246 THE ARGUMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



time, to some extent, be true as regards codfish, but not as regards 

 herring, turbot, and halibut.* 



The collector of customs at Amherst Harbor (Magdalen Islands) 

 testified before the Halifax Commission that in the year 1854 over one 

 hundred American fishing vessels entered Amherst Harbor and fished 

 "with seines near the shore." 6 This fishing was conducted under 

 the provisions of the treaty of 1818, since the treaty of 1854 did not 

 go into effect until March 16, 1855. 



1886: In 1886 the collector of customs at Bonne Bay, Newfound- 

 land, served upon the fishing schooner Thomas F. Bayard, while at 

 anchor in that harbor, a printed notice which contained the following 

 clause : 



I am instructed to notify you that the presence of your vessels in 

 this port is in violation of the articles of the international convention 

 of 1818 between Great Britain and the United States in relation to 

 fishery rights on the coast of Newfoundland. 



During the same season the American fishing schooner Mascot was 

 subjected to similar interference by the provincial authorities in Ain- 

 herst harbor, Magdalen Islands. The facts out of which these cases 

 arose, and the position of the United States with respect thereto, are 

 fully set forth in the Case of the United States.* 



These two instances were promptly called to the attention of the 

 British Government by Mr. Bayard, the Secretary of State, and in 

 the course of the correspondence which ensued, Mr. Phelps, the 

 American minister at London, wrote to Lord Iddesleigh, September 

 11, 1886, as follows: 



These vessels were proposing to fish in waters in which the right 

 to fish is expressly secured to Americans by the terms of the treaty 

 of 1818 the former in Bonne Bay on the northwest coast of New- 

 foundland, and the latter near the shores of the Magdalen Islands. 6 



On November 30, 1886, J^ord Iddesleigh acknowledging Mr. Phelps 

 letter of the llth instant said with reference to these vessels: 



The privileges manifestly secured" to United States fishermen by 

 the convention of 1818 in Newfoundland, Labrador and the Magdalen 

 Islands, are not contested by Her Majesty's Government who whilst 

 determined to uphold the rights of Her Majesty's North American 

 subjects as defined in the convention are no less anxious and resolved 



a U. S. Counter Case, Appendix, 549-550. *U. S. Case, 190-194. 



6 U. S. Counter Case, Appendix, 555. U. S. Case, 192-193; Appendix, 837. 



c U. S. Case, Appendix, 28. 



