1230 ADMINISTRATION AND LEGISLATION [PART V 
Minister of Justice emphasized the fact that the Parliament 
of Canada was strongly in favour of the policy of the Canadian 
Government. He urged that the arrangement made with 
the United States was merely a statement by the Foreign 
Secretary of the existing law of copyright in the Empire, and 
was not an undertaking that that law would never be altered. 
It was pointed out that the result of the arrangement was 
that Canada had become more than ever a market for 
American reprints, to the detriment of publishers in Canada. 
There was not the slightest prospect of the United States 
altering their fixed policy of insisting on reprinting in that 
country. Moreover, was it intended that the rights of British 
copyright holders were to continue to be set up as a bar to 
the rights of the Canadian people and the Canadian Parlia- 
ment, when it had been repeatedly recognized that the exis- 
tence of that privilege had become a grievance in Canada 
and assurances had been given that the grievances would be 
redressed ? The Minister of Justice was unable to agree with 
the views of the Committee as to the position of Canadian 
readers and authors, and he could not accept the practical 
suggestions made by the Committee for the granting of 
licences on the conditions laid down by them. He declined, 
moreover, to discuss the constitutional right of Canada to 
pass the Act of 1889, regarding it as beyond doubt. 
In a further dispatch of March 30, 1894,! Lord Aberdeen 
forwarded a minute from his ministers stating that it was 
no longer intended to collect the duty of 123 per cent. 
imposed on foreign reprints of British copyright works for 
the benefit of copyright holders, in view of the changes which 
were expected to be made in the Imperial Copyright Laws 
in so far as they apply to Canada. In reply to this dispatch 2 
the Governor-General was asked whether his ministers had 
considered what would be the effect 3 of the second section of 
‘ Parl, Pap., C. 7783, p. 78. * Ibid, p. 81. 
* This referred to the fact that on the lapsing of the duty the Order in 
Council of July 7, 1868, suspending the operation of the Imperial Act of 
1842, ceased to have effect, and the importation of foreign reprints into 
Canada was legally impossible. See below, pp. 1233, 1234.