46 CASE OF GEEAT BRITAIN. 



no part. Great Britain holds that Americans employing New- 

 foundlanders to fish for them are not within the convention and that 

 there is nothing to prevent her prohibiting British subjects from 

 joining American vessels for this purpose. 



OTHER FISHERMEN. 



The question, however, is not confined to the employment of British 

 subjects. The crews of American vessels are largely composed of 

 foreigners Norwegians, Portuguese, &c. And it is now claimed, as 

 of right, that any number of such foreigners may be employed upon 

 American vessels in British waters. 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



The contentions of the two Governments are stated in the diplo- 

 matic correspondence of 1905-6, and it will be seen that they deal with 

 the general question as well as with the particular case. Mr. Root, 

 in a letter to Sir M. Durand of the 19th October, 1905. formulated 

 certain propositions indicative of the United States' view upon the 

 matters involved in the situation. 



The first, third, and fourth of these asserted that (App., p. 492) : 



1. Any American vessel is entitled to go into the waters of the 

 treaty coast and take fish of any kind. She derives this right from 

 the treaty (or from the conditions existing prior to the treaty and 

 recognised by it), and not from any permission or authority proceed- 

 ing from the Government of Newfoundland. 



3. The only concern of the Government of Newfoundland with 

 such a vessel is to call for proper evidence that she is an American 

 vessel, and, therefore, entitled to exercise the treaty right, and to 

 have her refrain from violating any laws of Newfoundland not incon- 

 sistent with the treaty. 



4. The proper evidence that a vessel is an American vessel and 

 entitled to exercise the treaty right is the production of the ship's 

 papers of the kind generally recognised in the maritime world as evi- 

 dence of a vessel's national character. 



In answer to these assertions, Sir Edward Grey, in a memorandum 

 sent to Mr. Whitelaw Reid (the 2nd February, 1906), said (App.. 

 p. 494) : 



The privilege of fishing conceded by article 1 of the convention 

 of 1818 is conceded, not to American vessels but to inhabitants of 

 the United States and to American fishermen. His Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment are unable to agree to this, or any of the subsequent propo- 

 sitions if they are meant to assert any right of American vessels to 

 prosecute the fishery under the convention of 1818, except when the 



fishery is carried on by inhabitants of the United States. The 

 53 convention confers no rights on American vessels as such. It 



enures for the benefit only of inhabitants of the United States. 



