A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 611 pages of information about A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents.

A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 611 pages of information about A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents.
Lawrence, the rivers which fall into the bays of Chaleurs and Fundy might be comprised in the same genus with the rivers which fall directly into the Atlantic, still the St. John and the Restigouche form a distinct species by themselves and do not belong to the species of rivers which fall directly into the Atlantic, for the St. John and Restigouche are not divided in company with any such last-mentioned rivers.”  The undersigned considers it unnecessary to enter into the question whether according to the context the circumstance expressed by the adverb “alone” has reference to the verb “divide” or to the verb “include,” because even allowing it to refer to the former it does not appear to the undersigned that his interpretation of the passage is thereby impaired or that of Mr. Fox sustained.  The undersigned conceives that the arbiter contemplated two different species of rivers as admissible into genus of those which “fall into the Atlantic,” to wit, those which fall directly into the Atlantic and those which fall into it indirectly; that the arbiter was further of opinion, though at variance with the idea entertained in that respect by the United States, that the rivers St. John and Restigouche, emptying their waters into the bays of Fundy and Des Chaleurs, did not belong to the species of rivers falling directly into the Atlantic; that if they were considered alone, therefore, the appellation of “rivers falling into the Atlantic Ocean” could not be regarded as applicable to them, because, to use the language of the award, it would be “applying to two exclusively special cases, where no mention was made of the genus, a generical expression which would ascribe to them a broader meaning;” but it is not conceived that the arbiter intended to express an opinion that these rivers might not be included with others in forming the genus of rivers described by the treaty as those which “fall into the Atlantic,” and that upon this ground they should be wholly excluded in determining the question of the disputed boundary.  While, therefore, the undersigned agrees with Mr. Fox that the arbiter did not consider these rivers as falling directly into the Atlantic Ocean, the undersigned can not concur in Mr. Fox’s construction when he supposes the arbiter to give as a reason for this that they are not divided in company with any such last-mentioned rivers—­that is, with rivers falling directly into the Atlantic.  Conceding as a point which it is deemed unnecessary for the present purpose to discuss that the grammatical construction of the sentence contended for by Mr. Fox is the correct one, the arbiter is understood to say only that those rivers are not divided immediately with others falling into the Atlantic, either directly or indirectly, but he does not allege this to be a sufficient reason for excluding them when connected with other rivers divided mediately from those emptying into the St.
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A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.