QUESTION THREE. 109 



CUSTOMARY EXEMPTIONS ACCORDED FISHING VESSELS. 



The argument would be very strong against a presumption of an 

 intention to require entry or report at custom-houses and payment of 

 light, harbor, and other dues, under such a treaty as that of 1818, 

 which contains no reservations, even if the fishing liberty had been 

 granted on coasts with fixed and settled populations. 



The indulgence due to fishing vessels on account of their necessities, 

 the poverty of those who engage in the vocation of fishing, the little 

 profit which accrues from their labor, the necessity of moving freely 

 in and out of the territorial waters without restriction if the fishing 

 venture is to be remunerative, the petty character of any frauds which 

 the fishermen might commit on the revenues if so disposed, and the 

 certainty of detection sooner or later, together with the knowledge 

 that they must return to the coast again and again in their business 

 and thereby brave both detection and punishment, are all factors which 

 would necessarily have entered into the minds of negotiators of such a 

 treaty, and which, in the absence of a reservation or of restrictive 

 provisions, would, it is submitted, conclusively negative any intention 

 to require that the vessels enter or report every time they come within 

 the territorial waters, or that they be burdened with exactions and 

 dues which they can ill afford to pay, and from which, in considera- 

 tion of their character, domestic fishing vessels are almost universally 

 exempt. 



By the British Act of 1775 (15 Geo. Ill, Cap. 31), British fishing 

 vessels resorting to Newfoundland were exempted from entry at the 

 custom-house, except a mere report by the master on arrival and 

 departure, for which he was to pay 2s 6d, and it was provided that 

 " no other fee shall be taken or demanded by any officer of the cus- 

 toms there upon any other pretence whatsoever relative to the said 

 fishery, any law, custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding." 



It appears that formerly Newfoundland laid a small tonnage tax 

 on fishing vessels for the support of light-houses, but always much 

 less than that imposed on trading vessels. The Newfoundland Act 

 of 1899, however, more consonant with the indulgent spirit which 

 animates most nations in dealing with such vessels, expressly ex- 

 empted domestic fishing vessels from all such dues.* 



British Case, 65. British Case, Appendix, 754. 



