6251.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.885
Reference :-
14 PUBLIC-RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
2
there is even greater difficulty in supporting it than if it were done on board the fishing vessels.
2. That we concur in the views expressed in paragraphs 10-14 of the Colonial Office letter of 11th February last, and are of opinion that a representation on the subject may properly be addressed to the French Government.
3. That the construction of the modus vivendi which, on the whole, we adopt on the first question is not so clear as to make it improper to leave that question open as a set-off against the contention of the French authorities on the other questions.
We have, &c. (Signed) C. RUSSELL.
JOHN RIGBY.
The Earl of Kimberley, K.G.,
&o.
&c. &c.
No. 58.
(NEWFOUNDLAND.)
LAW OFFICERS to FOREIGN OFFICE. MY LORD,
Royal Courts of Justice, April 7, 1894. We were honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Bertie's letter of the 22nd ultimo stating that he was directed by your Lordship to transmit to us the papers noted in the enclosed list, relative to the projected occupation of the Treaty Shore of Newfoundland for fishery purposes by individual fishermen from St. Pierre, and to the measures taken by the French authorities at St. Pierre to encourage and assist that novel mode of carrying on the cod fishery.
That the details of the scheme were explained in the Colonial Office letter of 11th February 1894, and that it would be seen that, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, the proceedings contemplated were inconsistent with existing Treaty stipulations, and that consequently a protest should at once be addressed to the French Government.
That the extracts from the several Treaties and other engagements defining the French rights of fishery would be found set out at length in the paper marked C.
That the question was referrel to Mr. W. E. Hall 'for his observations, and that those would be found in a Memorandum by that gentleman dated the 11th instant.
That Mr. Bertie was to request that we would take the papers into our consideration and that we would favour your Lordship with our opinion as to whether it was necessary, or desirable, to address a remonstrance to the French Government, ou the subject, and, if so, that we would further be good enough to indicate the grounds upon which such a remonstrance might, from a legal point of view, most advantageously be based.
That your Lordship would also be glad to receive any general observations which we might have to offer on the case.
We have taken the matter into our consideration, and, in obedience to your Lordship's commands, bave the honour to-
Report-
That in our opinion (though the question is not free from difficulty), and subject to the possibility of the French Government having evidence, at present unknown, of the bye boat system of fishing having been employed by French fishermen previously to the Treaty of Paris, the projected occupation of the Treaty shore for fishery purposes by indvidual fishermen from St. Pierre is inconsistent with existing Treaty stipulations, and we concur in, and adopt, the reasoning contained in Mr. Hall's Memorandum, received on the 12th of March
We are of opinion, therefore, that it is desirable that a remonstrance should be addressed to the French Government based on the grounds that the proposed method of fishing was not the recognised method that French fishermen had followed down to the time of the Declaration of 1783, and that the use proposed to be made of the Island of St. Pierre is inconsistent with the purpose for which that Island was ceded.
We add that, although we have not had all the means of arriving at a decision
may on the point of fact which appear to have been, at one time or another at the disposal of Mr. Hall, we see no reason to differ from the conclusion at which he has arrived as to
the meaning of the words "the method of carrying on the fishery which has been at
all times acknowledged " occuring in the Declaration of 1783.
The Right Hon. The Earl of Kimberley, K.G.,
&c. &c.
&c.
We have, &c. (Signed) C. RUSSELL.
JOHN RIGBY,
•
79871.-16.
15.-4/94.