READJUSTMENT AFTER WAR 23 



British America, with the additional &quot;liberty&quot; 

 of drying and curing fish on certain unsettled 

 parts of the shore. By these provisions a prom 

 inent American industry was made very pros 

 perous and profitable. The excessive generos 

 ity of the British negotiators was severely 

 criticised by their compatriots on both sides of 

 the Atlantic. At Ghent, in 1814, there was an 

 opportunity to correct the error of the earlier 

 treaty. Accordingly, the British commission 

 ers took the position that, under a familiar 

 principle of international law, the fisheries 

 article of 1783, like all the rest of that conven 

 tion, had been abrogated by war between the 

 signatory governments. The Americans were 

 fully equipped with reasons why this principle 

 did not apply to the fisheries article. The 

 debate reached no conclusion, however, on ac 

 count of the agreement to treat of peace only. 



After hostilities ceased friction naturally arose 

 in the fishing regions. The Americans resumed 

 their accustomed pursuit of the herring and cod 

 in the accustomed places; the British author 

 ities in the Maritime Provinces manifested a 

 purpose to protect their coast from the intru 

 sion of the Americans. A zealous naval com 

 mander even warned an American fisherman 



