QUESTION FIVE. 179 



of the shore, the same treaty did not surrender the like right along 

 the other non-treaty coasts of the British possessions in North 

 America. 



No attempt was made during this period by any other province to 

 interfere with the fisheries. 



On September 17, 1855, in reply to a despatch from the colonial 

 office of Great Britain, requesting the governor of Newfoundland to 

 forward to the British minister at Washington " authentic copies of 

 all the laws and regulations of the legislature or other competent 

 authority of Newfoundland on the subject of the. fisheries of this 

 island," the attorney-general and solicitor-general of Newfoundland 

 reported : 



We have the honor to report in compliance with the desire of his 

 excellency that apart from the common law of England which is in 

 operation here so far as it is applicable to the circumstances of the 

 colony, and the several treaties defining the relative rights of Eng- 

 land, France and the United States of America to the fisheries of this 

 colon}', there are no special enactments of the local legislature in 

 operation here for the regulation of the fisheries. 



In connection with the observation of the committee of the New- 

 foundland Assembly that the fishermen of the United States -were al- 

 lowed to fish along all the coasts and harbors within three marine 

 miles of the shore, the following instruction of August 3, 1863, from 

 the Duke of Newcastle to Governor Bannerman of Newfoundland is 

 important : 



That if any misconception exists in Newfoundland respecting the 

 limits of the colonial jurisdiction, it would be desirable that it should 

 be put at rest by embodying in the act a distinct settlement (state- 

 ment) that the regulations contained in it are of no force except 

 within three miles of the shore of the colony. 6 



While the Province of Prince Edward's Island enacted April 15, 

 1843, a law similar to the Nova Scotia act of 1836, no attempt was 

 ever made to enforce its terms. 



Governor Bannerman, February 12, 1852, in a note to Lord Gray, 

 referring to this act, stated : 



The provisions of this act have not yet been enforced ; and should 

 the fishery question remain much longer unsettled in all probability 

 attempts will be made to seize American fishing vessels, and -such 

 attempts may be resisted, which may lead to collision the conse- 

 quences of which are not easily to be foreseen. 



The Province of New Brunswick enacted no law similar to the 

 Nova Scotia act of 1836 until May 3, 1853. 



U. 8. Counter Case, 22 ; Appendix, 251. U. S. Counter Case, Appendix, 217. 

 6 U. S. Case, 191 ; Appendix, 1082. 



