Halifax Fisheries Commission

On 23 November 1877, the Commission gave its decision. The Commission split 2-1. The majority, composed of Delfosse and Galt, ruled in favour of the United Kingdom and held that the United States was to pay the British government $5,500,000, in gold, as compensation for American fishing rights in British North American waters. The American commissioner, Kellogg, dissented and stated that the treaty conferred greater advantages on the British than those conferred on the Americans. He also questioned whether the commission could render a binding decision unless it was unanimous. Foster, the American agent, then registered a formal protest against the non-unanimous award.^[4]

In spite of the dissent by the American commissioner and the protest by the American agent, the United States duly paid the award of $5,500,000 by means of the American Minister to the United Kingdom, John Welsh.

When the treaty was later denounced by the United States, negotiations had to be resumed, and a new treaty was signed in 1888.

The Treaty and the Commission were notable steps in the recognition of Canada as a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. Although the Commission had been formally set up by the United Kingdom and the United States, the British Commissioner and four of the five counsel representing the British government were Canadian, the fifth counsel being a Newfoundlander.

• Record of the Proceedings of the Halifax Fisheries Commission
• Treaty of Washington (1871)
• Halifax Fishery Commission, Library and Archives Canada