260 



Spanish fishermen went to work also (as the place was 

 equally free to both nations,) destroying the means of pro- 

 duction of those species, which would naturally tend to 

 seek another place farther off, with an appreciable loss to 

 both Spaniards and Frenchmen. 



It is necessary, therefore, that we should endeavour, 

 considering the universal interests involved, to recommend 

 in our respective countries the necessity of coming to an 

 agreement by means of international treaties, so that the 

 abuse of one nation may not prejudice the others. 



It m evident that it is an error to consider the boundaries 

 of national waters- as the measure of international juris- 

 diction, because fish can-not be made to respect these 

 limitations, which only apply to other matters, and more 

 space is required in order that the bordering nations may 

 watch over their preservation-, not abandoning it as they do 

 now by reason of this small territorial limit. 



I will conclude with a point of great importance. We 

 are all deeply impressed with the sufferings to which the 

 fisherman is subject in his precarious occupation^ ending in 

 many cases in an untimely death ; and as we have already 

 said the waters have no frontiers, neither have human 

 sentiments. It follows then that all coasting nations may 

 afford protection from some of the sailor's perils by means of 

 benevolent societies, giving relief in cases of shipwreck and 

 in any other disasters contracted in the calling. 



All nations should combine for the mutual aid and 



1 propagation of societies of this nature, by means of which 



the man, well-to-do and exempt from perils, fulfils one of his 



most sacred duties the relief of the poor hardly-worked 



fisherman. 



