1136 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



Why, if the Tribunal please, if the construction put upon that 

 clause by the counsel for Great Britain before this Tribunal is to be 

 incorporated in the Award of this Tribunal, the Commissioners of the 

 United States surrendered enormous rights, historical rights, rights 

 of vast extent and enormous importance to the people of the United 

 States. 



I now pass to the proviso clause of the renunciatory clause of the 

 treaty of 1818. I call the proviso clause of the renunciatory clause 

 that clause which commences with the words : " Provided, however." 

 I shall not pause to read this clause. 



I simply desire to meet the argument advanced by the learned 

 counsel for Great Britain, who opened this submission, that this 

 clause is absolutely fatal to the contention of the United States be- 

 cause the word " bays " in the treaty must be construed in the same 

 sense in both clauses of the treaty. 



I submit that it is perfectly apparent that there is absolutely noth- 

 ing at all in this contention w^hich is claimed to be so fatal to the 

 position of the United States before this Tribunal. A " bay of His 

 Majesty's Dominions " was a bay lying landward of the 3-mile line, 

 or a body of water 6 miles or less in width; and from such waters 

 American fishermen, as far as their fishing operations were concerned, 

 were to be excluded according to the renunciatory clause. 



The argument of the distinguished counsel is that if the words 

 " bays or harbours " in the proviso clause forming a part of the re- 

 nunciatory clause refer only to the bays lying landward of the 3-mile 

 line, then the fishing-vessels of the United States have no right to 

 enter the large bays for shelter, wood, water, and repairs. 



The argument on this point will be found at p. 250 of the report of 

 Sir Robert Finlay's argument. When the argument was made the 

 emphasis was always placed upon the word " bays," and the dis- 

 tinguished counsel seemed quite to overlook the fact that the vessels 

 of the United States have a right under the proviso clause of this 

 treaty to seek the harbours for shelter, wood, water, and repairs. 

 When this language of the proviso clause is considered 



" shall be admitted to enter such bays or harbours for the purpose of 

 shelter and of repairing damages therein, of purchasing wood, and of 

 obtaining water, and for no other purpose whatever,"- 



it is readily seen that, wherever along the coasts covered by this 

 renunciatory clause there is a harbour, to that harbour a fishing- vesseJ 

 of the United States has a right to resort for the four purposes speci- 

 fied in the treaty. 



Now, to use a specific illustration : Suppose a fishing- vessel of the 

 United States were in a body of water which at no part contracted 

 to a width of 6 miles, which would not be a bay from which the fish- 

 ing-vessels of the United States were excluded, but the fishing- vessels 



