QUESTION FIVE. 143 



fish within " the British jurisdiction " from Cape Ray to the Ramea 

 Islands on the Newfoundland shore, and from Mount Joli indefinitely 

 north on the Labrador coast should be conceded. 



Mr. Adams added in his instructions that, if the two powers were 

 unable to agree upon a fair adjustment of their " differences " 



the British Government may as well be assured that not a particle 

 of these rights will be finally yielded by the United States without a 

 struggle which will cost Great Britain more than the worth of the 

 prize. 



The British and American plenipotentiaries first met in conference 



August 27, 1818, when 



it was agreed that the discussion should be carried on by confer- 

 ence and protocol with the insertion in the protocol of such written 

 documents as either party might deem necessary for the purpose of 

 recording their sentiments in detail* 



In this first conference, the British plenipontentiaries expressed a 

 willingness to sign at once a renewal of the commercial convention of 

 1815, as it existed, and the American plenipotentiaries in effect agreed 

 to sign such a convention. The representatives of both powers agreed 

 that the eventual signature of the instrument, renewing the com- 

 mercial convention, would not be contingent upon a settlement of the 

 other points in the negotiation. 



At the third conference September 17, 1818, the American plenipo- 

 tentiaries brought forward the first draft of Article I of the new 

 treaty, containing among other provisions the renunciatory clause." 



The language in the proposed article, " coasts, bays, creeks or 

 harbours of His Britannic Majesty's Dominions in America " was 

 gathered from the treaty of 1783. For thirty-five years after the 

 treaty of peace, and throughout the negotiations for the new treaty, 

 there had been no claim on the part of Great Britain that the 

 " bays, harbours and creeks of His Britannic Majesty's Dominions 

 in America " extended the jurisdiction of Great Britain beyond 

 three marine miles from the shores. The " bays, creeks or har- 

 bours " referred to were necessarily those within " the British juris- 

 diction," within " the British limits," within " the exclusive juris- 

 diction of Great Britain," within " the maritime limits of Great 

 Britain," within " the limits of the British sovereignty," and within 

 its " dominion " of three marine miles from shore. These " bays, 

 creeks or harbours," that is, those six marine miles or less in width 



U. S. Case, Appendix, 305. c U. S. Case, 56 ; Appendix, 310. 



6 U. S. Case, Appendix, 309. 



