No. 221.
Mr. Bayard to Sir L.
West.
Washington, September 23, 1886.
Sir: I have the honor to bring to your attention an instance which has been brought to my knowledge of an alleged denial of one of the rights guaranteed by the convention of 1818, in the case of an Americn vessel.
Capt. Joseph E. Graham, of the fishing schooner A. R. Crittenden, of Gloucester, Mass., states under oath that on or about the 21st of July last, on a return trip from the open-sea fishing grounds to his home port, and while passing through the Strait of Canso, he stopped at Steep Creek for water. The customs officer at that place told him that if he took in water his vessel would be seized; whereupon he sailed without obtaining the needed supply, and was obliged to put his men on short allowance of water during the passage homeward.
I have the honor to ask that Her Britannic Majesty’s Government cause investigation to be made of the reported action of the customs officer at Steep Creek, and if the facts be as stated, that he be promptly rebuked for his unlawful and inhumane conduct in denying to a vessel of a friendly nation a general privilege, which is not only held sacred under the maritime law of nations, but which is expressly confirmed to the fishermen of the United States throughout the Atlantic coasts of British North America by the first article of the convention of 1818.
[Page 415]It does not appear that the A. R. Crittenden suffered other damage by this alleged inhospitable treatment, but reserving that point the incident affords an illustration of the vexatious spirit in which the officers of the Dominion of Canada appear to seek to penalize and oppress those fishing vessels of the United States, lawfully engaged, in fishing, which from any cause are brought within their reach.
I have, &c.,