INTRODUCTION 



Conclusion 



Considered as a whole, the award of the Tribunal has given very 

 general satisfaction to all parties concerned. Great Britain retains its 

 sovereignty within British waters. Newfoundland is acknowledged to 

 possess the right to regulate fishing within its waters, provided such 

 regulations are reasonable, and the Canadian and Newfoundland bays 

 on the non-treaty coast are geographical, not territorial bays. The 

 United States is likewise satisfied with the award because its legitimate 

 interests are safeguarded and protected. It is true that regulations 

 affecting the time and manner of fishing are presumed to be reasonable 

 unless there be actual discrimination, but the reasonableness of any 

 regulation is not a question solely for Great Britain or its colonies 

 to determine. If the United States objects to a regulation as unreason- 

 able, the issue is to be determined by a commission in which Great 

 Britain and the United States will be represented, and in which a 

 foreigner will hold the casting vote. Great Britain, indeed, retains its 

 sovereignty and its right to legislate, but the exercise of sovereignty 

 seems to be vested in commission, and the Convention of 1818 is, to this 

 extent, as admitted by Lord Salisbury and maintained by Mr. Root, a 

 qualification of British sovereignty. In the next place, American fisher- 

 men are permitted by the award to employ non-inhabitants generally, 

 and their persons and their property are not, on this accoimt, to be 

 arrested, seized, or confiscated. 



The holdings on Questions III and IV are favorable to the contentions 

 of the United States, yet recognize and protect the interest which New- 

 foundland and Canada have, to be notified of the presence of American 

 fishermen within the fishing grounds or upon the non-treaty coast. The 

 historic contention of the United States in the matter of bays was re- 

 jected by the Tribunal, but if the ten mile rule, as recommended by the 

 Tribunal, be accepted by Great Britain and the United States, the loss 

 will be but four miles ; that is to say, the difference between six and ten 

 miles. Had Sir Robert Bond's contention prevailed that American fisher- 

 men were excluded from the bays and harbors of the treaty coast, the 

 consequences would have been very serious because the winter herring 

 fishery would have been lost to American fishermen. The contention 

 was political rather than legal, and was advanced, it would seem, to 

 secure concessions to Newfoundland products within the United States. 



And finally, the award of the Tribunal on Article VII, while favorable 

 to the United States, nevertheless protects Newfoundland from the 

 abuse of the fishing liberty. 



