1 88 FISHERIES ARBITRATION AT THE HAGUE 



acter which I argued the other day of this grant. They are as 

 applicable, as effective, as peremptory and imperative, if this be 

 a contract — a mere obligatory contract — as they are if this be 

 a conveyance of a real right, for the limitation of the contract obli- 

 gation rests upon Great Britain so long as the contract remains. 

 It may not survive war as an obligation, it may not survive a 

 change of sovereignty as an obKgation, but so long as it subsists, 

 so long as it limits either the power or the exercise of the power of 

 Great Britain, so long will this Tribunal see it as being the law and 

 the guide to its award. 



The President: Concerning the proviso at the foot of Article 

 I, I should Hke to ask a question: To whom does the restriction 

 apply that they are not allowed to enter except for these four pur- 

 poses? It says, "provided, however, that the American fishermen 

 shall be admitted to enter such bays," etc. Does this restriction 

 apply only to American fishermen, or does it apply to British sub- 

 jects ? Is it Hmited to American fishermen ? 



Senator Root: Yes. 



The President: Do the regulations which Great Britain claims 

 to have the right to make concerning the exercise of the fishery 

 apply to American and British fishermen? 



Senator Root: They may and they may not, so long as they 

 are two separate classes. One class is what Mr. Evarts calls the 

 strand fishermen, and the other class is what he calls the vessel 

 fishermen. They are precluded from mingling, they cannot fish 

 on the same boat and cannot deal with each other in the ordinary 

 intercourse of life. The vessel fishermen cannot use the strand for 

 any of the numerous purposes for which it is desirable so long as 

 they do constitute a separate and distinct class. One prosecuting 

 this industry under its common right in one way and under one set 

 of conditions, and the other prosecuting its industry under its 

 common right under another set of conditions, it is impossible that 

 regulations imposed upon one set of fishermen should be reasonable 

 and adequate when they are applicable to the other. The claim of 

 Great Britain necessarily is that she, being representative of one 

 distinct class, is entitled to restrict and modify by her sole will, 



