532 



THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



later by the treaty of Versailles in 1783, the article regarding 

 Newfoundland being at the same time modified. 1 



In these various treaties the fisheries were dealt with in a 

 special and exceptional manner, in connection with the cession 

 of the adjacent territories by France to Great Britain. The 

 French fishermen had always enjoyed the right of fishing in these 

 seas in virtue of the ownership of the land; and though full 

 sovereignty over the latter was acquired by Great Britain, the 

 liberty of fishing, under certain restrictions, was continued not- 

 withstanding the transference of territory. The fisheries of 

 Newfoundland and Canada were of great importance. They 

 were highly valued by France as forming nurseries of seamen 

 for her navy, and for this reason the preliminary treaty of 

 1762 was severely criticised by the Opposition in the British 

 Parliament, and especially by Pitt, who perceived that the 

 concessions with respect to the fisheries would enable France 

 to revive her naval power. 2 



A concession still more extensive, on the same principle, was 

 granted by Great Britain to the newly - established United 

 States of America in the treaty of 1783, by which their inde- 

 pendence was recognised. The question of the rights of fishery 

 was very fully discussed in the negotiations which preceded the 

 treaty; and though Great Britain did not deny the right of 

 American citizens to fish on the Great Banks of Newfoundland, 

 or in the Gulf of St Lawrence, or elsewhere in the open sea, 

 she denied their right to fish in British waters, or to land on 

 British territory for the purpose of drying or curing their fish. 

 A compromise was arrived at, and the treaty provided that the 

 people of the United States should continue to enjoy, unmolested, 

 the right to take fish of all kinds on the Newfoundland Banks, 

 in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and at " all other places in the sea 

 where the inhabitants of both countries used at any time here- 

 tofore to fish " ; also on such parts of the coast of Newfoundland 

 as British fishermen should use, and " on the coasts, bays, and 

 creeks" of all other parts of the British- American dominions. 

 They were further permitted to dry and cure their fish on 



1 Treaty of Versailles, 3rd Sept. 1783, Arts, v., vi., and Declaration attached. 

 Hertslet, i. 246. Martens, iii. 522. 



2 Part. Hist., xv. 1063, 1261-1263. In the negotiations for peace in 1761, Pitt, 

 who was then in office, most wisely insisted on an exclusive fishery. 



