ward's extraordinary communication of
August 19 was prompt and pointed. In a note of August 21 he
courteously affected to believe that a grave mistake had occurred in
the transmission of Lord Granville's telegram. He could not believe
that Lord Granville, advised of the inability of the Government of
the United States to assent to the selection of Mr. Delfosse, would
deliberately propose that gentleman. Mr. Fish was sure that there had
been "some mis-conveyance of information or instruction, for which the
telegraph must have been responsible." He reminded Sir Edward that
in an interview with him in Washington he (Mr. Fish) had declared that
"while entertaining a high personal regard for the character and
abilities of the Belgian Minister to his country, there are reasons in
the political relations between his government and that of Great
Britain why the representative of the former could not be regarded as
an independent and indifferent arbitrator on questions between the
Government of her Majesty and the United States." Mr. Fish still
further reminded Sir Edward that during the session of the Joint High
Commission, when the question of referring the Fishery dispute to the
head of some foreign State was under discussion, Earl de Grey, chairman
of the British Commissioners, in proposing several powers, voluntarily
said to the American Commissioners, "_I do not name Belgium or
Portugal, because Great Britain has treaty arrangements with them that
might be supposed to incapacitate them_."

Five days later Sir Edward advised Mr. Fish that "as the matters which
are to be considered by the Commission deeply concern the people of
Canada, it was necessary to consult the Government of the Dominion
upon the point of so much importance as the appointment of a third
Commissioner; and some delay was therefore unavoidable. . . . I have
now [continued Sir Edward] the honor to inform you that her Majesty's
Government has received a communication from the Governor-General of
Canada (Lord Dufferin) to the effect that the Government of the
Dominion strongly _objects to the appointment of any of the foreign
Ministers residing at Washington as third Commissioner on the above
mentioned Commission_, and prefers to resort to the alternative
provided by the treaty; namely, to leave the nomination to the Austrian
Ambassador at London."

The State Department was justified by this time in considering that the
British Government was resortin