Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Clay. WASHINGTON, February 5, 1826. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note, dated the 2d inst., calling upon me to enable you to satisfy the inquiries of Mr. Moody about the result of the reference of his case to the British government, by my predecessor, Mr. Canning, complaining of the capture of a fishing schooner, his property. Upon a reference to the archives of this mission, I find that the complaint of Mr. Moody was referred, in the first instance, to the rear admiral commanding the British naval force at Halifax, and that, subsequently, in a despatch dated November 15, 1823, a communication from the British admiralty was transmitted to Mr. Addington, his Majesty's chargé d'affaires at Washington, informing him that the schooner Charles had been regularly condemned in the vice-admiralty court of the Province of New Brunswick, and that it was not expected that the government of the United States would lend further countenance to the complaints of the owner. The condemnation of this vessel took place upon the grounds of a breach of the act of the 59th George III, chap. 28, for the protection of the British fisheries, and which act was passed in conformity with the stipulations of the convention concluded between his Britannic Majesty and the United States, on the 20th October, 1818. The circumstances. attending this capture are detailed in a note addressed by Mr. Addington, his Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires, to the minister of the United States having the Department of State, dated the 12th of October, 1823. I have the honor to refer you to that despatch, which contains the documents in explanation of this capture received from the rear admiral upon the Halifax station, and to request you to accept the assurances of my highest consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN. Mr. Vaughan to Mr. Clay. WASHINGTON, April 29, 1826. SIR: On the 5th October, 1824, Mr. Addington, his Majesty's chargé d'affaires, addressed a note to the government of the United States, in which he stated that an outrage had been committed by some armed citizens of the State of Maine, in forcibly rescuing, off Eastport, two American vessels, the Reindeer and Ruby, which had been captured by his Majesty's cruisers while fishing in the Bay of Fundy, in places where the United States had by treaty renounced the right so to do. No answer having been given by the government of the United States to the remonstrance made by Mr. Addington, I am directed to ask for an acknowledgment of the impropriety of the conduct of the persons concerned in the forcible recapture of the above mentioned vessels. In all complaints which the government of the United States has had occasion to bring forward against his Majesty's cruisers employed in the protection of the British fisheries in the Bay of Fundy, the fullest investigation into every case of alleged misconduct has been instituted by the British agents, and the reports of the commanding officers have been laid before the American government. If it has been necessary to call for the judgment of the colonial tribunals, prompt and impartial justice has been administered, in proof of which I have only to refer you to the case of the American ship Charles, which had been legally detained, but having been illegally employed by her captors after her detention, was restored. I ask with confidence, on the part of his Majesty's government, for an acknowledgment of the improper conduct of the persons engaged in the forcible recapture of the Reindeer and Ruby, as the British government is disposed to waive all demand for the punishment of the offenders, as the act resulted apparently from unpremeditated violence. I request that you will accept the assurances of my highest consideration. CHAS. R. VAUGHAN. Mr. Bankhead to Mr. Forsyth. WASHINGTON, January 6, 1836. The undersigned, his Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires, has the honor to transmit to the Secretary of State of the United States the copy of a letter which he has received from the Earl of Gosford, his Majesty's governor-in-chief of Canada, enclosing letters from the officers of the customs at Quebec and Gaspé, in which serious complaints are preferred against fishermen of the United States, for encroaching on the limits of the British fisheries carried on in the river and gulf of St. Lawrence. These encroachments have occasioned great injury to the British merchants and others engaged in connection with these pursuits, and moreover, they are entirely at variance with the restrictions imposed by the convention which was concluded in the year 1818, for regulating the fisheries carried on by the two nations. The undersigned begs leave to call Mr. Forsyth's attention to the repeated acts of irregularity committed by the fishermen of the United States, detailed in the letter from the sub-collector of customs of Gaspé, and he confidently hopes that measures will be taken to prevent their recurrence, and do away with the possibility of collision taking place on the spot, which might arise should those fishermen persist in encroaching upon forbidden ground. The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to renew to Mr. Forsyth the assurance of his most distinguished consideration. The Hon. JOHN FORSYTH, &c., &c., &c. CHARLES BANKHEAD. Lord Gosford to Mr. Bankhead. CASTLE OF ST. LEWIS, Quebec, December 26, 1835. SIR: Having received complaints of encroachments by the fishermen of the United States, on the limits of the British fisheries carried on in the river and gulf of St. Lawrence, and of the injury thereby occasioned to the merchants and others engaged in that pursuit, I conceive it to be my duty to transmit for your information the enclosed copies of communications made to me by the officers of the customs here and at Gaspé upon this subject. I beg leave, at the same time, to observe that I have forwarded similar copies to his Majesty's vice admiral, commanding on this station. I have the honor, &c., CHARLES BANKHEAD, Esq., &c., &c., &c. GOSFORD. The sub-collector of customs at Gaspé to the collector and comptroller at Quebec. CUSTOM HOUSE, Gaspé, September 12, 1835. GENTLEMEN: I beg leave to acquaint you that for several years past numerous complaints have been made by those who carry on the fisheries on the shores of the river and gulf of the St. Lawrence, against American fishermen who frequent the fishing banks, for having from time to time encroached their limits, to the serious injury and prejudice of the British merchants or "planters," who have much capital involved in that precarious pursuit. The circumstance of immense numbers of United States fishing smacks forming a line and ranging themselves on the banks where the codfish chiefly resort, has been often referred to as a principal cause why the fisheries have visibly retrograded, inasmuch as the waste is thrown overboard in the process of curing, deterring the fish from seeking food at their former summer resorts; but as the convention made in 1818, and ratified by the statute 59 George III., chapter 38, secures to the republican government of the United States certain privileges and limits, our merchants have suffered the obstruction without complaint. The United States fishermen have not, however, remained content with the great indulgences afforded them by the treaty, but, under numerous pretexts, approach our shores in direct violation of its restrictions; and, for several years past, have had the temerity to take bait even on our beaches. But in order to elucidate and convey some idea in what manner their infringements can so materially affect the success of our fishermen, it may be desirable to explain, in brief terms, the nature of the process itself, as practised here. At the commencement of the fishing, early in May, an abundant supply of caflin and herring are obtained for bait, and when the influx of these ceases, mackerel make their appearance, and our fishermen, by putting out nets and moorings have, until lately, been amply supplied with that fish as a substitute to bait their hooks. But the United States fishermen having adopted a new system of mackerel fishing, by feeding them under their vessels, (large schooners of one hundred tons, and frequently fifteen to twenty men) not only take immense quantities, but by their proximity to the shores entertain the fish from being taken in the nets; and it has now become a universal practice with them to intrude wherever they please, without reference to any given law or restriction; and I have detected, with various success, several of their vessels under such circumstances. On a recent voyage in the custom-house boat, down the bay of Gaspé, I met three large schooners fishing for mackerel between the shores and the fishing barges, not two miles from land, and remonstrated with the master of one (the Bethel, of Provincetown.) They were all in the act of fishing, and although I advised the said master to go off, he declined doing so, offering nothing in vindication but scurrilous contempt, and my means were inadequate to enforce any measures of redress. As each succeeding year renders the foregoing evils more manifest, coupled with reiterated complaints by the merchants engaged in the trade here, and carrying on fishing, I have considered it my duty respectfully to draw your attention to the case, begging, in behalf of our enterprising settlers, that you will be pleased to lay the same before vice admiral the commander-in-chief, at Halifax. For several years after my appointment to this survey, we were favored with at least annual visits of his Majesty's cruizers, and particularly during the commands of Admirals Griffith and Sir Charles Ogle, and a knowledge of this presence or vicinity was a salutary and efficient protection to the Gaspé fisheries, but for some time past scarce any ship of war has called here. It is unnecessary to remark that the harbor of Gaspé, a harbor which may rank almost first in his Majesty's dominions, affords safe and convenient anchorage, easy of access, and capable of entertaining any ship of his Majesty's navy; and if the commander-in-chief would be pleased to direct a cruizer to be stationed during the summer months between Point Misco and the entrance of the river St. Lawrence, or so far as the island of Anticosti, including Gaspé bay, our fisheries would be very materially benefited, and a deserving community protected in their pursuits. In offering the foregoing imperfect detail, I do so as a duty devolving on me in my public capacity, with a hope that I may be excused, and under a conviction that the vice-admiral commander-in-chief, will be pleased to take the case into his high consideration. All of which is most respectfully submitted to him. I have, &c., D. MCCONNELL, Sub-Collector. The COLLECTOR AND COMPTROLLER Of his Majesty's Customs, Quebec. Collector and Comptroller of Customs to Lord Gosford. CUSTOMS, QUEBEC, November 9, 1835. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY: We have the honor to transmit for your excellency's information, a copy of a letter just received from the subcollector of this department at Gaspé, with reference to certain complaints made against the United States fishermen for encroachment on the limits and otherwise injuring the British fisheries carried on in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in order that your excellency may take such measures therein as the circumstances of the case may appear to your excellency to require. We have the honor, &c., HY. JESSOPP, Collector. His Excellency EARL OF GOSFORD, Commander-in-chief, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Bankhead. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 18, 1836. The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the note addressed to him on the 6th instant, by Mr. Bankhead, chargé d'affaires of his Britannic Majesty, with its enclosures, complaining of encroachments by the fishermen of the United States on the limits secured, by the convention of 1818, exclusively to British fishermen. Though the complaint thus preferred speaks of these encroachments as having been made from time to time, only one is specifically stated, viz: that of the schooner Bethel, of Provincetown. But the President, desirous of avoiding just ground of complaint on the part of the British government, on this subject, and preventing the injury which might result to American fishermen from trespassing on the acknowledged British fishing grounds, has, without waiting for an examination of the general complaint, or into that respecting the Bethel, directed the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the collectors to inform the masters, owners, and others engaged in the fisheries, that complaints have been made, and to enjoin upon those persons a strict observance of the limits assigned for taking, drying, and curing fish by the American fishermen, under the convention of 1818. The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to offer to Mr. Bankhead the renewed assurance of his high consideration. CHARLES BANKHEAD, Esq., &c., &c., &c. Mr. Bankhead to Mr. Forsyth. JOHN FORSYTH. WASHINGTON, January 19, 1836. The undersigned, his Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Forsyth's note of yesterday's date. The undersigned cannot resist expressing to the Secretary of State his high sense of the prompt manner in which the President has been pleased to instruct the collectors of customs to enjoin upon the masters and others engaged in the American fisheries strictly to observe the limits assigned to them by the convention of 1818. It is a new proof of the friendly feeling entertained by the President towards the British government-a feeling fully reciprocated on their part. The undersigned has the honor to renew to Mr. Forsyth the assurance of his distinguished consideration. CHARLES BANKHEAD. The honorable JOHN FORSYTH, &c., &c., &c. |