

QUESTION FOUR 



Under the provision of the said Article that the American -fisher- 

 men shall be admitted to enter certain bays or harbors for shelter , 

 repairs, wood or water, and for no other purpose whatever, but that 

 they shall be under such restrictions as may be necessary to prevent 

 their taking, drying, or curing fish therein or in any other manner 

 whatever abusing the privileges thereby reserved to them, is it per- 

 missible to impose restrictions making the exercise of such privileges 

 conditional upon the payment of light or harbor or other dues, or 

 entering or reporting at custom-houses or any similar conditions? 



In the discussion of this Question in the British Case, it is stated 

 that "the considerations which have been advanced in support of 

 the contention made by Great Britain under the third Question 

 apply equally here, and are adopted for the purposes of this Ques- 

 tion " ; a and the same statement may be made with reference to the 

 objections raised on the part of the United States in answer to the 

 British contentions in relation to that Question. Under the present 

 Question, as under Question 3, no distinction is made in the British 

 Case between the treatment of fishing vessels enjoying no commercial 

 privileges, but having a treaty right of entry into the coastal waters 

 for certain specified purposes, and the treatment of trading vessels 

 enjoying commercial privileges in such waters, but having no treaty 

 right of entry. 



No question involving the obligations of American fishing vessels, 

 or the treatment of such vessels when enjoying commercial privileges 

 on the non-treaty coasts, is included in this Question or in any of 

 the other Questions submitted to this Tribunal for decision. In this 

 Question, therefore, as in Question 3, the obligations and treatment 

 of American fishing vessels, when permitted to enjoy general commer- 

 cial privileges, must be eliminated from the discussion. As pointed 

 out in the Case of the United States, the action complained of is 

 not the imposition of harbor dues, or the requirement of customs 

 entry in respect of American vessels permitted to enjoy commercial 

 privileges on these coasts, but the imposition of such conditions and 



o British Case, p. 79. 



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