No. 156.
Mr. Fish to General Schenck.
Washington, March 27, 1873.
Sir: Referring to the XXXIII Article of the Treaty of Washington, by which it is provided that Articles XVIII to XXV inclusive, and Article XXX of the treaty, shall take effect as soon as the laws required to carry them into operation shall have been passed by the imperial parliament of Great Britain, by the parliament of Canada, and by the legislature of Prince Edward’s Island, on the one hand, and by the Congress of the United States on the other, and that such assent having been given, the said articles shall remain in force for the period of ten years from the date at which they may come into operation, I have to say that the Congress of the United States has framed the laws on our side required to carry such provisions into operation, to take effect on the 1st day of July next. A copy of the* act is inclosed. It is understood that the necessary laws have also been passed by the imperial parliament of Great Britain, by the parliament of Canada, and by the legislature of Prince Edward’s Island, so that the articles referred to will take effect on the 1st day of July next.
You will therefore transmit to Lord Granville a copy of the act of Congress of the United States, and in a personal interview you may suggest to him for consideration whether Sir Edward Thornton should not be authorized to excute a protocol with me reciting the passage of the necessary legislation by the several legislative bodies, and that the articles referred to will take effect on the 1st of July next.
I am, &c.,
- For the act see United States at Large, vol. 17, p. 482↩