Ixxvi INTRODUCTION 



so that the American vessels were wholly deprived of the catch. The 

 British Government maintained that the action of the Americans was 

 illegal, for three reasons: 



First, that the Americans used seines for catching herring in direct 

 violation of the law of Newfoundland of the year of 1862, which pro- 

 vided that 



"no person shall haul or take herring by or in a seine or other such contrivance 

 on or near any part of the coast of this colony or of its dependencies, or in any of 

 the bays, harbors, or other places therein, at any time between the 20th day of 

 October and the 2Sth of April." 



Second, that the American fishing vessels in fishing on Sunday vio- 

 lated Section 4, Chapter 7, of an act passed April 26, 1876, which pro- 

 vided that 



"no person shall, between the hours of twelve o'clock on Saturday night and twelve 

 o'clock on Sunday night, haul or take any herring, caplin or squid, with net, seines, 

 bunts, or any such contrivance for the purpose of such hauling or taking." 



And — 



Third, that American fishermen were barring fish in violation of a New- 

 foundland statute of the year 1862 which forbade the barring of herring.* 



It will be noticed that two out of the three transactions concerned the 

 manner of fishing, and were a violation of local statutes of the year 1862; 

 that is to say, of local statutes in existence at the date of the Treaty of 

 Washington, and that the third violation related to the time of taking 

 fish, namely, Sunday, in contravention of a local statute not in existence 

 when the treaty was concluded but passed subsequently, in the year 1876. 



It will be recalled that the United States refused to extend the pro- 

 visions of the Treaty of Washington to Newfoundland, because in adher- 

 ing to the treaty Newfoundland provided that "rules and regulations 

 as to the time and manner of prosecuting the fishery on the coast of this 

 Island shall not be in any way affected by such suspension"; that Mr. 

 Fish, as Secretary of State, objected specifically to the non-suspension 

 of regulations relating to the time and manner, and that as a result of 

 discussion the Newfoundland act of adherence omitted the objection- 

 able passage and strengthened the suspension clause by the words " any 

 law of this Colony to the contrary notwithstanding." It would seem, 

 therefore, that local regulations regarding the time and manner of fish- 

 ing, although in existence at the date of the treaty, were not apphcable 

 to American fishermen. The prohibition of Sunday fishing was a regu- 

 lation affecting the time, and would seem to be covered by Mr. Fish's 

 general objection, but the statute in question was subsequent to the 

 treaty and, therefore, was doubly objectionable, because it was not in 



■ Appendix, pp. 416, 417; Appendix, U. S. Case, p. 652; Appendix, British Case, p. 268. 



