The Story of Newfoundland

CH SHORE

pter. No apology is necessary for such a chapter even in a work so slight as the present, for the French Shore question was chronically acute in Newfoundland, and the French claims, like George III.'s

asting reminders. For centuries the French, like the Dutch, went on giving too little and asking too much. By the time of Louis XIV. they had in fact established

acknowledgment of the sole right of the Crown of England to that island; but of late the encroachments of the French, and His Majesty's subjects tra

s, and the arguments supplied by the stricken fields of Blenheim and Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet, should have made easy the task of English diplomacy. But from a corrupt political soil sprang the Treaty of Utrecht, th

, or any of their subjects, at any time hereafter lay claim to any right to the said island and islands, or to any part of it or them. Moreover it shall not be lawful for the subjects of France to fortify any place in the said island of Newfoundland, or to erect any building there, besides stages made of boards, and huts necessary and useful for drying of fish, or to resort to the said island beyond the time necessary for fishing and drying of fish. But it shall be allowed to the subjects of France to catch fish and to dry them on land in that

ment, and twenty years later the Treaty of Versaille

their scaffolds, confining themselves to the repair of their fishing vessels, and not wintering there; the subjects of His Majesty Britannic on their part not molesting in any manner the French fishermen during their fishing, nor injuring their scaffolds during their absence."

was often relied upon by French diplomatists,

n any manner by their competition the fishery of the French during the temporary exercise of it which is granted to them.... His Majesty will ... for this purpose cause the fixed settlement which sh

782 in pursuance of this treaty was also pres

convenience which might arise from the competition of His Majesty's subjects and those of th

the Treaty of Peace of 1814 declared that "the French right of fishery

give the French a concurrent right of fishery with themselves upon the coasts in question. It was maintained, on

t. Thus, they attempted systematically to prevent any English settlement at all upon the debatable shore. For residential, mining and agricultural purposes this strip would thus be withdrawn from colonial occupation. It is much to be regretted that these claims were not summarily repudiated. The Imperial Government, however, encouraged them by forbidding any grants of land along the area in dispute. Under these circumstances the theoretical assertion of British sovereignty by which the prohibition was qualified was not likely to be specially impressive. Th

nch fishermen abandoned the former for the latter; and, in fact, but for a recent development o

cable to codfish and not to lobsters, for the canning industry was only of recent date, and lobsters, moreover, are not dried. No fishery other than that of the codfish could then have been contemplated. That this must have been abundantly clear is apparent from the memoirs of M. de Torcy, one of the negotiators of the treaty, who uses throughout the expression "morue" (codfish)-the liberty stipulated was "pêcher et sécher les morues" (to fish and dry codfish). The French, however, not content with objecting to the presence of English factories, erected factories of their own, comprehending them, it must be presumed, within the description "huts necessary and useful for the drying of fish." They contended, furthermore, that their rights were a part of the ancient French sovereignty retained when the soil was ceded to England. Such a claim was inadmissible on any view of the treaties. In fact, there was much to be said for the view that no exclusive right of fishery of any sort was ever given to the French, in spite of the language of the celebrated Declaration. As Lord Palmerston wrote, some eighty years ago, to Count Sebastiani, in his unambiguous way: "I will observe to your Excellency, in conclusion, that if the right concede

learly advanced in 1888, that none but Frenchmen were entitled to catch lobsters and erect preserving factories upon the French shore. This at once elicited an incisive English remonstrance, in deference to which French diplomacy had recourse to the evasion that the factories were merely temporary. They were not, however, removed, and finally in 1889 further remonstrances by Lord Salisbury

h, tried to go to arbitration upon it before a Court in which the best known personage was to have been M. de Martens, the hereditary librarian of the Russian Foreign Office, whose opinion on s

ake to grant no new lobster-fishing concessions 'on fishing grounds occupied by British subjects,' whatever that might mean. But the limitation was afterwards explained away, and the modus vivendi stated to mean the status quo. The Colonial Government strongly protested against the modus vivendi, as a virtual admission of a concurrent right of lobster fishing prejudicial to the position of Newfoundland in future negotiation; and there can be no doubt that the

although concluded without reference to them in its final shape'; but the Newfoundland Government insisted that the terms of the modus vivendi had not been modified in accordance with their views, as they had protested against the whole arrangement. The Home Government q

t was granted to Newfoundland. In the same year of 1891 a Newfoundland Act was passed, under heavy pressure from the Home Government, compelling colonial subjects to observe the instructions of the naval officers to the extent of at once quitting the French shore if directed, and the Act was to be in force till the end of 1893. The Home Government had passed a Bill through the House of Commons, and dropped it, before it received the Royal assent, only after the Prime Minister of Newfoundland had been heard at the bar of both Houses and had promised colonial legislation. The Fr

ore emphatic. They pointed out that the French virtually claimed a monopoly of an 800-mile shore, which was entirely British of right, that in consequence they interfered with the development of the mining industry, and the extension of railways, and that thereby they were seriously hampering the progress of the colony. The case put forward

But the report remained unpublished. Such aggression was in keeping with the instructions issued in 1895 by the French Premier and Foreign Minister to the commanders of the French warships on this station: "To seize and confiscate all instruments of fishing belonging to foreigners, resident or otherwise, who shall fish on that part of the coast which is res

ed that in renewing the modus vivendi for the following year, they did so only in consideration of the obs

eed to relinquish her rights as to landing and drying fish on the treaty shore, which had been recognized by the Treaty of Utrecht. French subjects injured by this arrangement were to receive such compensation from Great Britain as would be awarded by a tribunal consisting of one representative of each contracting party, assisted

ng the people's acknowledgment of the "great boon" conferred by the Convention, which His Majesty was chiefly instrumental in initiating, and to the British Government for having safeguarded the interests of the colon

established between Newfoundland and the

long-closed; and the lobster, which darkened its clo

TNO

ker, Law Reports, 1891

th, op. ci

s, op. cit

DE

t Suggeste

ng, 70, 71, 84,

Peace

dependence,

ohibition o

n Rebel

Newfou

Francis,

Mr, 1

Law

, Lord, 6

isaster

n, Gover

Pioneer

st, Lo

k, Lord

r Raymond,

e, J.

ond inci

f Trade

ics,

sta, C

bert, 128, 1

s, Coaliti

, Gove

, Sir Richa

Chief Jus

Brigad

ape, Atta

, 30, 3

46, 76, 81, 84, 88,

, Capt

gh, Lo

l's At

, Lo

ransatlan

n, 26-32,

ian, 17, 28,

o, H.M

a, 12

ion with, 126, 135,

Sympathy,

onie

William, 10

er, 1

s in Grea

ain, Mr,

, I., 7

es II

of colonial

ate,

on Mini

overnor, 10

izati

, Admira

hristopher,

cial B

of Foreign P

Trade and P

dventurers an

ripti

tain, Sur

per

al, Gas

, Gover

ivil Juris

of Sess

, Lor

surviva

won in Gre

nville,

tens,

Sir Cha

, Raimondo,

y, the a

, Gover

Sir Bar

vernor, Sir T

sition, 20,

d VII

eth, Q

on, Le

ar, (1914-

ts Riv

nd, Lo

ine

al cris

John's, 10

37, 40, 45, 48, 52, 60,

egulation

Commission

partment of M

shing vess

raders, d

flict with,

concessions to,

ion, 23, 81, 8

greement

g industry, 47, 8

aims, 171

coloniz

ing interes

settlem

re questio

surre

voyag

ipol

, Gover

s, M

Humphrey, voy

dge, M

or, fi

Gover

Fall

foundland

dmiral Lo

e, Mr

e, Sir R

Earl

Joh

bitratio

Richard

rth, Me

Govern

nd Tre

ain Edward,

Robert,

I., 24,

III., 2

Govern

oria

t, Lo

s voy

al, fi

Assembly,

s, Mr

War Confe

and ex

elopment of, 12

mines

s I.

the Peace,

inistration

Gover

John,

y, Dr

Govern

Sir D

ere, Mr

r, 9, 3

es,

alle

M.S., muti

firs

al Sir John,

, W.E

ive Coun

ower, establi

Mr Just

ir Wm. F

fishery,

, Hon. Al

m, Gove

Sir Willi

House

land

ptain Joh

ew, T

Marc

wer, T

9, 76, 80, 86, 9

e, Gove

esources,

e, Gove

Mr, 15

on, M

Edward, 16

rnor Sir Her

e, Gove

nhabitan

e rac

atures, 8,

erve, 165

land Act

nd forestr

r, the f

explor

cotia,

Sir Ter

, Bishop,

Captain

, Pete

iner, Commiss

n, Sir J

on, Lord

r, Gove

er's A

a Can

Indust

aty of, 87

Chief B

st, Ant

igo, Lo

ev. C., 8

r d'Anghier

, Govern

(Lord Chatha

a, Attac

18, 66, 74, 7

, 18, 68

102, 123, 1

77, 91, 93, 94,

, Sir

se, 24,

Offic

t, Gove

bitio

Justice, 8, 30

, 159, 184. (See also Reid Contr

r Walter, 2

, 32, 3

Chief Ju

bert, Co

ract, 133

ndland Comp

us differences, 20,

irst le

nd expend

ers

, fir

rval

Rive

, Gove

J.D.,

ommissi

ndland Regim

azette,"

Joh

Treaty of

Marquis o

gs Ba

heries,

ani, Co

nt demanded,

74, 77, 78

ndith

ping

, Ada

, Capta

ton, May

ards, 24, 29, 3

l, The,

rge's

, 83, 87, 103, 1

Capture b

Surrender t

p Ac

ber, 70,

t St Jo

ion,

phs, 7,

kill

nt Problem

Bank

ates, 128

s, Fishing I

y of, 83, 102,

Sir Willi

azza

, Treaty o

, Cheva

ing

eer Fo

Governor,

Sir Bald

vernor Sir

ingh

Loan

ntry mer

sailors of,

h, Mayo

ir Richard, 1

Sir W., 13

III.,

by, Sir

r James, 1

s Teleg

Gener

errors corre

gislation.' replaced with

lably replaced w

itude replaced

cance replaced w

asou replac