This conduct has been justified by Great Britain and Canada by the claim
that the treaty of 1818 permitted it and upon the ground that it was
necessary to the proper protection of Canadian interests. We deny that
treaty agreements justify these acts, and we further maintain that aside
from any treaty restraints of disputed interpretation the relative
positions of the United States and Canada as near neighbors, the growth
of our joint commerce, the development and prosperity of both countries,
which amicable relations surely guarantee, and, above all, the
liberality always extended by the United States to the people of Canada
furnished motives for kindness and consideration higher and better than
treaty covenants.
While keenly sensitive to all that was exasperating in the condition and
by no means indisposed to support the just complaints of our injured
citizens, I still deemed it my duty, for the preservation of important
American interests which were directly involved, and in view of all the
details of the situation, to attempt by negotiation to remedy existing
wrongs and to finally terminate by a fair and just treaty these
ever-recurring causes of difficulty.
I fully believe that the treaty just rejected by the Senate was well
suited to the exigency, and that its provisions were adequate for our
security in the future from vexatious incidents and for the promotion of
friendly neighborhood and intimacy, without sacrificing in the least our
national pride or dignity.
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