2248 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



they have repeatedly declared to be the established law in these 

 respects. 



Secondly, the fisheries. You are to state that Great Britain admits 

 the right of the United States to fish on the high seas without tlu- 

 maritime jurisdiction of the territorial possessions of Great Britain 

 in North America; that the extent of the maritime jurisdiction of the 

 two contracting parties must be reciprocal; that Great Britain is 

 ready to enter into an arrangement on that point; and that, until 

 any arrangement shall be made to the contrary, the usual maritime 

 jurisdiction of 1 league shall be common to both contracting parties. 

 But they cannot agree to renew the privilege, granted in the treaty 

 of 1783, of allowing the Americans to land and dry their fish on the 

 unsettled shores belonging to His Britannic Majesty, such privilege 

 having been annulled by the war, and it being the undoubted right 

 of the British Government to refuse to renew it. 



The third point is the future boundaries of the two contracting 

 parties. The boundaries to the north-west may be considered as 

 already settled by the admission of the American Plenipotentiaries 

 that the British Government is willing to treat on the basis of uti 

 possidet, subject to the modifications for mutual accommoda- 

 1359 tion. Considering the relative situation of the two countries, 

 the moderation evinced by His Majesty's Government in ad- 

 mitting this principle, in the present state of the contest, must be 

 manifest ; and you will not fail to impress this strongly on the minds 

 of the American Plenipotentiaries. In their note of the (blank), 

 they, in fact, admit that this is a fair principle of negotiation. I 

 cannot expect any serious objection to it. On their admitting this 

 to be the basis on which they are ready to negotiate, but not before 

 they have admitted it, you will proceed to state the mutual accommo- 

 dations which may be entered into in conformity with this basis. 



The British occupy Fort Michilimakinac, Fort Niagara, and all 

 the country to the east of the River Penobscot. On the other hand, 

 the forces of the United States occupy Fort Erie and Fort Amherst- 

 berg. On the Government of the United States consenting to restore 

 these two forts, Great Britain is ready to restore the forts of Custine 

 and Mahias, retaining Fort Niagara and Fort Michilimakinac, leav- 

 ing the boundary, on the side of the Province of Main, running 

 thus: from the River St. Croix, including Moose Island, which was 

 always a part of New Brunswick, along the line established by the 

 Commissioners in 1798, running astronomically north, until it is 

 intersected by the River Ristook, up to its source, and then along the 

 high ridge of mountains, and running a westerly course, until they 

 abut upon the heights which form the present boundary. 



In the note which you will present to the American Plenipoten- 

 tiaries, you will not recur to former topics, the discussion of which, 

 in the preceding note, have given rise to so much occasional irrita- 

 tion. It may, however, be necessary to remark the satisfaction 

 you have in not deeming a renewal of these discussions any longer 

 necessary. 



In delivering your note, you will also state that you have not 

 reduced the propositions into the shape of articles, as that may be 

 easily done when the substance is agreed upon. 



I have, &c. BATHURST. 



