1 8 FISHERIES ARBITRATION AT THE HAGUE 



of the two parties in regard to Question One, and to draw from the 

 record definitions, in so far as seems to be useful for the moment, 

 as to what Great Britain can do and what Great Britain cannot do. 

 It is my purpose, as best I may^ first, to dispose of certain rather 

 narrow questions relating to the meaning of terms in the grant of 

 1818; second, to show the practical bearing of the decision of the 

 first question on the substantial rights of the United States; third, 

 to examine the nature of the right granted and the consequences 

 and legal effect of that nature; fourth, to show the understanding 

 and intent of the negotiators as to the meaning and effect of the 

 article and the terms used in it; fifth, to show the construction that 

 has been put upon the article of the treaty of 1818 in question by 

 the parties — the construction that was put upon it for more than 

 sixty years after it was made — and, sixth, to show the relations to 

 this case, to this right created by this article, of the accepted rules 

 of international law which have grown up in the consideration and 

 treatment of cases embodying the same fundamental characteristics 

 and having a~ generic relation to the grant of the right under the 

 treaty of 1818, as I hope to make it plain to you. 



First, as to the meaning of some of the terms in the 'article. 

 Fortunately, we have for our assistance in the elucidation of these 

 terms at the outset the fact that this agreement was an agreement 

 in settlement of an old controversy. It was a settlement of ques- 

 tions which arose under the former treaty of 1783, and the terms 

 used, wherever there is any question, may be considered with all 

 the light thrown upon them that comes from the terms of the former 

 treaty, the negotiations and correspondence relating to it, the prac- 

 tice under it, and the evidence of understanding by the parties as 

 to what that treaty meant. 



Words are Uke those insects that take their color from their 

 surroundings. Half the misunderstanding in this world comes 

 from the fact that the words that are spoken or written are con- 

 ditioned in the mind that gives them forth by one set of thoughts 

 and ideas, and they are conditioned in the mind of the hearer or 

 reader by another set of thoughts and ideas, and even the simplest 

 forms of expression are frequently quite open to mistake, unless 

 the hearer or reader can get some idea of what were the conditions 

 in the brain from which the words come. 



