tained in it, which diverted attention from the provision as to Lake Ontario shipments, and when that discussion closed, the order in council was passed without noticing that the provision of the order in council of 1891 was continued. When the Canadian government learned from Mr. Adee's memoran-' dum of the error which had been committed, it was immediately decided to cancel that portion of the order which restricted to Canadian subjects the privilege of obtaining a rebate on the St. Lawrence canals on shipments from Lake Ontario, and to extend that privilege to United States citizens shipping freight from the United States side of the lake. As the simplest mode of dealing with the matter, a new order in council was framed on the 12th instant, copy of which I inclose for your information, amending the order in council of the 4th of April last, and making the amendments operative from that date. Sir John Abbott points out at the same time that Mr. Adee is in error in stating that the clause as to shipments from Canadian Lake Ontario ports appears for the first time in the order in council of last April, as in reality it was contained in the order of April 29, 1891, of which I also inclose a copy. In bringing this matter to your notice I am requested to convey to you the regrets of the Canadian government for the mistake which has so unfortunately been committed. Believe me, etc. MICHAEL H. HERBERT. [Inclosure No. 1.] Order in council. AT THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE AT OTTAWA, Present, his excellency the Governor-General, in council. His excellency, under the authority conferred upon him by chapter 37 of the Revised Statutes entitled "An act respecting the department of railways and canals," and by and with the advice of the Queen's privy council for Canada, is pleased to order that the provisions of the order in council of the 25th day of March, 1891, authorizing the reduction of toll to 2 cents per ton for the passage through the Welland and St. Lawrence canals of certain agricultural products therein named, shall be, and be understood to apply to any portions of such cargoes lightered at Port Colburne and reshipped at Port Dalhousie, and also that the provisions of the said order be made applicable to the therein-named products when shipped from Canadian Lake Ontario ports. JOHN J. MCGEE, Clerk of the Privy Council. [Inclosure No. 2.] Amended order in council. AT THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE AT OTTAWA. Present, his excellency the Governor-General, in council. Whereas, by a clause of the order in council of the 4th of April, 1892, respecting the rebate to be allowed on certain food products traversing the Welland and St. Lawrence canals bound for Montreal or some port east of Montreal for exportation, it was provided that the right to such rebate should extend to shipments of the said products made from any Canadian Lake Ontario port," this provision being taken from the order in council of the 29th April, 1891. And whereas it was not intended that the restriction in favor of Canadian Lake Ontario ports should be continued; His Excellency, under the provisions of chapter 37 of the Revised Statutes enti tled "An act respecting the department of railways and canals," and by and with the advice of the Queen's privy council for Canada, is pleased to order that the said order in council of the 4th April, 1892, shall be, and the same is hereby, amended by the omission of the word "Canadian" from the clause in question; and that such amendment shall have force and effect from the 4th day of April last. JOHN J. MCGEE, Clerk of the Privy Council. Mr. Foster to Mr. Herbert. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DEAR MR. HERBERT: I had the pleasure to receive, this morning, your personal note of the 16th instant, announcing the revocation of the Canadian order excluding from the benefit of rebate tolls in the St. Lawrence canals cargoes originating in our Ontarian ports and destined for export from Montreal or a port further eastward. It shall be submitted to the President, with whom and with Congress the pres ent consideration of the subject rests. Your correction regarding the date of the regulation in question is entirely acceptable, but I do not see that the point is material. Whether originating in 1891 or revived in 1892, the discrimination is gratuitous and not applicable to any observed movement of trade in the channels it professed to discourage. Having been of no practical effect, its removal is likewise, of course, of no practical benefit. Very truly yours, Mr. Herbert to Mr. Foster. JOHN W. FOSTER. BRITISH LEGATION, Newport, R. I., July 23, 1892. SIR: I have the honor to inform you that I duly forwarded to the Governor-General of Canada copy of your note of the 9th instant in regard to common wreckage and salvage privileges in the waters conterminous to the Dominion of Canada and the United States, and at the same time calling his excellency's attention to your request for information as to the application of the Canadian wrecking act to the waters specially mentioned by the act of Congress of May 24, 1890, namely: The Welland Canal, the canal and improvement of the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and the waters of St. Mary's River and Canal. I have received a telegram from his excellency in reply, in which he states that vessels or goods salved by United States vessels in Canadian waters may be taken through the canals mentioned above in the same way as ordinary vessels or merchandise, but the Canadian wrecking act does not authorize salvage operations by the United States vessels in these canals, as they are not waters contiguous to the United States but are bounded on both sides by Canadian territory. I have, etc., MICHAEL H. HERBERT. Mr. Herbert to Mr. Foster. BRITISH LEGATION, DEAR MR. FOSTER: I very much regret the delay in my reply as to the construction of the Canadian wrecking act, which I send you to-day. I trust, in view of the fact that no wrecks are probable in the canals themselves, that Lord Stanley's telegram, which is embodied in my note, will be found satisfactory. Yours, very truly, MICHAEL H. HERBERT. Memorandum. At an interview held at the Department of State on Monday, August 1, the Secretary of State informed Mr. Herbert, chargé of the British Legation, that, in view of the passage of the act of Congress relating to the Canadian canal tolls, the President would regard it as his duty to issue, without delay, a proclamation based upon that act, imposing tolls upon products passing through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal destined for Canadian ports, unless an assurance could be received from the Canadian Government, within a few days, that the discriminations now enforced in the Canadian canals against American ports and lines of transportation would be promptly discontinued. Mr. Herbert answered that a few days' delay would be necessary in order to reassemble the Canadian Cabinet, the majority of whom are now absent from the capital, and he inquired of the Secretary what time would be considered reasonable for this purpose. The Secretary replied that he thought the cabinet might be couveniently called together and take action within a week or ten days, and that nothing would be done by the President in the matter within that time. Mr. Herbert said he would communicate immediately with the Governor-General of Canada, by telegraph, and urge prompt action. Mr. Foster to Mr. Herbert. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 23d ultimo, in which, replying to my inquiry of the 9th of July, you inform me of the receipt of a telegram from the Governor-General of Canada stating that the Canadian wrecking act, assented to May 10 last, does not authorize salvage operations by the United States vessels in the Welland Canal. The act of Congress approved May 24, 1890, extends wrecking and salvage privileges to Canadian vessels "in the waters of the United States contiguous to the Dominion of Canada," provided like privileges are extended to American vessels "in Canadian waters contiguous to the United States." The canals connected with the navigation of the Great Lakes being wholly within the territory of one or the other country may not be "contiguous waters" in its strictest sense, but they are plainly incidental to waters that are contiguous and are important parts of the system of waterways constituting the boundary of the two countries, for which reciprocal wrecking and salvage privileges were intended to be provided. The foregoing act of Congress, therefore, declared that it "shall be construed to apply to the Welland Canal, the canal and improvements of the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and the waters of the St. Marys River and Canal." But, whether this be a proper construction or is an enlargement of the act, it proceeds upon the same reciprocal basis, and only asks the same privileges in the Welland Canal which it gives in the St. Marys Falls and St. Clair Flats Canals. Whatever may be the practical importance of including these canals in the reciprocal arrangement, the President is as powerless under the act to omit them as he would be to omit one of the Great Lakes. It was this act in its entirety which the Canadian commissioners undertook to meet by reciprocal legislation or regulation on the part of the Government of Canada. Although the President exceedingly regrets that the consummation of this arrangement, so desirable for both countries, should be in anywise retarded, he is unable to issue his proclamation putting the act of Congress in force until the Canadian Government, by construction of its present act or otherwise, can give him assurance that the wrecking and salvage privileges given by the Dominion of Canada shall apply "to the Welland Canal, the canal and improvements of the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and to the waters of the St. Mary's River and Canal," in so far as the canals and waters in question lie within the Dominion of Canada. I have the honor to be, etc., JOHN W. FOSTER. Mr. Herbert to Mr. Foster. BRITISH LEGATION, Newport, R. I., August 6, 1892. (Received August 8.) DEAR MR. FOSTER: I have just received a telegram from Sir John Abbott, the prime minister of the Dominion, in which he informs me that the canal toll question will receive the further consideration of the Canadian Government. The members of the cabinet are, however, scattered all over the country, Sir John himself having only returned two days ago from a fortnight's stay up the Restigouche; and, as so grave a question will necessitate a full meeting of the cabinet, he fears that it will be impossible to arrive at a final decision for a week or ten days longer. While much regretting this delay, I venture to express the hope that no further action will be taken by the United States Government in the matter, until I shall have received the answer of the Canadian Government. I am, etc., MICHAEL H. HERBERT. Mr. Foster to Mr. Herbert. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Information has reached me that the Canadian Pacific Railway is making contracts to transport Chinese persons from China and deliver them at designated points in the United States for fixed sums, the price named being, for instance, $140 from China to Chicago. Such action on the part of the Canadian Pacific Railway, I need scarcely observe, makes it well nigh impossible to execute the Federal laws governing the entrance of Chinese persons into the United States; and even in the case of violations of those laws being detected, enormous expense is detailed in deporting the offenders. I am informed that there are at the present time at Detroit alone no less than fourteen Chinamen under detention, who were brought from the Pacific coast and attempted to be introduced into the United States in violation of existing law. It is credibly reported that there are many, probably more than one thousand, Chinamen now at Vancouver awaiting transportation into the United States by Canadian channels. The policy of the Government of the United States to restrict the coming of Chinese laborers into this country has been made clearly known. The question raised by the difficulties of enforcing that policy throughout a long and unguarded inland frontier has been specifically presented in a kindly spirit to the Government of Her Majesty. Under date of October 22, 1890, Mr. Lincoln was instructed to bring to Lord Salisbury's attention a concurrent resolution of the Senate and Honse of Representatives inviting negotiation with the Government of Great Britain with a view to securing treaty stipulations for the prevention of the entry of Chinese laborers from the Dominion of Canada contrary to our laws. Mr. Lincoln communicated the proposition November 5, 1890, and his lordship deferred a reply until the views of the Canadian government should be ascertained. On February 11, 1891, Mr. Lincoln renewed the proposition and the Marquis of Salisbury stated that he would at once call the attention of the Canadian Government to it by cable. A response is yet awaited. This incident serves to show alike the vital importance attached by this Government to the question and the indifference of the Dominion government to the subject. The present aspects of the matter would seem, however, to overpass the bounds of mere indifference and to indicate the tolerance of a proceeding whose friendliness is open to grave question. When the policy of this country has been proclaimed and enforced by appropriate laws, it can not be deemed a friendly act should great corporation, amenable in so many respects to the control of a neighboring government, employ its vast power and resources to thwart the purpose of this Government by becoming an organized machinery for the unlawful introduction of Chinese persons into the United States. The question of preventing the influx of Chinese has heretofore attracted serious attention when the evil was comparatively slight and when the Chinese were often in fact contravening Canadian law or abusing Canadian hospitality in their efforts to gain admission to the United States from that quarter. I should deeply regret if their attempts should find sanction on the part of the Canadian authorities or effective aid from the Canadian Pacific Railway. |