ARGUMENT OF MR. ROOT 373 



if at all, not by virtue of the treaty, but by virtue of these privileges 

 having been accorded to the class which is the postulate. Of course, 

 they had those unless there is something in the treaty to lead you 

 to answer this question in the negative. You cannot find a negative 

 to this question unless you find the ground for it in the treaty. 

 That is the position. 



Sir Charles Fitzpatrick: What would be the effect, now, if 

 this question were put in the way you suggested at the beginning, 

 so as to cover the case of a trading vessel going direct from an 

 American port to a Newfoundland port, discharging her cargo and 

 then proceeding to fish ? I think there is only one answer possible 

 to it. Any inhabitant of the United States may fish from a trading 

 vessel under those circumstances; he may fish from a raft or from 

 a balloon, or any other means of conveyance he may have. But 

 let us look at the question. If that question is answered in the 

 afiirmative, what would be the result ? The result would be that 

 this Tribunal would declare that the inhabitants of the United 

 States whose vessels resort to the treaty coast for the purpose of 

 exercising the liberties referred to in Article i of the treaty of 18 18 

 are entitled to have for those vessels when duly authorized by 

 the United States in that behalf the commercial privileges on the 

 treaty coasts accorded by agreement or otherwise to United States 

 trading vessels generally. That would be the result. In my 

 opinion that would mean that a fishing vessel, licensed to fish, could 

 go up there and exercise her fishing right, and then, if authorised by 

 the United States, would be entitled to supplement her action as a 

 fishing vessel and become a trading vessel; and in the interval, of 

 course, the Hovering Acts and all these other Acts would not apply 

 to her, so long as she remained a fishing vessel. Putting the case 

 the other way about, instead of sending your trading vessels direct 

 to Newfoundland and then afterwards having them act as fishing 

 vessels, this question here, in my judgment, as I see it now, presup- 

 poses the action of the fishing vessel coming up to Newfoundland 

 and then afterwards being converted into a trading vessel. 



Senator Root: Of course, trading privileges are subject to the 

 regulations appropriate to secure the proper conduct and the proper 

 exercise of the trading privilege. There can be no claim of a right 



