QUESTION ONE. 39 



the particular laws and regulations referred to in the new clause as 

 those which the American fishermen were bound to respect as restric- 

 tions adopted under the treaty to prevent them from taking, drying, 

 and curing fish on the coasts covered by the renunciatory clause, or 

 in any other manner abusing the privileges reserved to them in that 

 clause. 



Before either of these circulars was issued, Mr. Thornton, in re- 

 sponse to a direct inquiry on the subject from Mr. Fish, had made it 

 clear that the change in the Canadian policy, in regard to issuing 

 licenses, indicated by the Order in Council of January 8, 1870, had 

 not the slightest bearing upon the exercise by American fishermen of 

 their treaty liberty of fishing in the waters of the Canadian portion 

 of the American treaty coasts under the treaty of 1818 ; and, as has 

 already been shown, no attempt had been made up to that time by 

 the Canadian Government to enforce any laws or regulations against 

 American fishermen in the waters of the Canadian portion of the 

 treaty coasts under the treaty of 1818, and no question relating to the 

 treaty coasts was under discussion between the United States and 

 Great Britain at the time these circulars were issued. In fact, no 

 attempt was ever made by Canada or Great Britain to enforce any 

 fisheries regulations against American fishermen on the Canadian 

 portion of the treaty coasts under the treaty of 1818. As has herein- 

 above been shown, 6 the question of the observance of local laws by 

 American fishermen on the treaty coasts first arose in 1878 under the 

 treaty of 1871, and involved the enforcement of Newfoundland and 

 not Canadian laws; and the first attempt to enforce regulations 

 against American fishermen on the treaty coasts defined by the treaty 

 of 1818 occurred in the treaty waters on the Newfoundland coast 

 under the Newfoundland foreign fishing vessels act of 1905. 



Moreover, it will be remembered that soon after the treaty of 1871 

 was adopted, and again in the Fortune Bay controversy in 1878, the 

 Secretary of State of the United States had occasion to inform Great 

 Britain of the position of the United States on the subject of fisheries 

 regulations on coasts where the liberty to fish was secured to Ameri- 

 can fishermen by treaty, and on both of these occasions the Secretary 

 of State made it clear that the United States would object to and 

 resist any attempt to enforce such regulations without its consent. 



U. S. Case, p. 146. 6 Supra, p. 26. 



