930 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK: Yes; but all that legislation had no 

 bearing whatever upon the treaty rights? 



SIR JAMES WINTER: No, Sir; none whatever. It bore only upon 

 their commercial rights. 



This legislation, which has led to all the trouble, has arisen en- 

 tirely not out of the prosecution of the fishery at all the whole 

 trouble or difficulty about regulations, and inhabitants, and all these 

 questions, as a matter of fact, has arisen out of the stop that was 

 put by the legislature of Newfoundland upon the business of purchas- 

 ing herring for the market by the United States fishermen in 1905. 



THE PRESIDENT: By the legislation of 1905, you have not only 

 stopped the practice of according licences, but you have made it a 

 criminal act to purchase bait fishes from the Newfoundlanders? 



SIR JAMES WINTER: Oh, yes, that is so; and that appears clearly 

 from the case all through that there were negotiations all through 

 between the parties, extending over years, in relation to the inter- 

 change of commercial facilities, &c., tariffs, and all that sort of thing. 

 Two attempts were made, under the Bond-Blaine treaty first, and the 

 Bond-Hay treaty afterwards; and these negotiations went so far 

 as an agreement between the Governments upon terms relating to these 

 commercial matters, but they fell through because they were not ac- 

 cepted by the United States Senate in one case ; they fell through, at 

 any rate. And so matters stood, negotiations going on, until ulti- 

 mately, in 1905, it was found that they could lead to nothing. 

 556 Negotiations were broken off and then the legislation of New- 

 foundland put a stop to the commercial privileges only. It 

 did not interfere, and did not purport in any way to interfere with 

 the operation of the treaty of 1818, whatever that might be. It sim- 

 ply put a stop to the commercial transactions of purchasing herring 

 in Newfoundland waters by the Americans. 



Then, finding that there was this prohibition and this difficulty 

 in the way of purchasing herring for the United States market, the 

 Americans resorted to the plan, which is also the subject of inquiry 

 here, of employing Newfoundland fishermen, as part of their crews, 

 to catch fish for them. Then the Newfoundland Legislature answered 

 that, as it were, or met that, by a prohibition in 1906, an Act for- 

 bidding the Newfoundland fishermen from engaging as crews to 

 the American fishermen. And that is one of the questions which is 

 now before this Tribunal, indirectly, under another heading, Ques- 

 tion 2. 



So the legislation stood, running from 1862. In 1872, the same 

 provision as passed in 1862 was re-enacted in Newfoundland, under 

 the Consolidated Statutes. That was merely a formal matter. There 

 was no change in the legislation. The Consolidated Statutes was a 

 re-enactment of the Act, in the same form as it formerly stood. 



