826 APPENDIX TO BEITISH CASE. 



ers sojourning in the limits of the British jurisdiction to obey that 

 law, and that, if it is considered that the local jurisdiction is being 

 exercised in a manner not consistent with the enjoyment of any 

 Treaty rights, the proper course to pursue is not to ignore the law, but 

 to obey it, and to refer the question of any alleged infringement of 

 their Treaty rights to be settled diplomatically between their Gov- 

 ernment and that of His Majesty. 



Propositions 4, 5, and 6 state : 



Proposition 4 : 



The proper evidence that a vessel is an American vessel, and entitled to exer- 

 cise the Treaty right, is the production of the ship's papers of the kind generally 

 recognized in the maritime world as evidence of a vessels' national character. 



Proposition 5 : 



When a vessel has produced papers showing that she is an American vessel, 

 the officials of Newfoundland have no concern with the character or extent of 

 the privileges accorded to such a vessel by the Government of the United 

 States. No question as between a registry and licence is a proper subject for 

 their consideration. They are not charged with enforcing any Laws or Regu- 

 lations of the United States. As to them, if the vessel is American she has the 

 Treaty right, and they are not at liberty to deny it. 



Proposition 6: 



If any such matter were a proper subject for the consideration of the officials 

 of Newfoundland, the statement of this Department that vessels bearing an 

 American registry are entitled to exercise the Treaty right should be taken 

 by such officials as conclusive. 



His Majesty's Government are unable to agree to these proposi- 

 tions, except with the reservations as to the status of American ves- 

 sels under the Convention already indicated, and with reference to 

 proposition 6, they would submit that the assurance to be given by 

 the Department of State of the United States should be that the 

 persons by whom the fishery is to be exercised from the American 

 vessels are inhabitants of the United States. 



In point of fact the Colonial Government have informed His 

 Majesty's Government that they do not require an American vessel 

 to produce a United States' fishing licence. The distinction between 

 United States' registration and the possession of a United 

 497 States' fishing licence is however, of some importance, inas- 

 much as a vessel which, so far as the United States' Govern- 

 ment are concerned, is at liberty both to trade and to fish naturally 

 calls for a greater measure of supervision by the Colonial Govern- 

 ment than a vessel fitted out only for fishing and debarred by the 

 United States' Government from trading; and information has been 

 furnished to His Majesty's Government by the Colonial Government 

 which shows that the proceedings of American fishing-vessels in 

 Newfoundland waters have in the past been of such a character as to 

 make it impossible, from the point of view of the protection of the 

 Colonial revenue, to exempt such vessels from the supervision au- 

 thorized by the Colonial Customs Law. 



His Majesty's Government now turn to that part of Mr. Root's 

 note which deals with " The Foreign Fishing- Vessels Act, 1905." 



His Majesty's Government would have viewed with the strongest 

 disapproval any disposition on the part of the Colonial authorities 

 to administer this Act in a manner not consistent with His Majesty's 

 Treaty obligations, but they are confident that the United States' 



