§ SIR WALTER FOSTER (Derby, Ilkeston)(for Mr. GOURLEY) (Sunder-land) asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is correct that the American Fishing Schooner Perkins has been seized for shipping seven seamen 683 off Prince Edward's Island inside the disputed fishery limits; and, if so, whether, in the absence of a Consular Convention between the two countries, the seizure is legal; whether he is aware that, owing to these seizures, the United States Government have ordered that all British sealing and fishing vessels found within the acknowledged Treaty limits of Alaska are to be seized, and that they have also instructed Admiral Luce, of the United States Navy, to withdraw from Canadian waters; and, whether it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to accede to the desire of the American Government in the appointment of a Commission to inquire into all matters appertaining to the existing Anglo-American fishery disputes, with a view to an amicable adjustment, and the stoppage of further uncivilized seizures?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)No Report has yet been received by Her Majesty's Government on the subject of the first paragraph of the Question. Until the arrival of such Report, which manifestly cannot be prepared without investigation on the spot, it would be premature to express any opinion as to the legality of the seizure. Information has reached Her Majesty's Government of the recent seizure of certain British schooners engaged in seal fishing in Behring Sea, and the Government are in communication with the British Minister at Washington on the subject; but they are not aware that any such instructions as those indicated in the Question have been issued by the United States Authorities.