ARGUMENT OF SIR WILLIAM ROBSON. 1869 



had not immemorially belonged to him, it is not to be imagined that 

 they would have conceived themselves discharged from the obligation 

 of submitting, on account of any pretended right from immemorial 

 usage." 



He is only treating bays as being within the jurisdiction of Eng- 

 land, and he is saying that if at any time the King of England had 

 chosen to close bays against his own subjects, or anybody else, nobody 

 should complain. I might just mention, by the way, that there Mr. 

 Russell gives the reason, which was just beginning to be known, as to 

 why they wanted the bays of Labrador and asked for them, and did 

 not trouble about bays on the other coasts. He says that because of 

 the humidity of the atmosphere in high northern latitudes, they could 

 not very well dry their fish there. They did not care much about the 

 privilege of drying and curing in high northern latitudes, but they 

 wanted the privilege of entering the bays of Labrador because of the 

 valuable fishery, not for the sake of drying and curing fish, but for 

 the sake of catching them. 



The next passage to which I wish to direct attention is contained 

 in the letter from Lord Bathurst to Mr. Keats, dated the 17th June, 

 1815, and here we will see how bays are being treated. I refer to 

 British Case Appendix, p. 63. Now we see bays emerging as the most 

 important factor in the whole of the negotiation. Lord Bathurst, in 

 the second paragraph, says : 



" You cannot but be aware that the Illrd article of the treaty of 

 peace of 1783 contained two distinct stipulations; " 



Then he goes on to set them out 



" the one recognizing the rights which the United States had to take 

 fish upon the high seas, and the other granting to the United States 

 the privilege of fishing within the British jurisdiction, and of using, 

 under certain conditions, the shores and territory of His Majesty " 



And so forth. Then he says : 



" Such being the view taken of the question of the fisheries as far 

 as relates to the United States, I am commanded by His Royal High- 

 ness the Prince Regent to instruct you to abstain most carefully from 

 any interference with the fishery in which the subjects of the United 

 States may be engaged, either on the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or other places in the sea. At the same 

 time you will prevent them, except under the circumstances herein- 

 after mentioned, from using the British territory for purposes con- 

 nected with the fisheries, and will exclude their fishing-vessels from 

 the bays, harbours, rivers, creeks, and inlets of all His Majesty's 

 possessions." 



You are to exclude them. Now, bays are all-important. In 1783, 

 when they are talking of coasts and bays, they might very well 

 throw bays in as a mere descriptive word, because they are asking 

 for everything and bays would be included. You might then say 



