711.428/1269
The Minister in Canada (Phillips) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 8.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Department’s instruction No. 493 of March 29, 1929, regarding seine fishing in the Missisquoi Bay section of Lake Champlain, and to enclose a copy of a note dated April 3 which I have this morning presented personally to the Prime Minister.40
In my conversations with Mr. King I traced the history of the negotiations, cited all the arguments in connection therewith, and made a special request that the Canadian Government should now agree to the appointment of a fact-finding commission to investigate this whole question. I drew his attention to the note which the Legation had presented to the Canadian Government a year ago, and to the nature of the Canadian reply. Furthermore, I reminded him that the only objection raised by the Government of the Dominion to the appointment of a fact-finding commission appeared to have been a preference that this question should be dealt with in connection with other outstanding fishery matters rather than by itself. However, I said, he would recollect that with the disposition of the halibut fishery situation in the Pacific and the sockeye salmon in the Fraser River, the Canadian Government had given evidence of a willingness to treat the fishery questions individually, and I expressed the hope, therefore, that the Government would find it reasonable to pursue the same procedure in the Missisquoi case.
Personally Mr. King seemed rather sympathetic with our point of view. He did not appear to have the facts of the matter in mind, but he assured me that he would look into it at once and send me a reply with the least possible delay.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩