2202 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



And the Act of 1775, in the British Appendix at p. 543, provides 

 in the first article for the payment of bounties to vessels which 



" shall appear by their register to be British built, and owned by His 

 Majesty's subjects residing in Great Britain or Ireland, or the islands 

 of Guernsey, Jersey, or Man; and be of the burthen of fifty tons or 

 upwards, and navigated with not less than fifteen men each, three- 

 fourths of whom, besides the master, shall be His Majesty's subjects." 



You see the stress is laid upon the ownership of the vessel, and 

 the construction of the vessel. It must be British built and owned 

 by His Majesty's subjects. But the crew are required to be three- 

 fourths subjects of His Majesty; of course, permitting one-fourth 

 not to be. and showing quite clearly the custom which made it neces- 

 sary to put such a restriction upon them, the custom which might 

 have made a far greater proportion of the crew composed of aliens 

 to Great Britain but for the restriction. 



The Attorney-General quite frankly concedes the custom, and he 

 says they have to do it; that the conditions of the British marine 

 all over the world make it necessary. They have to employ Lascars 

 and so on. That but sustains our position. Of course there are 

 reasons; there are always reasons; there were reasons here that must 

 have been in the contemplation of the people who made the treaty 

 of 1783 and those who made the treaty of 1818, that this kind of an 

 enterprise, pursued and carried on by means of vessels fitted out and 

 sent from a great distance would be carried on through the employ- 

 ment not merely of natives of the country from which the vessels 

 came, but the employment of crews in the ordinary way. wtiich took 

 in these sailors who are floating all over the world, and the men who 

 can be collected in the port from which the vessel comes and the ports 

 at which the vessel touches. The ordinary, universal usage must be 

 supposed to have been in the minds of the parties making the con- 

 ventions, and the terms of the conventions must be read with refer- 

 ence to the existence of such a usage. Indeed, there is quite a distinct 

 admission by Sir Edward Grey that, so far as crews are concerned. 

 it is not contended by Great Britain that the crows of the \vs-rl - 

 may not be partly aliens. But they make the distinction that a man 

 shall not pull a fish out of the water, and shall not take hold of a net. 

 There is no basis for the distinction. These industrial enterprises 

 were carried on by the servants who were partly English and partly 

 aliens. As my learned friend the Attorney-General says [p. 1058. 

 8upra\ : 



" We do not forbid the employment of foreigners, because that 

 would be in particular cases to handicap an industry." 



He thinks Newfoundland may employ foreigners. 

 THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I hope my learned friend will not put 

 that as a statement of mine. I said we did not forbid the employ- 



