but as the admission into the United States, free of duty, of any articles which are by law subject to duty cannot be allowed without the sanction of Congress, the President will, in case the above suggestion meets the views of the British government, recommend and urge upon Congress at their next session that any duties which may have been collected on and after the 1st 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 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 produce of the fisheries of the United States. I have, &c., HAMILTON FISH. No. 222. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish, WASHINGTON, May 9, 1871. (Received May 11.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of yesterday's date, and to inform you in reply that I have been authorized by Earl Granville to state that in the event of the ratification of the treaty signed yesterday, Her Majesty's government will be prepared to recommend to the governments of the Dominion of Canada, of Prince Edward Island, and of Newfoundland, that the provisional arrangement proposed in your note above mentioned, with regard to the right of fishing by United States citizens on the coasts of those British possessions and by British subjects in the waters of the United States, described in Article XIX of the treaty, shall take effect during the coming season, on the understanding that the ultimate decision of this question must rest with the above-mentioned colonial governments, 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 of July next promised by the United States is prospective and contingent on the action of Congress. I have the honor, &c., EDW'D THORNTON. No. 223. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, May 24, 1871. (Received May 24.) SIR: In compliance with an instruction which I have received from Lord Granville, I have the honor to inform you that in consequence of some differences which are pending between Great Britain and the republic of Liberia, Her Majesty's government made proposals for the adjustment of those differences, and for the settlement of the question of the limits of the northwestern boundaries of that republic. Inclosed is a copy of a dispatch addressed by Lord Granville in October last to the President of Liberia, which conveys proposals for the mode of settlement of the above questions. You will perceive that in the event of any differences arising between the commissioners for settling the boundary question, it is proposed to submit the disputed points to the arbitration of a commissioner appointed by the Government of the United States. The Liberian government has since signified to Her Majesty's government its acceptance of the proposals made by the latter, and I am consequently instructed to ask the Government of the United States if it will be good enough to depute an officer to attend the commissioners appointed by both parties to meet at Monrovia, and to act as arbitrator in case of any disagreement between them. It will give Her Majesty's government much pleasure if the Government of the United States will consent to accept the task of arbitrator in this question through one of its officers on whose impartial judgment it can rely, and whose expenses will, of course, be defrayed jointly by the British and Liberian governments. Copies of the necessary papers and maps will be eventually forwarded to Monrovia for the use of the commissioners, and Lord Granville would be glad to know, in case the Government of the United States should kindly accede to the request of that of Her Majesty, when the officer whom it may depute for this duty will be able to proceed there. I have, &c., EDWARD THORNTON. FOREIGN OFFICE, October 31, 1870. SIR: I have carefully considered the papers which you left with me, consisting of copies and originals of deeds relating to the cession to Liberia of certain territories to the northward of the present recognized boundary limits. I beg leave to return them to you herewith. I can only repeat what I have stated at our interviews, that it is impossible for Her Majesty's government to decide upon the validity of deeds, most of which they know to be disputed, upon an ex parte statement and without hearing the counter-statements and evidence which the chiefs interested may desire to produce, and I must therefore adhere to my opinion, that the question can only be satisfactorily solved by a commission of inquiry on the spot. Her Majesty's government have not failed to give their careful consideration to the suggestions that you have made to them for the settlement of this question, and shortly before your arrival in this country they had received a proposal from the government of the Emperor of the French to join in an inquiry into the territorial claims of Liberia, and the communications which took place thereupon have led to the delay that has occurred in my reply to the communications of your government. Recent events in France will however probably prevent the French government from carrying out their intention of associating themselves in the proposed inquiry, and it remains therefore to consider how Her Majesty's government can best meet the wish of Liberia for a settle ment of the question. wish, in the first place, shortly to explain the views and feelings of Her Majesty's government upon this subject, which seems to have been partly misunderstood, in order to assure you of the spirit in which they will enter into such an inquiry as I have indicated. You are aware that they are prepared to extend their recognition of the Liberian boundary limits so as to include the Sagaree territory, which was admitted by the commission of 1863 to be proved to belong to Liberia. It is therefore the claim of Liberia to the whole line of coast lying northward of this limit, between the Manna and Young Rivers, which provokes discussion and question. Within these limits the right of trading is the only interest which England pos sesses, except to the extreme northwest, in the neighborhood of the Shebar River, where her claims in some measure clash with those of Liberia, but this includes but a small portion of the district in dispute, and in the other portions England has no territorial pretensions. There would therefore be no objection on the part of England at once to recognize the sovereignty of Liberia over the greater portion of these countries were it not that some of the native chiefs have repudiated the alleged cession of their territories and have denied that Liberia has any legal claim to them, and Her Majesty's government are therefore unwilling to hand over these chiefs, with whom treaties have been concluded and faithfully observed, against their wishes and upon insufficient evidence of title, to the jurisdiction of Liberia, and they maintain that the justice of the Liberian pretensions can only be satisfactorily established by a strict and impartial investiga tion upon the spot into the title deeds upon which she rests her claims, and into any evidence against their validity that may be produced by the native chiefs. The commission which met in 1863 for this purpose failed to accomplish its object, because the Liberian commissioners refused to allow the testimony of the native chiefs to be admitted as evidence against the title deeds which were produced on the part of Liberia or to join in any inquiry on the subject, but Her Majesty's government are unable to understand why the Liberian government have objected to an examination on the spot of the evidence on which they rest their claims, which, if they are well founded, would establish their justice and expose the weakness of the conflicting statements of the native chiefs and the frauds which you allege to be practiced by them in the sale of their lands. Her Majesty's government consider that the Liberian government should withdraw this objection and agree to the examination of all the evidence that may be adduced on either side, and if they consent to do so, I beg to assure you that the instructions to the British commissioners will be dictated by a spirit of strict impartiality and a desire to recognize the claims of Liberia wherever they are proved to be just and well founded. Her Majesty's government must, however, exclude from further consideration the claims arising out of the case of the Elisabeth, and the plunder of the property of British subjects in the Mannah River district. Whether or not the pretensions of Liberia to the sovereignty of the district in question are proved to be well founded, the fact will remain the same that Her Majesty's government had frequently warned the Liberian government that they could not recognize their claim to this territory without further investigation; but, in defiance of these warnings, the Liberian government chose to prejudge the question by taking the law into their own hands, committing outrages to which it was impossible passively to submit, and which left Her Majesty's government no option but to pursue the course which they eventually took to obtain reparation. I can assure you, however, that these measures were taken with the greatest reluctance, and that the officer intrusted with the mission was strictly enjoined so to conduct his proceedings as to wound as little as possible the dignity of Liberia; but, for these reasons, Her Majesty's government cannot permit this question, which they consider as settled, to be re-opened, and, although I have no wish to press unduly upon your government for the payment of the compensation at a moment when the finances of Liberia are in a disorganized condition, I must point out to you that the solemn obligation which your government contracted in this case must be fulfilled as soon as possible, and that Her Majesty's government cannot consent to any modification of its terms. As regards the question of appointing a British consul to reside in Liberia, which your government has often pressed upon the attention of Her Majesty's government, I regret to state that the British trade with the republic, hampered as it is by the restrictions imposed by the Liberian law of 1863, is not, at present, of sufficient importance to warrant the creation of such an appointment, but if the Liberian government think fit to relieve foreign trade from these restrictions and to adopt a more liberal commercial policy, leading to the extension and increased importance of British trade, Her Majesty's government will then be happy to entertain the proposal. In conclusion, I beg leave to inclose the draft of a note containing the basis of an agreement as to the terms upon which a joint commission of inquiry might be appointed, and while cordially reciprocating the wishes you have expressed for the cultivation of the most friendly feelings between Great Britain and Liberia, I would point out to you that this can be best attained by a prompt and honorable settlement of all questions in dispute between our two governments. I am, &c., &c., To President ROYE. GRANVILLE. Draught of proposals for the settlement of the Liberian boundary question. Her Majesty's government, being desirous of putting an end to the present uncertainty regarding the correct boundary limits of Liberia, and having been in communication with the government of Liberia respecting the best means of arriving at a common understanding upon the subject, have agreed to the following proposals for the settlement of the question : 1. As the British government, while agreeing to recognize the actual limits of the republic as comprising the coast-line between Cape Palmas, to the south, and the south bank of the river Solyman, to the northwest, cannot admit, without further inquiry, the claims advanced by Liberia to the line of coast northward of this boundary, lying between the Solymon and Shebar rivers: 2. As some of the native chiefs within these limits have denied the alleged cession of their territories to Liberia, and repudiated her claims to them, the British government propose that a joint commission, consisting of two British and two Liberian commissioners, shall be appointed to investigate, on the spot, the disputed claims of Liberia, and to define her boundary limits. 3. The commissioners shall be fully empowered to inquire into the validity of the title-deeds that the Liberian commissioners may produce in support of their claims, and to entertain all and any evidence to the contrary that the native chiefs and other claimants may desire to submit to them. 4. The decision of the commissioners is to be considered as final and absolute, and, in the event of any disagreement between them, the points in dispute shall be left to the arbitration of the United States, who shall, if necessary, be invited to send out an officer to the commission. 5. The commissioners are to limit their inquiry strictly to the question of boundaries, and are not to entertain any other subject of discussion. No. 224. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 24, 1871. SIR: Much anxiety is expressed and made known to this Department on the part of those concerned in the mackerel fishery near the coasts of the British provinces, the season for which is about to open. Though aware that they cannot yet technically claim the privileges and immunities promised to them in the treaty of Washington, they were in hopes that, through the forbearance of Her Majesty's authorities and those of the colonies, they might no longer be subjected to the annoyances to which they have hitherto been liable. You are aware that I have had reason to share in those hopes. Believing, as I firmly do, that if they should be disappointed, much irritation would be occasioned, which it is desirable should be avoided, and apprehending that the legislation on the part of the United States, stipulated for in the treaty, might otherwise at least be retarded, I pray you again to move the respective imperial or colonial authorities, that nothing practicable or reasonable may be omitted which might tend to the result desired. If you should think favorably of this request, you will pardon me for adding that it is highly important that it should be complied with as soon as may be convenient. I have, &c., HAMILTON FISH. No. 225. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, June 26, 1871. (Received June 27.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 24th instant, and to assure you that as far as the action of Her Majesty's naval officers or of those of the Canadian government is concerned, there is no cause for anxiety to citizens of the United States engaged in the fisheries in the neighborhood of the British provinces, so long as they may respect the laws upon the subject now in force. The tenor of the instructions issued to those officers both by Her Majesty's government and by that of the Dominion are of the most liberal nature, and though they continue to hold the opinion that under the treaty of 1818 United States fishermen are prohibited from frequenting colonial ports and harbors for any other purposes but for shelter, repairing damages, purchasing wood, and obtaining water, such prohibition will not be enforced during the present season, and they will be allowed to enter Canadian ports for the purposes of trade, and of transshipping fish and procuring supplies, nor will they be prevented from fishing outside of the three-mile limit in bays the mouth of which is more than six miles wide. It is to be hoped, however, that citizens of the United States will, on their part, contribute to the prevention of untimely collisions, by refraining from encroaching, for the purpose of fishing, upon those waters from which, by the treaty of 1818 and by the laws of Great Britain and Canada, they are excluded, until the legislation for insuring to them the privileges and immunities agreed upon by the treaty of the 8th ultimo shall have been carried out. I have the honor, &c., EDW'D THORNTON. No. 226. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Davis. WASHINGTON, July 11, 1871. (Received July 12.) SIR: With reference to a note dated the 29th of April last, which I received from the Secretary of State, I have the honor to inclose copy of a dispatch from the Governor General of Canada relative to an alleged encroachment on United States territory by Canadian engineers in locating a wagon-road from Fort Garry to the Lake of the Woods. You will perceive that the Canadian minister of public works requests that he may be furnished with a sketch showing where the alleged encroachment has taken place, and that he may be informed of the exact locality of the monument at the northwestern limit of the United States of America, to which reference is made in Mr. Fish's letter. I shall accordingly feel much obliged to you if you will supply me with this information. No. 24.] I have the honor, &c., EDW'D THORNTON. CANADA, Cacoura, July 5, 1871. SIR: With reference to your dispatch of May 1, 1871, (No. 14,) on the subject of certain alleged encroachment on United States territory by Canadian engineers in locating |