52 BRITISH FISHERIES 



As a result of these various investigations, a 

 Conference 1 was held at the Hague in 1886, to 

 consider the best way in which to deal with the 

 evil. An attempt had, in the meantime, been 

 made by the Mission to Deep-sea Fishermen, by 

 fitting out special smacks which worked on the 

 fishing grounds and did their best to minimise the 

 evil ; but international treatment of the traffic was 

 obviously the only effective remedy, and the Con- 

 ference brought this about. As a result, a Conven- 

 tion was agreed upon, which was signed in 1887 

 by the representatives of Great Britain, Germany, 

 Belgium, Denmark, Holland, and France. This 

 bound the signatory Powers to effect such legisla- 

 tion as would prohibit entirely the sale of liquor 

 in the North Sea, and would make the liberty to 

 traffic in provisions and other articles (liquor ex- 

 cepted) subject to the possession of a licence. It 

 was arranged to bring the Convention into force 

 at a date to be subsequently fixed on, and, for this 

 purpose, an Act of Parliament 2 was passed in 1888. 

 This Act, however, never came into force, for 

 France declined to ratify the Convention. The 

 other Powers, therefore, entered into a Protocol 

 in 1893, by which they agreed to enforce the 

 Convention as far as their own subjects were con- 

 cerned, leaving it to France to give her adhesion 



1 The British delegates were Mr C. M. Kennedy and Mr C. 

 Cecil Trevor. 



2 The North Sea Fisheries Act, 1888, 51 and 52 Viet. c. 18. 



