126 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



right to the fisheries should be guaranteed to them, yet a desire 

 of terminating the war has induced us not to make the acquisi- 

 tion of these objects an ultimatum on the present occasion." 



But in the instructions given to Mr. Adams the same 

 day for negotiating a treaty of commerce with Great 

 Britain it was expressly stated that he was to consent to 

 no treaty of commerce unless the United States should be 

 unmolested and undisturbed in taking fish on the banks 

 of Newfoundland and other fisheries in the American seas, 

 excepting within three leagues of the shores of the seas, 

 or of the coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, unless 

 a nearer distance could be obtained through negotiation. 1 



Adams, who at first was appointed sole commissioner to 

 negotiate with Great Britain, was joined subsequently by 

 Franklin, Jay and Laurens as associate commissioners. 

 The principal labor of securing treaty rights concerning 

 the fisheries rested with Adams. This was but natural, per- 

 haps, as he was from Massachusetts, and was better ac- 

 quainted with their importance than were his associates. 

 He was deeply concerned that the fisheries should be 

 recognized in the treaty of peace, and in the course of the 

 negotiations he proposed to the conference that an article 

 be inserted in the treaty setting forth the right of the 

 Americans to enjoy the fisheries. 



The paper was subjected to critical examination, in the 

 course of which Strachey, one of the British commissioners, 

 proposed that the word " right, " in its connection with the 

 entire fishery, should be changed into "liberty." Fitz- 

 herbert, another British commissioner, said that the word 

 " right " was an obnoxious expression. Upon this, Adams 

 arose, and, with the concentrated power that he possessed 

 when excited, said, "Gentlemen, is there or can there be 

 a clearer right? In former treaties that of Utrecht and 



i Snow, American Diplomacy, p. 56. 



