216 CASE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



vessels engaged in the fishery can be objected to is that it unreason- 

 ably interferes with the exercise of the American right of fishery. 



It is admitted that the majority of the American vessels lately 

 engaged in the fishery on the western coast of the Colony were regis- 

 tered vessels, as opposed to licensed fishing-vessels, and as such were 

 at liberty both to trade and to fish. The production of evidence of 

 the United States' registration is therefore not sufficient to establish 

 that a vessel, in Mr. Root's words, "does not purpose to trade as well 

 as fish," and something more w^ould seem clearly to be necessary. 

 The United States' Government w^ould undoubtedly be entitled to 

 complain if the fishery of inhabitants of the United States were 

 seriously interfered with by a vexatious and arbitrary enforcement 

 of the Colonial Customs laws, but it must be remembered that, in 

 proceeding to the waters in which the winter fishery is conducted, 

 American vessels must pass in close proximity to several custom- 

 houses, and that in order to reach or leave the grounds in the arms of 

 the Bay of Islands, on which the fishery has been principally carried 

 on during the past season, they have sailed by no less than three 

 custom-houses on the shores of the bay itself. So that the obligation 

 to report and clear need not in any way have interfered with a vessel's 

 operations. It must also be remembered that a fishery conducted in 

 the midst of practically the only centres of population on the west 

 coast of the Colony affords ample opportunities for illicit trade, and 

 consequently calls for careful supervision in the interests of the 

 Colonial revenue. 



The provisions in question are clearly necessary for the prevention 

 of smuggling, and His Majestj^'s Government are of opinion that 

 exception cannot be taken to their application to American vessels as 

 an unreasonable interference with the American fishery, and they 

 entertain the strong hope that the United States' Government will, 

 on reconsideration, perceive the correctness of this view, and issue 

 instructions accordingly for the future guidance of those in charge of 

 American vessels. 



It is, moreover, to the advantage of the American vessels engaged 

 in the winter fishery in the Bay of Islands that they should report at 

 a Colonial custom-house. Owing to the extent and peculiar con- 

 figuration of that bay, and owing to the prevalence of fogs, vessels 

 that enter its inner waters may remain for da3^s without the local 

 officers becoming aware that they are on the coast unless they so 

 report. In such circumstances it is difficult for the Colonial Govern- 

 ment to insure to American fishermen that protection against lawless 

 interference for which ]\lr. Root calls in the concluding part of his note. 



His Majesty's Government desire further to invite the attention of 

 the United States' Government to the fact that certain United States' 

 vessels engaged in the fishery refused to pa}^ light dues. This is the 

 first time, His Majesty's Government are informed, that American 

 vessels have refused to pay these dues, and it is presumed that the 

 refusal is based on the denial by the Colonial Government of the 

 trading privileges allowed in past years. His Majesty's Government, 

 however, cannot admit that such denial entitles American vessels to 

 exemption from light dues in the ports in which the}' fish. As already 

 stated, American fishing-vessels engaged in the fishery under the 

 Convention of 1818 have no Treaty status as such, and the only 

 ground on which, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, the 



