ARGUMENT OF ELIHU BOOT. 1963 



would have filled all their vessels, and the neighboring fishermen 

 would have lost all chance the following week-days. The people 

 believe that they (the Americans) were acting illegally in thus 

 robbing them of their fish." 



On p. 699, I read from the affidavit of John Cluett, of Fortune 

 Bay: 



" The Americans, by hauling herring that day when the English- 

 men could not, were robbing them of their lawful and just chance of 

 securing their share in them, and, further, had they secured all they 

 had barred they could have, I believe, filled every vessel of theirs in 

 the bay. They would have probably frightened the rest away, and it 

 would have been useless for the English to stay, for the little" left for 

 them to take they could not have sold." 



On p. 700, Charles Dagle, American master, says in his 

 affidavit: 



" If I had been allowed the privilege guaranteed by the Washing- 

 ton Treaty, I could have loaded my vessel and all the American ves- 

 sels could have loaded. The Newfoundland people are determined 

 that the American fishermen shall not take herring on their shores. 

 The American seines being very large and superior in every respect 

 to the nets of the Newfoundlanders, they cannot compete with them." 



And there was another affair which illustrates what I am now try- 

 ing to make clear to the Tribunal, and that is that the Newfoundland 

 fishermen came to deem that they had rights in this trade which the 

 Americans ought not to interfere with by taking the fish themselves. 

 In 1880 some American vessels undertook to take their own bait up 

 in Conception Bay. That was while the Treaty of Washington was 

 still in force. I will read from the affidavit of John Dago, on p. 715, 

 at the foot of the page. He says he left Gloucester on the 1st April, 

 1880, then says : 



" On the 9th August, 1880, we went into a cove in Conception Bav, 

 called Northard Bay, for squid. I put out four dories and attempted 

 to catch my bait with the squid jigs or hooks used for that purpose." 



Now, turning over to the top of p. 716 of the United States Case 

 Appendix, I read: 



" My men went into the immediate vicinity of where the local 

 shore boats were fishing for squid, but in a short time they returned 

 and reported to me that they were not allowed to fish by the men on 

 board the shore boats, and not wishing any trouble they returned on 

 board. I then manned my lines on the vessel and commenced to 

 catch squid ; the men in the shore boats seeing us fishing came off to 

 us to the number of sixteen boats, with some thirty men. These men 

 demanded that I should stop fishing or leave, or else buy squid from 

 them. They were very violent in their threats, and to avoid trouble 

 I bought my squid, paying them one hundred and fifty dollars for 

 the squid, which I could easily have taken if I had not been inter- 

 fered with. 



