336 VENEZUELA AND AFTER 



pretation of a treaty is to be referred by a 

 special agreement to the permanent Court of 

 Arbitration at The Hague. Such agreement 

 must in the United States be submitted to the 

 Senate for approval, and in Great Britain may 

 be subject to the concurrence of any self-gov 

 erning dominion whose interests are affected 

 by the matter at issue. That the fisheries 

 dispute fell within the provisions of this arbi 

 tration treaty, and that the fact was keenly 

 present to the minds of the negotiators, may be 

 inferred from the fact that under the same 

 date as the signature of the treaty a special 

 agreement under its provisions was signed by 

 Messrs. Root and Bryce, referring to The Hague 

 Tribunal the interpretation of the fisheries 

 article of the treaty of 1818 between the United 

 States and Great Britain. This agreement, 

 put in effect by exchange of notes March 4, 

 1909, insured a settlement of practically all the 

 issues of this century-old controversy. 



The presentation of the case to the tribunal 

 took place in the summer of 1910, and the 

 decision was made on September 7 of that 

 year. By the terms of the arbitration the 

 judgment of the tribunal was called for on 

 seven questions. In these were summed up 



