PEKIOD FROM 1871 TO 1905. 669 



ally been obtained by purchase. It is hardly possible, then, to con- 

 ceive that the Americans will continue to buy, possessing as they now 

 do the right to catch." 



The British case states the argument as to the Newfoundland fish- 

 eries in the following language : 



" It is asserted on the part of Her Majesty's Government, that the 

 actual use which may be made of this privilege at the present moment 

 is not so much in question as the actual value of it to those who may, 

 if they will, use it. It is possible, and even probable, that the United 

 States fishermen may at any moment avail themselves of the privilege 

 of fishing in Newfoundland inshore waters to a much larger extent 

 than they do at present; but even if they should not do so, it would 

 not relieve them from the obligation of making the just payment for 

 a right which they have acquired subject to the condition of making 

 that payment. The case may be not inaptly illustrated by the some- 

 what analogous one of a tenancy of shooting or fishing privileges ; it 

 is not because the tenant fails to exercise the rights which he has 

 acquired by virtue of his lease that the proprietor should be debarred 

 from the recovery of his rent. 



" There is a marked contrast to the advantage of the United States 

 citizens between the privilege of access to fisheries the most valuable 

 and productive in the world and the barren right accorded to the 

 inhabitants of Newfoundland, of fishing in the exhausted and preoc- 

 cupied waters of the United States, north of the 39th parallel of 

 north latitude, in which there is no field for lucrative operations, even 

 if British subjects desired to resort to them; and there are strong 

 grounds for believing that year by year, as United States fishermen 

 resort in greater numbers to the coasts of Newfoundland, for the pur- 

 pose of procuring bait and supplies, they will become more intimately 

 acquainted with the resources of the inshore fisheries and their unlim- 

 ited capacity for extension and development. As a matter of fact 

 United States vessels have, since the Washington Treaty came into 

 operation, been successfully engaged in these fisheries; and it is but 

 reasonable to anticipate that as the advantages to be derived from 

 them become more widely known larger numbers of United States 

 fishermen will engage in them. 



"A participation by fishermen of the United States in the freedom 

 of these waters, must, notwithstanding their wonderfully reproductive 

 capacity, tell materially on the local catch, and, while affording to 

 the United States fishermen a profitable employment, must seriously 

 interfere with local success. The extra amount of bait also which is 

 required for the supply of the United States demand for the bank 

 fishery must have the effect of diminishing the supply of cod for the 

 inshores, as it is well known that the presence of that fish is caused by 

 the attraction offered by a large quantity of bait fishes, and as this 

 quantity diminishes the cod will resort in fewer numbers to the coast, 

 i " The effect of this diminution may not in all probability be appar- 

 ent for some years to come, and whilst United States fishermen will 

 have the liberty of enjoying the fisheries for several years in their 

 present teeming and remunerative state, the effects of overfishing 

 may, after their right to participate in them has lapsed, become seri- 

 ously prejudicial to the interests of the local fishermen. 



