CORRESPONDENCE 459 



merely that the seventh section of the Act, which seeks to preserve "the rights and 

 privileges granted by Treaty to the subjects of any States in amity with His Majesty," 

 amounts to a prohibition of any "vexatious interference" with the exercise of the 

 Treaty rights of American fishermen, but that this clause ought to receive the effect 

 of entirely excluding American vessels from the operation of the first and third clauses 

 of the Act relating to searches and seizures and primd facie evidence. Such a con- 

 struction by His Majesty's Government would wholly meet the difficulty pointed 

 out in my letter of the 19th October, as arising under the first and third sections of 

 the Act. A mere limitation, however, to interference which is not "vexatious," 

 leaving the question as to what is "vexatious interference" to be determined by the 

 local officers of Newfoundland, would be very far from meeting the difficulty. 



You will inform His Majesty's Government of these views, and ask for such action 

 as shall prevent any interference upon any ground by the officers of the Newfoundland 

 Government with American fishermen when they go to exercise their Treaty rights 

 upon the Newfoundland coast during the approaching fishing season. 



I am, etc. 

 (Signed) Elihu Root 



NOTE FROM SIR EDWARD GREY TO MR. REID, JUNE 20, 1907' 



Foreign Office, June 20, 1907 



Sir, — On the 20th of July last. Your Excellency communicated to me a letter 

 addressed to you by Mr. Root in which he gave reasons which prevented his agree- 

 ment with the views of His Majesty's Government as to the rights of American fishing 

 vessels in the waters of Newfoundland under the Convention of 1818. 



No reply was returned at the time to the arguments contained in this letter, as 

 the divergence of views between the two Governments made it hopeless to expect an 

 immediate and definitive settlement of the various questions at issue and it was essen- 

 tial to arrive at some arrangement immediately which would secure the peaceable and 

 orderly conduct of the impending fishery season. 



Upon the conclusion of the Modus Vivendi His Majesty's Government further 

 deferred any additional observations on the questions at issue until the arrival in this 

 country of the Premier of Newfoundland to attend the Imperial Conference. 



They have now had the advantage of a full discussion with Sir R. Bond, and although 

 His Majesty's Government are unable to modify the views to which they have on 

 various occasions given expression, of the proper interpretation of the Convention 

 of 1818 in its bearing on the rights of American fishermen, they are not without hope, 

 having regard to the willingness of the United States Government from a practical 

 point of view to discuss reasonable and suitable regulations for the due control of the 

 fishermen of both countries, that an arrangement may be arrived at which will be 

 satisfactory to both countries. 



I desire at the outset to place on record my appreciation of the moderation and 

 fairness with which Mr. Root has stated the American side of the question and I 

 shall in my turn endeavour to avoid anything of a nature to embitter this long-standing 

 controversy. 



It will be convenient to recapitulate the main grounds of divergence between 

 the two Governments on the question of principle. 



His Majesty's Government, on the one hand, claim that the Treaty gave no fishing 

 rights to American vessels as such, but only to inhabitants of the United States and 

 'Appendix, British Case, p. 507; Appendix, U, S. Case, p. 1003. 



