299 



ot 



ovfimmpnt of thn United States to the Oovemmont of Her Britannic Majeaty in return for the 



privilcf,'cH iiccnrdwl U> ti iti/.ciis of the Kiiitcil StiitcM iindtT Artidi' XVITI ni' tliis Tioiity; mid tlmt 



any miiiii (if uiiuit'y wliiili tlic snid ('(uuinissioiicrs iiiay so iiward sliali lie iiaid liy tlic I'liilcJ StuLus' 

 Govc'rimiLiit, in a gWHs sum, witliiii twelve montha alter such uwurd bLuU have beoii yiveii." 



It would 1)0 an tinwarrantcd occupation of tlio time of tliis Commission for mo now 

 to revert to the interlocutory jiiilsmcnt which was ilelivcred on the Gth September last, 

 by which it was decided that, " it is not within the competence of this tribunal to award 

 conipensiitiun for comnu;rcial intercourse; between tlie two countries, nor for the 

 purcliasini^ bait, ice, supplies, &,c., &.c., nor for the permission to transship carfi^oes in 

 British waters." I may safely ieav(< it to tlic consideration of your Kxcelleney and 

 your Honours to deternu'ne to what extent this decision sliall wciijli with yon in arriving 

 at tlie award which will be jj:iven by yon. Narrowed and limited, however, as tlio 

 subject of this investi;:;alion now is, as compared with what we snp|)Osed it would be at 

 the outset, I must confess that I was not i)repared for the sinnmary disposal by my 

 learned friend Mr, Foster of the claim made on beiialf of Newfoundland. As I understand 

 his speech, he asserts tiiat that claim is presented, not for the privilej;;e of tishing in the 

 territorial waters of that island, but for the privilege of enjoying commercial intercourse 

 with the people ; and that the latter has b(;en eliminated from this controversy by the 

 decision of the 6th September. Further, he says, that there has been no fishing by 

 United Slates' citizens in the waters of Newfoundland, except the catching of a small 

 quantity of halibut, and the " jig^jing of a few squid after dark." Were such in reality 

 the nature of tlie claim, it would be ditficult to conceive how such could be seriously 

 preferred in an international inquiry of such importance ; but surely my learned friend 

 must have neglected to peruse the ease presented, and to attend to the evidence adduced 

 in support of it (which I cannot conceive him to have done), or he must have felt his inability 

 to meet that case and evidence with direct facts or arguments, and deemed it a wiser 

 course to keep the claim conveniently in the background by dismissing it with a few 

 depreciatory remarks. Much testimony is, however, before you, proving that United 

 States' citizens have iiroseeuted what are to them most valuable iisiieries in the inshore 

 waters of Newtbundland, to which evidence I shall presently draw your attention ; but 

 even sujjposing there had been uj) to the present time no such fishing, I cannot conceive, 

 nor do 1 believe you will be of opinion, that Article XXll of the Treaty will admit of 

 the construction that a claim tor compensation should be ignored for a privilege 

 conferred upon the United States for a term of years, even if that privilege had not been 

 availed of for a portion of the time. It does not follow but that, immediately your 

 award is given, the privilege would be exercised to the greatest possible extent for the 

 residue of the term, when we siiould be left utterly without remedy. 



I propose tlieii, first, to consider what has been conceded to the United States as 

 concerns Newfoundland, an<l what is the value of that concession ; and, secondly, what 

 has been conceded by the United States to Newfoundland, and the value thereof. 



The fislieries of Newfoundland are of historic celebrity, and have been so since the 

 day when Cabot, with his five vessels, steering north-west, on June 24th, 1497, caught 

 the first glimpse of TiTra Nova, and rejoicing in his success, named the high projecting 

 promontory which now bears the name of "' Bona Vista." It is recorded that in such 

 abundance were the codfisli tlien set'U, tliat Sebastian Cabot called the country Brtccn/flos, 

 in allusion to the circumstance ; a name which which still designates an island upon the 

 coast. Of that period, which embraces the first century after the discovery of New- 

 founiUand, we learn that by degrees there came to be attached to the codfisheries on the 

 banks and around the coast more and more importance ; and that in 1578, according to 

 Hackluyt, no less than 400 vessels were annually engaged in their prosecution. From 

 that daie until the Treaty of Utrecht, 171.3, the French, always discerning tlie enormous 

 value of these fisheries, availed themselves of every opportvinity and pretext for further 

 and further acipiisitions, and tor securing a foothold in the island as a basis for fishing 

 operations. Uy that Treaty Great Britain was solemnly confirmed in ihe exclusive 

 sovereignty of the entire territory, but the French were recognized as having the right 

 of fishing concurrently with the Knglish along certain i)ortions of the shore, and in the 

 use of the shore for certain purposes connected with the fisheries. 



It is needless for me here to refer to the various Treaties respecting the fishericB 

 which have been from time to time concluded between Great Britain and the United 

 States, and between Great Britain and France, since that date; suffice it to say that, 

 prior to liSTl, the United Slates enjoyed a liberty to fish between Quirjion and Cape 

 Ray on the west coast, and between Cape Ray and the Rameau Islands on the south 

 coast. By the Treaty of Washington, of the 8th May, 1871, United States' citizens 



