INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 11 



But they shall be under such Restrictions as may be necessary to pre- 

 vent their taking, drying or curing Fish therein, or in any other man- 

 ner whatever abusing the Privileges hereby reserved to them. 



With this preliminary statement, showing the origin and nature 

 of the differences, which Article I of the treaty of 1818 was intended 

 to compose, it is proposed to proceed with a separate consideration of 

 each of the seven Questions submitted by the Special Agreement of 

 January 27, 1909, involving the true interpretation of the provisions 

 of that article. 



Before entering upon a discussion of the Questions counsel of the 

 United States deem it proper to make a reservation. This argument 

 will for convenience refer to the fishing liberty of the United States 

 as a grant made by the treaty of 1818. It is not intended by follow- 

 ing this method of reference to depart from the traditional and, as 

 it is believed, the well-founded contention of the United States that 

 its rights under Article III of the treaty of 1783 were not abrogated 

 by the War of 1812 but survived that conflict. 



If the vicissitudes of time should ever bring into question the con- 

 tinued existence of Article I of the treaty of 1818, the United States 

 will not be estopped by the nature of this submission or by the use 

 of any terms or phrases in this argument from insisting that the 

 rights of fishery confirmed to it by Article I of the treaty of 1818 and 

 the rights renounced by that article stand upon precisely the same 

 footing as they did before the treaty of 1818' was entered into. 



For the purposes of this submission, however, Article I of the 

 treaty of 1818 is recognized as the measure of the rights and obliga- 

 tions of the United States and of Great Britain so far as the Ques- 

 tions to be decided by this Tribunal are concerned. 



92909 S. Doc. 870, 61-3, vol 8 2 



