§ MR. GOURLEY (Sunderland)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that the American schooner Vought, which returned to New York on the 15th September, was, on arriving at Paspebiac, Canada, in a distressed condition, not permitted to obtain a supply of water or to have her damages repaired, but was ordered to sea; and, whether he can now inform the House what measures Her Majesty's Government contemplate adopting for the purpose of amending or abolishing the existing Fishery Treaties, and which, from time to time, cause friction between this Country, the United States, and the Dominion of Canada?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)Her Majesty's Government have not received any information 1266 respecting the occurrence in question, and I cannot, therefore, say if the facts are correctly stated. As I have already informed the House, the Secretary of State is in communication with the United States Government, and is also communicating personally with the United States Minister in this country with a view and an earnest endeavour to remove the causes of difference which exist.