66 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



never claimed that any part of the fisheries article of the treaty 

 of 1783 except the provisions of the second clause thereof was abro- 

 gated by the War of 1812 and never asserted that the alleged abro- 

 gation of that article affected American fishing liberties beyond the 

 distance of three marine miles from the shore ; and in confirmation of 

 the view expressed by the American Plenipotentiaries, in the extract 

 above quoted from their report of these negotiations, that the renun- 

 ciation in the fisheries article of the new treaty did not extend 

 beyond three miles from the shores, attention is called to the further 

 statement in their report that the exception in the new treaty with 

 respect to the exclusive rights of the Hudson Bay Company " applies 

 only to the coasts and their harbors and does not affect the right 

 of fishing in Hudson's Bay beyond three miles from the shores, a 

 right which could not exclusively belong to, or be granted by, any 

 nation." * 



This renunciatory clause was drafted by the American Plenipo- 

 tentiaries, omitted in the British counter projet, and finally insisted 

 upon b}^ the Plenipotentiaries of the United States, because " of its 

 being expressly stated that our renunciation extended only to the 

 distance of three miles from the coasts," with the explanation that 

 the importance of this was that " the fishing ground, on the whole 

 coast of Nova Scotia, is more than three miles from the shores," and 

 that " it is hoped that, with that provision, a considerable portion of 

 the actual fisheries on that coast (of Nova Scotia) will, notwithstand- 

 ing the renunciation, be preserved." " 



Great Britain had never in any of the negotiations claimed juris- 

 diction beyond a marine league from shore, and it is not conceivable 

 that the American Plenipotentiaries should have drafted a clause 

 which under its true interpretation would have surrendered historic 

 rights continuously claimed and insisted upon by the United States, 

 and the surrender of which was not demanded by Great Britain. 



Before passing from the consideration of the provisions of the 

 renunciatory clause of the new treaty, it must be noted that the 

 provisions of this clause relate only to the enjoyment of the liberties 

 and privileges referred to in it on the coasts other than those men- 

 tioned in the earlier provisions of the article. It is, therefore, unnec- 

 essary to examine here the effect of the provisions of this clause 



<^ Supra, p. 55. 



