Partly-printed DS as president, one page, 8 x 10, November 18, 1887. President Cleveland directs the Secretary of State to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to “my Full Power authorizing Thomas F. Bayard, Wm. L. Putnam & Jas. B. Angell to confer with the Britannic Majesty’s Plenipotentiaries on the fishery question.” Signed neatly at the conclusion by Grover Cleveland. In fine condition.
‘After the abrogation of the fisheries provisions of the 1871 Treaty of Washington by the United States went into effect in 1885, American access to the fishing grounds of British North America was governed by the much more restrictive provisions of the Convention of 1818. The contentious 1886 fishing season was capped by the passing of aggressive legislation by the Canadian government that promised to make the next fishing season even more confrontational.
The amended Canadian Fisheries Act spurred both the Executive and Legislative branches of the United States into action. While Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard sought a diplomatic solution, Congress considered retaliatory action. In January 1887, Republican Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont introduced a retaliatory bill authorizing the President ‘to deny vessels, their masters and crews, of the British dominions of North America.’ President Grover Cleveland signed the retaliation bill on March 3rd but had no intention to enforce it as he and his Secretary of State still sought a diplomatic solution.
Bayard’s efforts on the diplomatic front finally bore fruit in late March when the British Government indicated that it was prepared to appoint commissioners to settle the fisheries dispute. After several months of wrangling over the composition and terms of reference of the mixed Anglo-American commission, the negotiations began on November 22, 1887.
On the British side were influential British politician Joseph Chamberlain, British Minister to the United States Sir Lionel Sackville-West, and Sir Charles Tupper, Canadian Minster of Finance and High Commissioner to Great Britain. Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard led the American delegation, joined by William L. Putnam, a lawyer from New England with a deep knowledge of the fisheries dispute, and William B. Angell, President of the University of Michigan.
The commission met between November 1887 and February 1888, and it became evident early on that the American commissioners were unable to make tariff reductions a part of the discussions since they required Congressional action. The British commissioners were nonplussed and the negotiations were thrown into turmoil. Eventually, a way forward was found, and on February 15, 1888, the agreement that would become known as the Bayard-Chamberlain treaty was signed.
The treaty provided for the appointment of a commission to precisely define British North American territorial waters, instituted licenses that could be obtained by American fishing vessels which would entitle them to the same rights as other trading vessels to purchase supplies in the ports and harbors of British North America, authorized penalties for violations of the treaty.’
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