Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish
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.,