224 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF NEWFOUNDLAND 



followed by paper, and England sent out naval officers ' lo carry out the 

 renewed spirit o f the arrangement' of 1885, except the bait-clause. 

 'tkenaoal The English officers declared that hardly any lobster-factories 

 make-shift; impeded the French fisheries ; and the French officers ad- 

 mitted that this was correct in some cases. Wherever the 

 French officer pointed out pots or nets, which were in the 

 way of definite French fishermen, the English officer ordered 

 the pots and nets to be removed while the French fishermen 

 were actually fishing; and as soon as the French fishermen 

 had finished the pots and nets were replaced. The French 

 officer, at the request of the English officer, ordered French 

 buildings of brick and stone to be taken down and they were 

 duly left standing. The men of war proved men of peace, 

 and to a and honour was satisfied. They even agreed to permit 



periodically lobster-factories to continue, and their agreement led to the 



renewed 3 



modus annual adoption by England and France of a modus Vivendi, 



vivendi un d er which no lobster-factories were to be suppressed, ex- 



pending an 



arbitra- cept new ones which were erected after July, 1889, and even 



tton, in- eg m jorht be sanctioned by the two commanders 



tended but J 



never held, jointly, if care was taken not to favour one nation at the 



1889-1904. ex p ense o f the other. The modus was renewed from year 

 to year, and involved the removal for a few hours of lobster- 

 pots and herring-nets, and the closing of one or two new 

 lobster-factories, for which a discontented mortgagee sued the 

 naval officer with success, 1 acts which scarcely belong to 

 history. The modus was afterwards sanctioned by annual 

 or triennial Acts of the local legislature between 1891 and 

 1904; and further unseemly litigation between St. John's 

 merchants and officers of the Royal Navy, who alone stood 

 between Newfoundland and a great war, was averted. The 

 modus was meant to pave the way for arbitration on the 

 lobster question, to which England and France assented 

 between May 1889 and January 1891 ; but* the ministers of 

 Newfoundland urged a reference to the arbitrators of all 

 1 Baird versus Walker, Law Reports, 1891, A. C. 491. 



