1128 ADMINISTRATION AND LEGISLATION [PART V 
Parliament declined to pass such legislation, and therefore 
the treaty remained a dead letter. 
The Treaty of Washington of 1888, which never came into 
force, contained in Article XVI a provision for ratification 
by the Queen after receiving the assent of the Parliament of 
Canada and of the Legislature of Newfoundland. 
This was adopted in accordance with the precedents of 1854 
and 1871, but the nature of the treaty rendered it clear that 
legislation both in Canada and Newfoundland would be 
necessary before the treaty could have any effect. 
The question of submitting treaties before ratification 
to Dominion Parliaments was further discussed in 1909 in 
connexion with the treaties concluded at the beginning of 
that year with the United States Government! Some 
unfavourable comment had arisen in the Canadian House of 
Commons because no copy of the Boundary Waters Treaty 
was available, though the treaty was before the United States 
Senate. At the same time comment was made in the 
Canadian Press which implied that the Canadian Government 
had been in some degree ignored in the negotiations. In 
a telegram from the Secretary of State of January 29, which 
was read in the Canadian House of Commons, it was pointed 
out that there was a misunderstanding as to the presentation 
of the treaty to the Dominion Parliament. The treaty-making 
power in Great Britain was the King, acting on the advice of 
his responsible ministers in the United Kingdom, who, in 
the case of treaties affecting a Dominion, acted in full con- 
sultation and accord with the Government of that Dominion. 
In the United States the treaty-making power was the 
President by and with the advice of the Senate, and until the 
Senate had approved, publication in the United States or in 
the United Kingdom was not customary. The United States 
Senate stood, therefore, in a different position from either 
the Imperial or the Canadian Parliament. 
The question as to how far it is desirable that treaties 
should be approved by Dominion Parliaments was also 
discussed in the Canadian House of Commons on May 14, 
t See Canadian Annual Review, 1909, pp. 29, 30, 183, 184.