ARGUMENT OF ELIHU ROOT. 2049 



in so far as anchors and ballast are concerned, but harbour protection 

 regulations as to all ships of all kinds everywhere, coming for what- 

 ever purpose, and provision against net interference and theft of 

 nets invariably associated in the same sentence. All of these are 

 police regulations, and they constituted all there was in the way of 

 regulation in Newfoundland either in 1783 or in 1818, or at any time 

 between those dates and for many years after. 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK : There was the prohibition of fishing on 

 Sunday contained in clause 16 of the Act of 1699. 



SENATOR ROOT : That was repealed in 1775, as stated by Lord Elgin, 

 in the letter which he wrote to Governor MacGregor at the time we 

 were talking about the modus vivendi, so that did not exist. Lord 

 Elgin, in that letter, states very clearly what the situation was after 

 the treaty of 1818 was made. The Tribunal will remember that in 

 1855 there was a call made for a statement of all the regulations 

 there were, for the purpose of presenting them to the United States 

 for its consideration with respect to the application of the treaty of 

 1854, and that the Attorney-General reported that there were none. 

 My learned friend the Attorney-General fell into an error in 

 1240 regard to that report, he following, I think, Mr. Ewart, in 

 supposing that the report was erroneous, or that the report 

 was limited only to local regulations. The report was quite accurate. 

 Senator Turner calls my attention, with reference to my answer to 

 Chief Justice Fitzpatrick on the question of the Sunday prohibition 

 of 1699, to the fact, and it does appear to be the case, that it was a 

 Sunday observance provision which had no particular reference to 

 fishing. 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK : The words are " shall strictly and de- 

 cently observe every Lord's day, commonly called Sunday." It 

 depends on what that means. 



SENATOR ROOT : I have known of one fishing club where observance 

 of the Sabbath was enforced by a rule against playing cards, but 

 they fished, and another where the observance was enforced by a 

 rule against fishing, but they played cards. I do not know what the 

 construction of that would be, but, at all events, the subsequent 

 statute of 1775 disposed of it in so far as fishing was concerned at 

 least. 



THE PRESIDENT: But does the statute of 1775 relate to fishing on 

 the coast of Newfoundland, or does it not rather only refer to fish- 

 ing on the banks ? If one reads the preamble to the statute of 1775, 

 p. 543, of the British Case Appendix, it seems to refer only to the 

 fishery on the banks. It is, perhaps, not clear, but they speak only 

 about fishing on the banks: 



" Now, in order to promote these great and important purposes, 

 and with a view, in the first place, to induce His Majesty's subjects 



