62 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



One of these differences is that the coasts on which the libertj^ of 

 fishing is reserved to American fishermen are described in the earlier 

 treaty as " such part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fisher- 

 men shall use " and also " the coasts, bays, and creeks of all other 

 of his Britannic Majesty's dominions in America " and in the later 

 treat}^, such coasts are described as " that part of the southern coast 

 of Newfoundland which extends from Cape Kay to the Rameau 

 Islands, on the western and northern coast of Newfoundland, from 

 the said Cape Ray to the Quirpon Islands, on the shores of the 

 Magdalen Islands, and also on the coasts, bays, harbors, and creeks 

 from Mount Joly on the southern coast of Labrador, to and through 

 the straits of Belleisle, and thence northwardly indefinitely along 

 the coast." It is apparent that the only effect of this difference is to 

 substitute the particular coasts mentioned in the later treaty in place 

 of all the coasts mentioned in the earlier treaty, wherever the liberty 

 of taking fish was to be exercised by the inhabitants of the United 

 States. 



The clause in the new article providing that the liberties of the 

 American fishermen shall be without prejudice to any of the exclusive 

 rights of the Hudson Bay Company was not regarded by the Ameri- 

 can Plenipotentiaries as imposing any additional restriction upon the 

 rights previously enjoyed under the earlier treaty. It will be remem- 

 bered that in their report of the negotiations sent to Mr. Adams on 

 the day the treatj^ was signed, they made the following statement 

 with respect to this clause: 



To the exception of the exclusive rights of the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany we did not object, as it was virtually implied in the treaty of 

 1783, and we had never, any more than the British subjects, enjoyed 

 any right there ; the charter of that Company having been granted in 

 the year 1670. The exception applies only to the coasts and their 

 harbors and does not affect the right of fishing in Hudson's Bay be- 

 yond three miles from the shores, a right which could not exclusively 

 belong to, or be granted by, any nation.** 



It is true that in the draft of the new article as first proposed by 

 the American Plenipotentiaries, the provision now under considera- 

 tion contained the expression : " the inhabitants of the United States 

 shall continue to enjoy unmolested for ever", etc., which expression 

 was changed in the article as finally agreed upon to " the inhabitants 

 of the said United States shall have for ever." It will be remembered 



°' 8upra, p. 55. 



