614 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



$60,000 was voted for the purposes of the 

 act, to be expended during three years. 



Fisheries. The expiration of the Treaty of 

 Washington on July 1, 1885, left Newfound- 

 land in a position somewhat similar to that 

 of the Dominion of Canada with regard to 

 the United States ; and the colony adopted a 

 policy similar to that of the Dominion. Ameri- 

 can fishermen were permitted to fish for the 

 remainder of the season within the territorial 

 waters of the colony, on the understanding 

 that the President of the United States would, 

 at the next meeting of Congress, recommend 

 the appointment of an International Commis- 

 sion. But, as Congress failed to adopt this 

 suggestion, the Newfoundland Government 

 adopted similar tactics to those of Canada in 

 the enforcement of the International Conven- 

 tion of 1818, forbidding the purchase of bait 

 or ice in the colony by Americans, and pro- 

 hibiting fishing operations by them within 

 three miles of the coast, etc. A bill passed 

 by the Assembly imposing an export duty on 

 bait was reserved by the Governor for her 

 Majesty's consideration. 



The French Shore Question. On Nov. 14, 1885, 

 an agreement was signed at Paris between 

 England and France with reference to the 

 long-standing dispute about the rights of French 

 fishermen on that part of the coast of New- 

 foundland known as the French shore. The 

 Colonial Legislature refused to ratify the agree- 

 ment. The terms of the arrangement were as 

 follow : 



The undersigned commissioners, who have been 

 appointed by the Governments of Great Britain and 

 France in order to find meanSj without touching the 

 treaties at present in force, which it is not their duty 

 either to modify or to interpret, of preventing and 

 regulating disputes relative to the exercise of the fish- 

 ery on the coasts of Newfoundland, have framed iu 

 concert the following regulations, subject to the ap- 

 proval of their respective Governments : 



ARTICLE 1. The Government of her Majesty the 

 Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 

 Ireland engages to comply with the following regula- 

 tions for securing to French fishermen, in execution 

 of the treaties in force, and particularly of the Decla- 

 ration of 1783, the free exercise of their industry on 

 the coasts of Newfoundland without any interference 

 or obstruction whatever on the part of British sub- 



2. The Government of the French Eepublic engages 

 on its part, in exchange for the security accorded to 

 French fishermen by the application of the regula- 

 tions contained in the present arrangement, not to 

 raise any objections against the formation of establish- 

 ments necessary for the development of every indus- 

 try other than that of the fisheries on those portions 

 of the coasts of Newfoundland comprised between 

 Cape St. John and Cape Eay which are tinted in red 

 on the map hereto annexed, and which do not appear 

 in the statement also annexed, describing the portions 

 of the coast to which the present paragraph does not 

 apply. It engages equally not to disturb the resident 

 British subjects in respect of the establishments actu- 

 ally existing on those parts of the coast comprised 

 between Cape St. John and Cape Eay passing by the 

 north, but no new ones will be established on those 

 parts of the coast described in the statement men- 

 tioned in the preceding paragraph. 



3. Notwithstanding the prohibition stipulated at the 



end of the second paragraph of the preceding article, 

 in the case where a mine should be discovered in the 

 vicinity of any one of the parts of the coast comprised 

 in the statement annexed to the present arrangement, 

 the Government of the French Eepublic engages not 

 to raise any objection to the persons interested enjoy- 

 ing for the working of such mine facilities compatible 

 with the free exercise of the French fisheries. With 

 this object a wharf can be constructed on a point of 

 the coast to be specified by common agreement be- 

 tween the commanders of the cruisers of the two na- 

 tions. The constructions necessary for the working 

 of the mine such as dwelling-houses, workshops, 

 warehouses, etc. shall be erected on that part of the 

 territory situated beyond the limits specified in the 

 annexed statement for the exercise of the French fish- 

 eries., They may be connected with the wharf by 

 one single railroad of one or two lines. In order to 

 facilitate the operations of loading and unloading, 

 shelters and storehouses may, nevertheless, be con- 

 structed on each side of the railroad for the provis- 

 ional storage of minerals and mining plant on a space 

 not exceeding fifteen metres on each side of the rail- 

 road, such space to be inclosed by a hedge or some 

 sort ol inclosure. No construction other than the 

 wharf, the railway, and the shelters and storehouses 

 above mentioned can, in conformity with the last 

 stipulation of the second paragraph of the preceding 

 article, be erected on the part of the coast set aside 

 for fishing in the limits fixed in the annexed state- 

 ment. The stipulations of the present article shall 

 apply equally to the working of a mine within these 

 limits, on the condition that it shall have been mutu- 

 ally agreed upon previously by the commanders of 

 the cruisers or the two nations that the working of 

 the mine shall not be of such a nature as to hinder the 

 free exercise of the French fisheries. 



4. It is understood that French citizens shall retain 

 in full on all those parts of the coast comprised be- 

 tween Cape St. John and Cape Eay the right as it is 

 defined by treaty of fishing, of drying and curing their 

 fish, etc., as well as of cutting wood in all parts ex- 

 cept on inclosed property, necessary for fishing-stages, 

 huts, and fishing-boats. 



5. The superintendence and the police of the fish- 

 eries shall be exercised by the ships of war of the two 

 countries in accordance with the conditions hereafter 

 set forth, the commanders of these ships having sole 

 authority and competency under these conditions in 

 all matters relating to the fisheries and the operations 

 which result therefrom. 



6. English and French fishing ships or boats sha 

 be registered in accordance with the administrate 

 regulations of the country to which they respective! 

 belong, and shall bear distinctive marks in a visit" 

 manner, which will allow of their being easily rec 

 nized at a distance. The captains, masters, or 

 sons in charge must have with them documents < 

 lishinsf the nationality of their ships or boats. 



7. The commanders of cruisers of each nation shall 

 notify mutually to one another any infractions which 

 may be committed by the ships or boats of the other 

 nation of the regulations set forth in the preceding 

 article. 



8. The cruisers of the two countries shall have au- 

 thority to record all infractions of the treaties actually 

 in force, and especially of the Declaration of 1783, ac- 

 cording to the terms of which British subjects are not 

 " to interrupt in any manner the fishery of the French 

 by their competition during the temporary exercise ot 

 it which is granted to them upon the coasts of New- 

 foundland." 



9. On a complaint being made by French fisher- 

 men, or on a demand being made by them with a view 

 to their being enabled to exercise their right of fish- 

 ing, the commanders of the English cruisers shall op- 

 pose, and, in case of no English cruisers being in 

 sight, the commanders of the French cruisers may op- 

 pose, every fishing operation of British subjects which 

 may interrupt the industry of such French fishermen ; 



