ARGUMENT OF MR. ROOT 35 



Senator Root: There is a third — "that the American fisher- 

 men shall have Uberty to dry and cure fish." 



Dr. Drago: Yes. So that we have here that the "people of 

 the United States" shall have liberty to take fish, then the "inhab- 

 itants of the United States" shall have liberty to take fish, and, in 

 the third place, "the American fishermen" shall have liberty to 

 dry and cure fish. 



Senator Root: I think that supports the view that I have 

 taken that these were interchangeable terms. 



The President: Have all these terms the same significance as 

 being expressive of an identical idea, or do they express different 

 purposes ? 



Senator Root: I think they have the same subject-matter, 

 but it was viewed from different aspects. I think that when they 

 say "people of the United States" they are thinking rather of the 

 right which came by virtue of independence. 



Judge Gray: A sovereign right? 



Senator Root: The right which appertained to a sovereign 

 independent State. I think that when they were speaking about 

 the "inhabitants of the United States" they were thinking rather 

 of how the right which they were granting to the Unij;ed States 

 was to be exercised by individuals, as a business enterprise that 

 individuals must enter upon. And when they spoke of "American 

 fishermen" they had reference to the method by which the right 

 was to be exercised — that is, by vessel. 



Sir Charles Fitzpatrick: Only a limited class of Americans 

 would exercise the privilege, and that class would come under the 

 description of American fishermen. 



Senator Root: Well, that may be. 



Sir Charles Fitzpatrick: They would be the only people 

 who would require to land and dry fish ? 



Senator Root: Bankers, merchants, and clergymen would 

 not be there. But they did, in fact, know that it would be the 



