BRITISH, COLONIAL AND OTHER CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 471 



nue laws, and to enter and clear and pay light dues as they had ever 

 done heretofore. 



Out of deference to the wishes of His Majesty's Government, this 

 government abstained from enforcing local statutes against American 

 citizens, on the treaty coast, during the autumn fishery of 1905, 

 thereby occasioning themselves very considerable embarrassment. 

 They Avere led to adopt this course, believing that during the period 

 that would elapse before the next fishing season came round a special 

 effort would be made by His Majesty's Government to arrive at a 

 satisfactory solution of the difficulties that had arisen by reason of the 

 action of United States fishermen, and, failing such solution, that 

 His Majesty's Government would strictly confine the United States 

 to the privileges accorded its inhabitants by the Treaty of 1818. 



It will be remembered that at an early period of last session I intro- 

 duced a bill to amend the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of 1905, by de- 

 claring that the first part of section 1 and the whole of section 3 

 thereof do not apply to foreign fishing vessels resorting to New- 

 foundland waters in the exercise of treaty rights. This was done at 

 the request of His Majesty's Government in order to meet objections 

 that had been raised to the measure by the Government of the United 

 States. 



The Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of 1906 also contained the provi- 

 sions (1) that it should be unlawful for a resident of this colony to 

 leave it for the purpose of engaging in foreign fishing vessels intend- 

 ing to fish in the waters of this colony, and (2) that it should be 

 unlawful for the master, owner, or agent of any foreign fishing vessel 

 to engage British subjects to fish for them within the territorial 

 waters of this colony. These provisions were rendered necessary be- 

 cause, while the Bait Act of 1887 declared that no man should take 

 bait fishes within the jurisdiction of this colony without a license, 

 and the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of 1905 declared that any master 

 who attempted to engage any person to form part of the crew of any 

 foreign fishing vessel in any port or on any part of the coast of this 

 island should have his vessel confiscated, in the autumn fishery of 

 1905 the Americans deliberately proceeded to aid and abet our fisher- 

 men in violating the Bait Act by engaging them through agents in 

 Bay of Islands as part of their crews, taking them outside the 3-mile 

 limit to formally ship and enter their service and returning with 

 them inside our jurisdiction to fish. 



It will be observed that whereas the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act 

 of 1905 penalized the master of any foreign fishing vessel for engag- 

 ing any person to form part of the creAV of said vessel within the 

 jurisdiction of the colony, the amending act of 190C penalized the 

 master, owner, or agent of such vessel who should engage British 

 subjects either outside or inside our jurisdiction and utilize them 

 within our jurisdiction to fish for them. 



The machinery for a complete control over our own people so as 

 to prevent them from aiding the Americans in catching such fishes 

 was thus provided by this legislature, but this machinery was ren- 

 dered inoperative by the modus vivendi and its promulgation by the 

 senior British naval officer on this station. 



Let us now examine this extraordinary diplomatic arrangement 

 known as the modus vivendi. I use the term extraordinary because 

 I have been unable to find any precedent for such an arrangement. 



