QUESTION ONE. 25 



ever made by Great Britain or the British colonies to regulate the 

 American fishing liberty on the treaty coasts defined by the treaty of 

 1818 up to the adoption of the Eeciprocity Treaty of 1854. 



It remains, therefore, to examine the attitude of the two Govern- 

 ments on the question under consideration after the adoption of the 

 Reciprocity Treaty. 



The treaty of 1854 and also the treaty of 1871 extended the 

 American fishing liberty to all the waters of the coasts of the 

 British North American Colonies, within which the United States 

 had renounced the liberty of taking fish by the renunciatory 

 clause of Article I of the treaty of 1818. In the waters referred 

 to, except the small portion thereof on the east coast of New- 

 foundland covered by the French treaties, the British fishermen had 

 been entitled, prior to the adoption of the treaties of 1854 and 1871, 

 to exclusive fishing rights ; and at the time these treaties were entered 

 into, some provincial laws had already been enacted, and were then 

 in effect, for the regulation of British fishermen in some of those 

 waters. 



Soon after the treaty of 1854 went into operation Great Britain 

 raised the question of whether or not the American fishermen enjoy- 

 ing the additional fishing liberty secured to them were under ob- 

 ligation to observe on the new treaty coasts fishing regulations 

 antedating the adoption of that treaty. In the discussion of this 

 question the United States maintained the position that no regulations 

 affecting the American fishing liberty secured by that treaty could be 

 enforced against the inhabitants of the United States without the 

 consent of the United States; but, upon being asked to approve cer- 

 tain existing regulations, and believing that regulations, primarily 

 intended to apply solely to British fishermen, were not designed to 

 favor them at the expense of American fishermen, and assuming that 

 they were not otherwise objectionable, the Secretary of State issued a 

 circular expressing his approval of such regulations on that under- 

 standing and on the condition that, in their practical application, they 

 were not found to impair the American fishing liberty secured by 

 treaty. It does not appear that any attempt was ever made under the 

 treaty of 1854 by the British or colonial authorities to so enforce such 

 fishing regulations as to interfere with the American fishermen ; and 

 under the treaty of 1871 no attempt was made to enforce any such 

 regulations until 1878. In that year the Fortune Bay incident arose 

 92909 S. Doc. 870, 61-3, vol 6 3 



