398 MISCELLANEOUS 



You will observe that the Arrangement has been entered into sub- 

 ject to the approval of the Governments of Great Britain and France; 

 and Her Majesty's Government will not intimate their approval until 

 the Colonial Government and Legislature have had an opportunity 

 of studying its provisions, and of considering the great advantages 

 which it affords for a settlement of the long outstanding and difficult 

 question of the fisheries. 



Before proceeding to explain the details of the present arrange- 

 ment, it may be convenient to recapitulate the provisions of the 

 treaties bearing upon the question. 



They are as follows: 



By article XIII. of the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713, it was agreed that 

 " The island called Newfoundland, with the adjacent islands, shall, 

 from this time forward, belong of right wholly to Britain, and to that 

 end the town and fortress of Placentia, and whatever other places in 

 the said island are in the possession of the French, shall be yielded and 

 given up within seven months from the exchange of the ratifications 

 of this treaty, or sooner if possible, by the Most Christian King to 

 those who have a commission from the Queen of Great Britain for 

 that purpose. Nor shall the Most Christian King, his heirs and suc- 

 cessors, or any of their subjects, at any time hereafter lay claim to any 

 right to the said island and islands, or to any part of it or them. More- 

 over, it shall not be lawful for the subjects of France to fortify any 

 place in the said island of Newfoundland, or to erect any buildings 

 there, besides stages made of boards, and huts necessary and usual for 

 drying of fish, or to resort to the said island beyond the time necessary 

 for fishing and drying of fish. But it shall be allowed to the sub- 

 jects of France to catch fish, and to dry them on land in that part only, 

 and in no other besides that, of the said island of Newfoundland, 

 which stretches from the place called Cape Bonavista to the northern 

 point of the said island, and from thence running down by the west- 

 ern side, reaches as far as the place called Point Riche. But the island 

 called Cape Breton, as also all others, both in the mouth of the river 

 St. Lawrence and in the gulf of the same name, shall hereafter belong 

 of right to the French, and the Most Christian King shall have all man- 

 ner of liberty to fortify any place or places there." And by Article 

 V. of the Treaty of Paris, 1763, that " The subjects of France shall 

 have the liberty of fishing and drying, on a part of the coasts of the 

 island of Newfoundland, such as it is specified in Article XITI. of the 

 Treaty -of Utrecht, which article is renewed and confirmed by the 

 present treaty (except what relates to the island of Cape Breton, as 

 well as to the other islands and coasts in the mouth and in the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence) ; and his Britannic Majesty consents to leave to the 

 subjects of the Most Christian King the liberty of fishing in the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence on condition that the subjects of France do not exer- 

 cise the said fishery but at the distance of three leagues from all the 

 coasts belonging to Great Britain, as well those of the continent as 

 those of the islands situated in the said Gulf of St. Lawrence. And 

 as to what relates to the fishery on the coast of the island of Cape 

 Breton, out of the said gulf, the subjects of the Most Christian King 

 shall not be permitted to exercise the said fishery but at the distance 

 of fifteen leagues from the coast of the island of Cape Breton ; and 

 the fishery on the coasts of Nova Scotia or Acadia, and everywhere 

 else out of the said gulf, shall remain on the foot of former treaties." 



