The New York Journal of Commerce has startled our journalists
out of their propriety, by asserting that there has been no settle- ment of the Fishery dispute, no negotiation, no encroachment, no concession—it was all a mistake : certain routine measures taken by the British Government were misapprehended by the American Government, but explanations showed that no new position was attempted, and the affair fell to the ground. We incline to think that the Journal is right incontradicting the announcement of our own Ministerial papers,. that there had been a formal and final settlement; but wrong in saying that there has been neither nego- tiation nor, alteration. In the course of the diplomatic controversy, our Government has confirmed and extended Lord Aberdeen's con- cession, and has left the matter open for further concession, by ue, at a future day : that is about the sum of what passed. That there should have been any mistake at all, either as to the prove- cation or the final result, is due to the systematic mystification which the present Cabinet seems to think beneficial to its own safety.
