438 MISCELLANEOUS 



his conclusions, but I hardly imagine that he convinced the House or 

 any member of it. 



Now, as to the rights of American fishermen in the waters of this 

 colony under the treaty of 1818 : 



Those rights, as I explained on Friday, are defined in article 1 of 

 the treaty, and are as follows : 



(1) To take fish of every kind on that part of the southern coast 

 of Newfoundland which extends from Cape Ray to Rameau Islands. 



(2) To take fish of every kind on the western and northern coasts 

 of Newfoundland, from the said Cape Ray to the Quirpon Islands; 

 and 



(3) To take fish of every kind on the coasts, bays, harbors, and 

 creeks, from Mount Joly, on the southern coast of Labrador, to and 

 through the Straits of Belle Isle, and thence northwardly indefinitely 

 along the coast. 



Subject to these limitations, American fishermen have a right in 

 common with British fishermen to prosecute their industry within 

 those areas. 



But this embraces the whole of their privileges in respect to the 

 capture or taking of fish. 



Every other right that they ever possessed they renounced under 

 the said treaty, in the following emphatic language, namely : 



" The United States hereby renounces forever any liberty hereto- 

 fore enjoyed or claimed by the inhabitants thereof, to take, dry, or 

 cure fish on or within three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, 

 creeks, or harbors of His Britannic Majesty's dominions in America 

 not included in the above limits." 



Their renunciation contained but one qualification, and that was 

 " that American fishermen shall be permitted to enter such bays or 

 harbors for the purpose of shelter and of repairing damages therein, 

 of purchasing wood and of obtaining water, and for no other purpose 

 whatever." 



In dealing with the rights of American fishermen as thus defined, I 

 ventured to take the position that those fishermen have no right to 

 fish within any of the bays, creeks, or harbors on that stretch of coast 

 between Cape Ray and Rameau Islands and Cape Ray and Quirpon 

 Islands, and that their right to fish in bays, creeks, and harbors is 

 confined and limited by the treaty of 1818 to that portion of coast 

 from " Mount Joly, on the southern coast of Labrador, to and through 

 the Straits of Belle Isle, and thence northwardly indefinitely along 

 that coast." 



To this position the leader of the opposition took strong objection, 

 and the major portion of his remarks were in support of his objection. 



The House was told that " no lawyer could place such a construc- 

 tion upon the treaty ;" that " it would be unreasonable to suppose that 

 nearly one hundred years could pass without the position having been 

 discovered by the eminent lawyers of England, America, Canada, 

 and of this colony, if that position was tenable;" that it was "an 

 absurd position;" that if the Americans had the right to fish by 

 treaty " they also had the right to do all things incident to the fish- 

 ery," and that " if they could not fish without landing, they had a 

 perfect right to land," that it was " a cardinal legal principle that a 

 grant of a privilege carries with it all incidentals in order to fully 

 possess and enjoy the privilege." 



