1262 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



n-on, the liberty of fishing on the coasts of the Magdalen Islands, and 

 of the western coast of Newfoundland, and the privilege of entering 

 for shelter, wood, and water, in all the British harbours of North 



America." 



That is not correct. The treaty permits entry for shelter into the 

 bays, as well as into the harbours. Rush and Gallatin omitted the 

 word " bays." I do not know if the British Government could very 

 well base an argument upon their omission of the word " bays " in 

 favour of the reconstruction of the treaty, and say that the word 

 " bays " should be struck out of the clause giving liberty to enter 

 for the purpose of shelter, because Rush and Gallatin omitted it in 

 their report. I do not think we would make much headway with 



that argument. 



Then, coming down further in the report, to the words relied upon 

 by our friends from the United States, in the third paragraph : 



" We insisted on it "- 



That is, the renunciatory clause 



"We insisted on it with the view 1st. Of preventing any im- 

 plication that the fisheries secured to us were a new grant, and of 

 placing the permanence of the rights secured and of those renounced 

 precisely on the same footing. 2d. Of its being expressly stated 

 that our renunciation extended only to the distance of three miles 

 from the coasts." 



But the words "bays, creeks, or harbours" are omitted; and be- 

 cause of that omission our friends used to suggest that those words 

 in the treaty should be disregarded. 



Then, going on farther, the last sentence of the same paragraph is 

 as follows: 



" It is in that point of view that the privilege of entering the ports 

 for shelter is useful," 



But there is no privilege in the treaty of entering ports that is, 



by that name. It is " bays or harbours." Now, must we strike 



761 out " bays or harbours " from the treaty, and put in " ports " ? 



It does not seem to me that this narrow way is that in which 



those men intended that their report should be read. 



And I go back and ask what they meant when they said that: 

 " Our renunciation extended only to the distance of 3 miles from the 

 coast " ? Is there any way of ascertaining, merely from this report, 

 what it is that they meant by that? I think there is, Sirs. Let us 

 read the next sentence : 



"This last point was the more important, as, with the exception 

 of the fishery in open boats within certain harbours, it appeared, 

 from the communications above mentioned, that the fishing-ground, 

 on the whole coast of Nova Scotia, is more than three miles from 

 the shores;" 



