1016 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



THE PRESIDENT: Lieutenant Paine says: 



" The questions on which dispute may arise^ are 

 " 1st. The meaning of the word bay, in the convention of 1818, 

 where the Americans relinquish the rights before claimed or exercised, 

 of fishing in or upon any of the coasts, bays, &c., of her Britannic 

 Majesty's provinces, not before described, nearer than three miles." 



Does Lieutenant Paine here quote the words of the renunciatory 

 clause of the treaty in exact terms, or is there a difference between the 

 quotation made by Lieutenant Paine and the text of the renunciatory 

 clause itself? 



MR. WARREN : The report of Lieutenant Paine, who was in com- 

 mand of the " Grampus," and who was sent to the waters in the North 

 Atlantic Ocean at the express request of the President of the United 

 States, was addressed to the Secretary of State. He was reporting 

 his observations and the results of his visit to those waters. The 

 authorities of Nova Scotia claimed at that time the right to draw 

 lines between any headlands found anywhere on the coast, and 

 611 to exclude United States vessels from the waters contained 

 therein. The Tribunal will recall that later they even drew a 

 line from Cape North, in Cape Breton, to the northernmost head of 

 Cow Bay, which is properly known as Cape Percy, seized the 

 "Argus " when within the line and claimed that that was a bay within 

 the meaning of the treaty. 



Lieutenant Paine observes in his report, at p. 451, that : 



" The authorities of Nova Scotia seem to claim a right to exclude 

 Americans from all bays, including those large seas such as the Bay 

 of Fundy and the Bay of Chaleurs; and also to draw a line from 

 headland to headland; the Americans not to approach within three 

 miles of this line. 



" The fishermen, on the contrary, believe they have a right to work 

 anywhere, if not nearer than three miles to the land." 



THE PRESIDENT: My question was whether the argumentation of 

 Lieutenant Paine is based on a quotation of the renunciatory clause 

 of the treaty in its exact terms, or whether he gives the renunciatory 

 clause a loose construction ? 



MR. WARREN: I think, Mr. President, he is reporting the claim 

 of the authorities of Nova Scotia. 



THE PRESIDENT : Would you have the kindness to look at the para- 

 graph which is marked " 1st " ? It is as follows : 



" The meaning of the word bay, in the convention of 1818, where 

 the Americans relinquish the rights before claimed or exercised, of 

 fishing in or upon any of the coasts, bays, &c., of her Britannic 

 Majesty's provinces, not before described, nearer than three miles." 



MR. WARREN : That is, undoubtedly, Mr. President, a statement of 

 Lieutenant Paine and not an extract from the treaty. 



