972 CORBESPONDENOE, ETC. 



flnclosure.] 



Memorandum. 



Mr. Root's note to Sir M. Durand of the 19th October, 1905, on 

 the subject of the United States' fishery in the waters of Newfoundland 

 under the Convention of the 20th October, 1818, may be divided into 

 three parts. 



The first deals with complaints which had reached the United 

 States' Government to the effect that vessels of United States' reg- 

 istry had been forbidden by the Colonial authorities to fish on the 

 Treaty Coast, the second with the provisions of "The Newfoundland 

 Foreign Fishing-Vessels Act, 1905, and the third with the possibility 

 of a lawless and violent interruption of the United States' fishery by 

 the inhabitants of the Bay of Islands. 



The complaints referred to in the first part of Mr. Root's note were 

 at once brought to the notice of the Government of Newfoundland, 

 and they replied that there had been no attempt to prevent American 

 fishermen from taking fish. The complaints in question appear to 

 have been based on some misunderstanding, and the subsequent 

 course of the fishery proved that the apprehensions on the part of the 

 United States' Government to which they gave rise were, fortunately, 

 not well founded. 



His Majesty's Government, however, agree with the United States' 

 Government in thinking that inasmuch as the privileges which citi- 

 zens of the United States have for many years enjoyed of purchasing 

 bait and supplies and engaging men in Newfoundland waters have 

 recently been withdrawn and American fishermen have consequently, 

 in Mr. Root's words, been thrown back upon their rights under the 

 Convention of 1818, it is desirable that a clear understanding should 

 be reached regarding those rights and the essential conditions of their 

 exercise, and they have accordingly given the most careful consider- 

 ation to the six propositions advanced in Mr. Root's note as embodying 

 the views of the United States' Government on the subject. 



They regret, however, that they are unable to record their assent 

 to these propositions without some important qualifications. 



Proposition 1 states: 



"Any American vessel is entitled to go into the waters of the Treaty 

 Coast and take fish of any kind. She derives this right from the 

 Treaty (or from the conditions existing prior to the Treaty and rec- 

 ognized by it) and not from any permission or authority proceeding 

 from the Government of Newfoundland." 



The privilege of fishing conceded by Article I of the Convention of 

 1818 is conceded, not to American vessels, but to inhabitants of the 

 United States and to American fishermen. 



His Majesty's Government are unable to agree to this or any of 

 the subsequent propositions if they are meant to assert any right of 

 American vessels to prosecute the fishery under the Convention of 

 1818 except when the fishery is carried on by inhabitants of the United 

 States. The Convention confers no rights on American vessels as 

 such. It enures for the benefit only of inhabitants of the United 

 States. 



Proposition 2 states: 



"An American vessel seeking to exercise the Treaty right is not 

 bound to obtain a licence from the Government of Newfoundland, 



