INTRODUCTION Ixxv 



1871 and the discussion to which it gave rise. Great Britain main- 

 tained that the liberty granted to the United States to iish within 

 British waters additional to the Convention of 1818 was much more 

 valuable to the United States than the liberty granted to British subjects 

 to fish in American waters, and Article XXII of the Treaty of Washington 

 provided for the appointment of a commission to determine the differ- 

 ence in value between the liberties and assess the sum of money which 

 the United States should pay to Great Britain. The commission 

 met at Halifax in 1877 and awarded the sum of $5,500,000 to Great 

 Britain. 



Concluded for a period of ten years, the Treaty of 1871 was to remain 

 in effect for two years after its denunciation by either party at the expi- 

 ration of ten years, so that the American fishermen were to possess the 

 right to fish within Newfoundland waters granted by the treaty and to 

 use the land to dry the catch for a period of twelve years. 



The award of $5,500,000 was calculated upon the benefit which the 

 Treaty of Washington gave to the citizens of the United States in excess 

 of the benefits enjoyed by British subjects by virtue of the treaty, and 

 in reaching the award, the annual value of the privileges granted to 

 American fishermen was determined and multiplied by twelve. It is 

 obvious that local regulations during the life of the treaty but after the 

 date of the award (1877) might have decreased the value of the fisheries. 

 It is fair to assume that the commission regarded the rights and privi- 

 leges under the treaty as not subject to change, as otherwise their award 

 would have been manifestly unjust."- 



The incident of Fortune Bay and the correspondence between Great 

 Britain and the United States in regard to it brought into clear light 

 the British and American views regarding the interpretation of the 

 Treaty of Washington, the terms of which were similar, as admitted 

 in the correspondence, to the terms of the Convention of 1818, and 

 the incident therefore serves as an interpretation of the Convention of 

 1818. 



On Sunday, January 6, 1878, some twenty-two American fishing 

 vessels were within Fortune Bay, a region covered by the Treaty of 

 Washington, but not covered by the Convention of 1818. It appears 

 that a school of herring had entered the bay and that the American 

 vessels proceeded to catch the fish by means of seines. They were 

 interrupted in their fishery and prevented from fishing by mob violence, 



' For the organization of the Halifax Commission, its proceedings, the nature and extent 

 of the claims presented and the award, see Moore, "International Arbitrations to which the 

 United States has been a Party." (Vol. I, pp. 703-753-) 



