QUESTION SIX. 81 



connection with Labrador than to limit the liberty granted in respect 

 of the territorial waters of the more populous island of Newfound- 

 land" * Here again is an assertion of fact on a point to which much 

 importance is attached in the British Case, but in support of which 

 no evidence is cited ; and it is of interest to test the value of this as- 

 sertion by contrasting it with an extract, already quoted above, from 

 " The Case for the Colony " prepared in 1890 by the People's Dele- 

 gates of Newfoundland, as follows : 



During the whole period covered by the dates of these treaties, 

 from 1713 to 1815, Newfoundland was, in fact, nothing but a station 

 on the other side of the Atlantic, to which the fishermen of England 

 and France annually resorted for the fishing or summer season only. 

 Although by the terms of the treaties the " sovereignty " was declared 

 to be in Great Britain, yet, in fact, colonisation or settlement was not 

 only not existing or contemplated, but was even prohibited by Great 

 Britain under severe penalties. 2 " 



Attention is also called to the extract above quoted from M'Greg- 

 or's History (published in 1832) , as follows : 



The whole of the west coast of Newfoundland, north of the bay 

 St. George, is unsettled, although some of the lands are the best on 

 the island. 



The French claim. 



The French fishing claim on a portion of the coasts under con- 

 sideration, which furnishes the remaining grounds upon which Great 

 Britain relies in attributing to the negotiators of the treaty of 1818 

 an intention to exclude the American fishermen from the bays, har- 

 bors, and creeks mentioned, is referred to in the British Case as fol- 

 lows: 



Moreover, the existence of the French claim to a large portion of 

 the coast, with regard to which these liberties were conceded, may 

 have supplied an additional reason for not extending the grant to 

 bays, harbours, and creeks, in which, for the reasons above indicated, 

 there would be a greater probability of collision with the French 

 fishermen. 



The British Case omits to state that this French claim, the exist- 

 ence of which " may have supplied an additional reason for not ex- 

 tending the grant to bays, harbours, and creeks " in 1818, antedated 

 the treaty of 1783 between the United States and Great Britain, 

 and by that treaty, it will be remembered, the American fishermen 

 were placed upon an exact equality with British fishermen in the use 

 of all the waters of Newfoundland for fishing purposes. 



British Case, p. 125. 6 Supra, p. 20. Supra, p. 22. 



