1716 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



English fishermen. That is what the words say on one side. That 

 is the limitation upon our sovereignty. And the Americans are well 

 content with that limitation, because they say: Well, this sovereign 

 power, like other sovereign powers, may act unreasonably, but after 

 all it is not likely to put regulations upon its own fishermen which 

 would be vicious or vindictive, in order to hurt us, the Americans, so 

 we will run the risk of that, we will accept it in this rough world 

 where you get nothing very perfect, we are content to take that as a 

 fair security, that Great Britain will not proceed to derogate from 

 its own grant, having given us privileges with one hand, it will not 

 proceed to take them away with the other, because if it hurts our 

 grant, if it proceeds in any way whatever to diminish the privilege 

 it has given to us, it cannot do so without hurting itself. That is to 

 say, without belittling the privileges enjoyed by its own fishermen. 

 Of course, if Great Britain went further than that, and proceeded 

 vindictively to hurt even itself in order to injure the Americans, a 

 thing, by the way, which is not an absurd or unlikely event, 

 1038 because we are well accustomed in what are called fiscal con- 

 flicts to that as a principle of action, where the only way of 

 hurting the other person is by injuring yourself, and it is done, and 

 gladly done, from motives of high policy. But America takes the 

 risk of that, and says : We will not anticipate that danger, and if we 

 were unnecessarily hurt, viciously hurt, if in order to hurt us Great 

 Britain hurts herself, then behind this treaty, behind us and behind 

 Great Britain, stands the fair-minded opinion of the civilised world. 

 So they thought they might safely take that risk. But, the limita- 

 tion for which Mr. Justice Gray asks, I think, is to be found in those 

 words, and, equally in the same words that limit our right (of course 

 this is another aspect of it) , they declare the right of the Americans. 

 They put a limitation also upon them. They say: Whatever Great 

 Britain enjoys you shall enjoy. That is your security. But, also, 

 you shall enjoy nothing more. Your fishermen in these waters can- 

 not constitute a privileged class beyond other fishermen. All the 

 right that we give you is simply a right to make you part of our 

 own public in these waters. This is a public fishery, and so open to 

 all the subjects of the King, upon certain terms. We will open it to 

 you upon the same terms. That is the English of the treaty. That 

 gives you the measure of the liberty, tells you exactly what the grant 

 is, and puts restrictions upon any attempt on the part of the sover- 

 eign Power, Great Britain, to diminish it, or on the part of the 

 American or foreign Power to enlarge it. 



So there you get exactly the measure to which Mr. Justice Gray 

 directed my attention. I am obliged to him for enabling me to bring 

 my argument to a point and a test in this way. It may be right or 

 wrong, but at all events that is the view I take of the quality of the 



