MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, before introducing into Parliament the Seal Fishery (North Pacific) Pill for the prohibition of sealing by British subjects in the North Pacific Ocean, Her Majesty's Government had asked for and obtained the consent thereto of the Canadian Government; and whether, inasmuch as the Bill applies to all the Pacific waters north of the 42nd parallel of latitude, it is intended that the prohibition of sealing shall extend to the bays, creeks, and coasts in general of the Dominion of Canada on the Pacific side?
§ SIR E. GREYHer Majesty's Government have assured themselves beforehand of the assent of the Canadian Government to the arrangements con- 890 templated under the Seal Fishery (North Pacific) Act, 1893. The Act will be for the purpose of putting into force the Agreement with the Russian Government, which has recently been laid before Parliament; and when the Bill has passed into law, its provisions will be carried out by Order in Council; but it is not intended to apply them to the Canadian coasts on the Pacific, without the assent of the Canadian Government.