QUESTION SIX. 229 



It is unmistakable that American fishermen had the right under the 

 treaty of 1783 to fish in the bays of Newfoundland, for it was " on 

 such part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall 

 use " that the liberty was secured to them. This language is fol- 

 lowed immediately in the treaty by the words, " and also on the 

 coasts, bays and creeks of all other of His Britannic Majesty's Do- 

 minions, etc." Will it be contended that here, too, the use of the 

 words, " bays and creeks," as to other coasts, has the effect of limit- 

 ing the extent of the coast of Newfoundland which American fisher- 

 men could use, and makes it less than " such part of the coast of New- 

 foundland as British fishermen shall use?" If not in this treaty, and 

 it certainly cannot be so contended, why in that of 1818 ? 



The explanation of the use of the word " coast " in the treaty of 

 1818 is that, as to Newfoundland, it was adopted from the treaty of 

 1783, and means just what it meant in that treaty and just what it 

 meant in the French treaties of 1763, 1783, and 1814, which are dis- 

 cussed later in this argument. 



There was no doubt of the right of Americans to use the bays under 

 the treaty of 1783. The right was distinctly recognized in a report, 

 dated April 24, 1793, of a committee of the House of Commons ap- 

 pointed to inquire into the state of the trade to Newfoundland, in 

 the following language: 



By that treaty (1783) the North American colonies, now become in- 

 dependent States, are permitted to fish not only upon the banks of 

 Newfoundland, but in all the bays, creeks, and rivers of that island, 

 as of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, as well as upon their own banks 

 of St. George. 



As to the Magdalen Islands, the phrase in the treaty of 1818 

 changes to "on the shores." Why? Possibly only for the sake of 

 variety and to avoid the use six times in the same sentence of the word 

 "coasts;" probably, however, because coast is more commonly used 

 with reference to the sea boundary of the mainland or of great 

 islands taking the character of mainland, and is an inappropriate 

 word for the strand of little islands. 



The same use of the words is to be noticed in the treaty of 1854 



with permission to land upon the coasts and shores of those colonies, 

 and the islands thereof, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, for the 

 purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish. & 



U. S. Counter Case, Appendix, 560, 562. 

 * U. S. Case, 134 ; Appendix, 26. 



