1072 MISCELLANEOUS. 



On motion of the Hon. Mr. Morris, seconded by the Hon. Mr. Kent, 

 Resolved, That copies of the said Address, mutatus mutandis, be 

 presented to both Houses of the Imperial Parliament, and that the 

 Hon. Mr. Speaker transmit the Address to the House of Lords to the 

 Right Honorable Earl Clarendon, and the Address to the House of 

 Commons to the Hon. C. P. Wallace. 



Extracts from the minutes of the Legislative Assembly of Newfound- 

 land, 1848-9. 



WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1849. 

 ******* 



Mr. Shea, from the Joint Committee of this House and Her Maj- 

 esty's Council to inquire into the state of the Fisheries of this Colony, 

 presented the draft of An Address to Her Most gracious Majesty, 

 which he read in his place, and afterwards delivered in at the Clerk's 

 table, where it was again read, as follows : 



To the QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 



MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY 



We, Your Majesty's loyal subjects, the Council and Assembly of 

 Newfoundland, in Session convened, beg leave most humbly to ap- 

 proach Your Majesty with feelings of the most profound respect 

 lor Your Majesty's person and government. 



The present depressed condition of this Colony imperatively de- 

 mands of us that we should bring the subject prominently under the 

 notice of Your Majesty. We cannot believe that a feeling of uncon- 

 cern will pervade Your Majesty's counsels in regard to the interests 

 of this Island, the oldest transatlantic possession of the British 

 Crown; and though the benefits we might have hoped for have not 

 heretofore attended on our appeals on this subject to the parent gov- 

 ernment, the daily aggravating evils under which we labour compel 

 us to renewed effort to obtain a hearing for our just complaints. 



We feel assured that a correct appreciation of these evils must lead 

 to the application of those measures of redress which a loyal de- 

 pendency may always confidently hope for at the hands of a paternal 

 government. We are sensible of the lively interest Your Majesty 

 entertains for all who live under the dominion of the British Crown 

 and that Your Majesty would not permit the continuance of a state 

 of things which experience has shown to be pregnant with ruinous 

 results. 



The grounds on which we presume to rest our appeal for Your 

 Majesty's consideration are, that the interests of this colony were 

 sacrificed to views of Imperial policy. By the treaty of Utrecht and 

 subsequent treaties, foreign powers were granted the right of fishing 

 on the Banks and the principal part of the shores and harbors of 

 Newfoundland. The French have successfully claimed the right of 

 the exclusive enjoyment of the Fisheries from Cape Ray to Cape 

 John, an extent or three hundred miles of coast, and embracing the 

 most valuable portions of the fishing grounds of this Island. The 

 American Treaty of 1818, gives the subjects of the latter power privi- 

 leges nearly equal to those enjoyed by the French, and thus are the 

 natural rights of Your Majesty's loyal subjects ruinously compro- 



