510 MISCELLANEOUS 



nection with the modus vivendi, why did he not take the only sensible 

 course open to him, namely appeal to the people? But he was too 

 scared to appeal to the people. He was as scared of the people as any 

 man ever was who occupied the position which he occupied. No mat- 

 ter what day one looked at the newspapers of St. John's he could see 

 some scandal in connection with some Government department come 

 out under double headlines. For instance, the robbery at the Custom 

 House, the Lunatic Asylum scandal, the Marine and Fisheries scan- 

 dal, and so on through every department of the Government. How, 

 then, could the Premier go back to the country? He might be able to 

 fool the people part of the time, but the Premier would find out that 

 he could not fool all the people all the time. 



SPEECH OF SIR ROBERT BOND ON THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY BEFORE 

 THE COLONIAL CONFERENCE OF 1907, MAY 14, 1907. [] 



CHAIRMAN: Yesterday I received a notice from Sir Robert Bond 

 that he wished to bring a subject before the Conference concerning 

 the Newfoundland Fisheries, and Sir Edward Grey has attended for 

 that purpose. 



Sir ROBERT BOND: Lord Elgin and gentleman: In proposing this 

 question for the consideration of this Conference, I do not intend 

 to make more than a passing reference to the conditions that apper- 

 tained in Newfoundland under the modus vivendi entered into be- 

 tween His Majesty's Government and the Government of the United 

 States of America in October 190G. All the facts are well known to 

 His Majesty's Government and to the Colonial Members of this Con- 

 ference, for I have taken occasion to place in the hands of the lat- 

 ter a concise history of the same. Any comments upon what tran- 

 spired under that arrangement, or upon its terms, or the manner of 

 its accomplishment, might be regarded as vexatious. It will there- 

 fore, only be necessary for me to briefly outline the Treaty rela- 

 tions that have existed and that still exist between His Majesty's 

 Government and that of the United States of America; the obliga- 

 tions that are imposed upon American subjects under the existing 

 Treaty and the contentions of the Government of the United States 

 of America now before His Majesty's Government, and which, I sub- 

 mit, are sufficiently grave to warrant the most serious consideration 

 of this Conference, inasmuch as they challenge the binding effect of 

 Colonial laws upon foreign subjects when coming within the juris- 

 diction of a Colonial Government. The question affects the Colony 

 that I represent principally and most vitally, but it also affects every 

 Colony represented in this Conference. 



I have had the privilege of discussing the question with Sir Ed- 

 ward Grey, of the Foreign Office, with your Lordship, and Mr. 

 Winston Churchill, and have stated, as clearly as I know how to do 

 so, what I believe to be the rights of those I represent. That state- 

 ment I desire to repeat here and now, for if it is held by this Con- 

 ference to be unreasonable or unduly exacting, I shall be prepared 

 to modify it to meet what may be considered reasonable and right. 



[ British Blue Book, Colonial Conference, 1907, p. 587.] 



