711.428/559
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of Commerce (Alexander)
Sir: I have the honor to refer to previous correspondence with your Department regarding the proposed treaty between the United States and Great Britain, concerning port privileges of fishing vessels, lobster fishing, halibut fishing, and tariff on fresh fish. This treaty is in process of negotiation upon the basis of recommendations made by the American-Canadian Fisheries Conference, the American members of which were your predecessor, Mr. Redfield; Mr. Sweet, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce; and Dr. Smith, Commissioner of Fisheries.
I now hand you herewith a copy of a letter received from Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington,28 commenting upon the proposed treaty. Since most of the matters referred to involve facts not within the knowledge of this Department but known to the members of the Conference, I am referring this letter to you with the request that the members of the Conference inform me of their views upon the criticisms made.
In this connection, I hand you herewith a copy of the draft of the treaty as formally submitted to me by the British Government.29 In this draft of the treaty, a new Section V has been inserted which did not appear in the draft examined by Senator Jones. Accordingly, Senator Jones’ references to Articles V, VI, VII, and VIII, now relate to Articles VI, VII, VIII and IX.
I have [etc.]