297 



Agent and counsel, and fully and witli preat ability presented to the Conrt; and I 

 am cortHi'ii that GrvM Britain and tlie Dominion, rcjuTsented here by an Agent from tlie 

 Forcii^n Office, denoted to IJie work before liim, assisted by tlic constant presence of a 

 member of the; Dominion Government larjj^ely ae(|iiainted witli this wliolo siil)iect, and 

 with fiv(' connscl, one from each Province of tlie Dominion, all capable, all indefaligai)le, 

 witli knowledge and skill, cannot complain tliat ihey iiave not been fully and ably repre- 

 sented. But, after all, the decision, the result, depends jipon jou three gentlemen, who 

 have undertaken, two of you at the recpiest of your respective countries, and his 

 Excellency at the recjuest of both countries, to decide this cpu-stion between us. 



It has been said, 1 have heard it, that your decision will be made upon some general 

 notion of what, on the whole, would be best for the interests of the two countries, without 

 much referenei! to the evidence or to tlie reasoning. Mr. President and genth;men, wu 

 rcpiuliate any such aspersion upon the character of the Court. Wc know, and we say it 

 in advance, not that we Iwpe this tribunal will proceed judicially, and decide in 

 accordance with the e\idence and the weight of reasoning, but we cannot allow our- 

 selves to doubt it. We may venture to congratulate your Honours and your Excel- 

 lency in advance, tliat wlieu this decision shall liav" gone out, whether it give pleasure 

 or pain to the one side or the otlier, the question will have been decided upon those 

 principles which it is manifest the Treaty determined it should be decided upon, not 

 from some local or natior -,1 view of policy for the present or future, not for the sake of 

 what some persons hope may by-and-b) result in something better than the present 

 Treaty, but that you will have eoniined yourselves to exactly what the Treaty asks and 

 cmjiowers you to ilo, to determine what is now tlie pecuniary result of the contrasted 

 Articles of' the Treaty. On such a determination of the controversy, whatever may 

 hereatter follow fnmi it, each of your Honours will know that you have been governed 

 by jirinciple, and by that strict rule of conduct wliich alone can give a man peace 

 at the last. 



No. VII. 



Final Akoujients on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty, by the Hon. 



Ma. WniTEWAY, Q.C. 



by her 



Thursday, November 15, 1877. 



The Conference met. 



Mr. Whiteway addressed the Commission as follows : — 



May it please your Excellency and your Honours— 



The duty devolves upon me in taking my ])art in closing this case, which has now 

 engaged your most earnest attention for a period of over five months, of addressing \ou, 

 first, on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, and in the discharge of that duty it has 

 not been assigned to me, nor is it incumbent ujion me, to refer to the various Treaties 

 which, from time to time, have existed between Great Britain and the United States 

 relating to those important fisheries which are the subject under consideration. I 

 apprehend that it is of little import, in respect to th's case, whetiu'r the Reciprocity 

 Treaty abrogated the Treaty of 1818, as contended fo;- by the learned coiniscl on the 

 opposite side; relegating our position to the status existing under the Treaty of 1783 ; 

 or what effect the war of 181? had upon the then existing Treaties, ''"liese are questions 

 outside the matters now under discussion, and I shall not deal with them. It is siiflicient 

 for me to take the Washington Treaty of 1 87 I , wliich has been correctly termed " tlie 

 charter of your authority," the bond under which you arc acting, and make it the 

 foundation of my argument. No oni> who had the privilege of b(Mng present, and had 

 the opiiortunity of listening to the able exposititm of my learned friend, the Honourable 

 Mr. Foster, the racy, humorous, and slas'.iiiig sjieeeh *)f my friend Mr, Trescot, and the 

 classical and philosophical composition of my friend Mr. Dana, could fail to admit that 



