Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1873

No. 1.
By the President of the United States of America.

a proclamation.

Whereas by the thirty-third article of a treaty concluded at Washington on the 8th day of May, 1871, between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, it was provided that “Articles XVIII to XXV inclusive, and Article XXX of this 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 whereas by the first section of an act entitled “An act to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed in the city of Washington the eighth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, relating to the fisheries,” it is provided “That when everthe President of the United States shall receive satisfactory evidence that the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, the parliament of Canada, and the legislature of Prince Edward’s Island, have passed laws on their part to give full effect to the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed at the city of Washington on the eighth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, as contained in articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, and article thirtieth of said treaty, he is hereby authorized to issue his proclamation declaring that he has such evidence:”

And whereas the Secretary of State of the United States and Her Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Washington have recorded in a protocol a conference held by them at the Department of State in Washington, on the 7th day of June, 1873, in the following language:

Protocol of a conference held at Washington on the seventh day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.

Whereas it is provided by article XXXIII of the treaty between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States of America, signed at Washington on the 8th of May, 1871, as follows:

“Article XXXIII.

“The foregoing articles, XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX of this 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. 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, and further, until the expiration of two years after either of the high contracting parties shall have given notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same; each of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such notice to the other at the end of the said period of ten years, or at any time afterward;”

And whereas, in accordance with the stipulations of the above-recited article, an act was passed by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth years of the reign of Queen Victoria, intituled “An act to carry into effect a treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America;”

And whereas an act was passed by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada in the fifth session of the first parliament, held in the thirty-fifth year of Her Majesty’s reign, and assented to in Her Majesty’s name, by the governor-general, on the fourteenth day of June, 1872, intituled “An act relating to the treaty of Washington, 1871;”

And whereas an act was passed by the legislature of Prince Edward’s Island, and assented to by the lieutenant governor of that colony on the 29th day of June, 1872, intituled “An act relating to the treaty of Washington, 1871;”

And whereas an act was passed by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, and approved on the first day of March, 1873, by the President of the United States, intituled “An act to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, signed in the city of Washington the eighth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, relating to fisheries”

The undersigned, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State of the United States, and the Right Honorable Sir Edward Thornton, one of Her Majesty’s Most Honorable Privy Council, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of’ the Bath, Her Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States of America, duly authorized for this purpose by their respective governments, having met together at Washington, and having found that the laws required to carry the Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX of the treaty aforesaid, into operation, 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 part, and by the Congress of the United States on the other, hereby declare that Articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, and Article XXX of the treaty between Her Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, of the 8th of May, 1871, will take effect on the first day of July next.

In witness whereof the undersigned have signed this protocol, and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done in duplicate at Washington this seventh day of June, 1873.

[seal.]	(Signed)	Hamilton Fish.
[seal.]	(Signed)	EDW’D THORNTON.”

Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, in pursuance of the premises, do hereby declare that I have received satisfactory evidence that the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, the parliament of Canada, and the legislature of Prince Edward’s Island, have passed laws on their part to give full effect to the provisions of the said treaty as contained in articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, and article thirtieth of said treaty.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the eal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this first day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-seventh.

[seal.]

U.S. GRANT.

By the President:
Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State.