1 82 ..THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERY QUESTION. , 



the fixed settlements which shall be formed there to be removed. His Britannic 

 Majesty will give orders that the French fishermen be not incommoded in cutting 

 the wood necessary for the repair of their scaffolds, huts, and fishing vessels. 



The .13th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht, and the method of carrying on the 

 fishery, which has at all times been acknowledged, shall be the plan upon which the 

 fishery shall be carried on there. It shall not be deviated from by either party, the 

 French fishermen building only their scaffolds, confining themselves only to the repair 

 of their fishing vessels, and not wintering there ; the subjects of his Britannic Majesty, 

 on their part, not molesting in any manner the French fishermen during their fishing, 

 nor injuring their scaffolds during their absence. 



The King of Great' Britain, in ceding the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon to 

 France, regards them as ceded for the purpose of serving as a. real shelter to the 

 French fishermen, and in full confidence that these possessions will not become an 

 object of jealousy between the two nations, and that the fishery between the said 

 islands and that of Newfoundland shall be limited to the middle of the channel. 

 Given at Versailles, the 3rd Sept. , 1783. 



(L,s.) Manchester. 



And this declaration was responded to by a counter declaration of 

 his Majesty the King of France, Louis XVI., as follows : — ■ 



Counter Declaration of His Most Christian Majesty. 



The principles which have guided the King in the whole course of the negotia- 

 tions which preceded the re-establishment of peace, must have convinced the King of 

 Great Britain that his Majesty has had no other design than to render it solid and 

 lasting by preventing, as much as possible, in the four quarters of the world, every 

 subject of discussion and quarrel. 



The King of Great Britain undoubtedly places too much confidence in the upright- 

 ness of his Majesty's intentions not to rely upon his constant attention to prevent the 

 islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon from becoming an object of jealousy between the 

 two nations. 



As to the fishery on the coasts of Newfoundland, which has been the object of the 

 new arrangements settled by the two Sovereigns, upon this matter it is sufficiently 

 ascertained by the sth Article of the Treaty of the Peace signed this day, and by the 

 declaration liliewise delivered to-day by his Britannic Majesty's Ambassador Extra- 

 ordinary and Plenipotentiary; and his Majesty declares that he is fully satisfied on 

 this head. 



In regard to the fishery between the island of Newfoundland and those of St. Pierre 

 and 'Miquelon, it is not to be carried on by either party but to the middle of the 

 channel ; and his Majesty will give the most positive orders that the French fishermen 

 shall not go beyond this Une. His Majesty is firmly persuaded that the King of Great 

 Britain will give like orders to the English fishermen. 



Given at Versailles, the 3rd of Sept. , 1783. 



(l.s.) Gravier de Vergennes. 



SUBSEQUENT TREATIES. 



The Treaty of Amiens of 1805 made no alteration of the declara- 

 tion contained in the Treaty of Versailles of 1783. 



