No. 211.
Sir Edward
Thornton to Mr. Evarts.
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my note to the Secretary of State of the 26th of April, 1875, in which I informed him that I had been instructed by Her Majesty’s principal secretary of state for foreign affairs to invite the Government of the United States to come to a formal agreement, in accordance with Article XXX of the treaty of May 8, 1871, upon the rules and regulations framed by the United States and the Dominion of Canada, governing the transportation of dutiable merchandise between those two countries under the acts of June 27, 1864, July 28, 1866, the above-mentioned treaty, and the act of March 1, 1873. The conclusion, however, of this arrangement was delayed by a discussion with regard to Article XIX of the United States regulations, and Mr. Cadwalader’s note of August 17, 1875, proposed on the part of the Treasury Department an amendment to that article. The original regulations proposed by the United States, as well as the amendment to Article XIX, were agreed to by the Governments of Her Majesty and of the Dominion of Canada, as I had the honor to inform the Secretary of State in my notes of November 13, 1874, and of January 14, 1876.
In my letter of the 13th of November, 1874, I transmitted to the Secretary of State a copy of the regulations which had been drawn up by the customs department of Canada and approved by the Canadian Government.
As, therefore, the Governments of Her Majesty and of the Dominion of Canada are prepared to abide by the regulations of the United States transmitted to me in Mr. Fish’s note of January 17, 1874, together with the amendment to Article XIX proposed in Mr. Cadwalader’s note of August 17, 1875, and by the Canadian regulations forwarded to the Department of State in my note of November 13, 1874, I have now the honor to inquire whether the Government of the United States is also willing to observe the provisions of these regulations, and to agree that it will do so, that the stipulations of Article XXX of the treaty of May 8, 1871, may be carefully carried out.
In the event of both the contracting parties agreeing upon the above-mentioned regulations, experience of their operations may show that some modifications on each side might be advisable. If this should be the case, I would suggest an agreement at present that a previous announcement should be made by each government to the other of the precise nature of the change which may be contemplated.
I have, &c.,