22G * '^^^^ TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 



CIIAPTl^U V. 



THE FISHKIilES. 

 IIISTOUY OF TJIK QUESTION. 



The Tiieaty of Ixi>Ki'ENi)E\rE was, I rcpont, a vir- 

 tual partition of the l>riti;^]i Eni])irc in America be- 

 tween tlic Metropolis and the Tliirtecn United Col- 

 onies. It was not a treaty Ibunded on military/ pos- 

 session : for the Colonies had no such possession save 

 along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and Great 

 Britain occupied several posts north and west of 

 the Ohio and on the Great Lakes. The theory of the 

 treaty was to recognize the Colonies as sovereign ac- 

 cording to their j)olitical limits as fixed by charter 

 and V)y the public law of J^^ngland. 



In conformity with thih theoiy, the treaty stipu- 

 lates that the United States shall continue in the en- 

 joyment of the coast fisheries, as follows : 



"Article Til. It is agreed that the peojdc oftlte United States 

 sliall continue to enjoy vuiinolcsted the viglit to take iisli of ev- 

 ery kind on tlic Grand IJank, and on all the other hanks of Xew- 

 fuiindland ; also in the (tulf of St. Tiawrence, and at all other 

 ])laces in the sea Avhcre the inhabitants of both eotwitries used 

 at any time lierctolbre to fish ; and also that the inhabitants of 

 tlic United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind 

 on such part of the coast of Newfoundland as IJritish tishernien 

 Bhall use [but not to dry or cure the same on that island]; and 



