Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr. Olney.
Washington, February 4, 1896.
Sir: With reference to your note of the 3d ultimo and to previous correspondence relative to the prohibition of the shipment of United States cattle across Canadian territory for export, I have the honor to inform you that I have now received a dispatch from the Governor-General of Canada from which it appears that the Dominion Government, while admitting to the fullest extent the transit obligations defined in article 29 of the treaty of May 18, 1871, explain that the restrictions of which complaint is made have relation simply to regulations formed under the “animal contagious diseases act,” and therefore pertain solely to “health of animals.”
The United States Government, it is observed, make similar restrictions under the quarantine laws of the United States as respects Canadian animals in transit, for reasons connected with the health of the animals without regard to any considerations of transit obligations.
All transit animals, whether from the United Kingdom, the United States, or other countries, are subject in Canada to restrictions imposed under the quarantine regulations, and it follows therefore in the view of the Dominion Government that the restrictions in question are not in contravention of the provision of the treaty of 1871.
I have, etc.,