[Inclosure in note of November 8,
1886.]
Certified copy of a report of a committee of the
honorable the privy council for Canada, approved by his
excellency the administrator of the Government in council on the
21st September, 1886.
The committee of the privy council have had under their consideration
a dispatch dated 5th August, 1886, from the right honorable the
secretary of state for the colonies, transmitting a copy of a letter
from the foreign office with a copy of a note from Mr. Bayard, and
protesting against the action of Captain Kent, of the Dominion
cruiser General Middleton, in refusing Stephen A. Balkam permission
to buy fish from Canadians.
The minister of marine and fisheries, to whom the dispatch and
inclosures were referred, submits the following report from the
first officer of the General Middleton:
“Halifax, August 25, 1886.
“I have the honor to state that when boarding several boats
in St. Andrews Bay I asked Stephen R. Balkam if the boat he
was in was American. He replied that he thought she was. I
informed him that if she was American he could not take fish
from the weirs on the English side without a permit from the
collector of customs at St. Andrews or West Isles.
“He asked permission to take the fish from the weirs in
Kelly’s Cove without a permit. I declined to accede to his
request.
“Mr. Balkam went around the point in his boat, and, after
accosting several others, I met him again, evidently trying
to evade my instructions. I told him that he must not take
the fish without permission from the customs. He left for
the American shore and I returned to the Middleton.
“Mr. Stephen R. Balkam I have known for some years. He
formerly belonged to St. Andrews, but is now living in
Eastport. His business is to carry sardines from the English
side to Eastport for canning purposes.”
The minister is of opinion, in view of the above, that in warning Mr.
Balkam that if his boat belonged to the United States he could not
take herring from the weirs without first having reported at the
custom-house, Mr. Kent acted within the scope of the law and his
instructions.
The committee respectfully advise that your excellency be moved to
transmit a copy of this minute to the right honorable the secretary
of state for the colonies, as requested in his dispatch of the 5th
August last.
JOHN J. McGEE,
Cleric, Privy
Council, Canada.
