Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1869-01-20

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use (but not to dry or cure the same on tt III
and also the coasts bays and creeks OF ~.
and that the American fishermen shall nave uDeit e
to dry and fish in any of the unsettled bay
bors and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Isiahus'
and Labrador, long the same shall remain uL-
settled but SO soon the same or either OF y I
eTmen to dry cure fish such settlement without
previous agreement for that purpose with the IN,
habiants, proprietors or possessors OF the erOunu
Here there was little or no restriction upon
our rights. We could fish at all places in the
sea where the inhabitants of both countries
used Heretofore to fish and Except TO dry
and cure fish on the shores of Newfoundiand)
at all places used thereafter by British fish
ermen. The rights we possessed in the hsh-
cries in 1852 were permanent, inherent ana
indestructible, and ought no more to have
admitted question once acknowledged, man
our independence or our boundaries. W ar
could not disturb them, because they were
of higher authority than mere compacts, and
time could not efface them because they were
ever in use and never abandoned. In peace
or war. like the title to our own soil, they
were unconquerable. After the war of lol2
we made the treaty of July ,, 1915, and all
subjects embraced in the treaty of 1888, not
then questioned, must have been understood
to be remaining iH Sfata quo ante beitlDn. 1t
never has been pretended ny Great Britain
that any other article in the treaty of 1888
was abrogated by the war of 1912 save that
relating to the fisheries.
Somewhat after the British style of doing
things at Copenhagen, vessel of war sud
denly ordered our fishermen, in 1915, TO re-
tire frenfy leagues from all the coast of Brit
ish colonies! ! 1t is hardly to be credited that
Great Britain should have claimed that the
war of 1872, SO barren of British laurels,
had abrogated rights so freely Acknowledged
in the treaties of 1882 and 1888, or that any
representatives of the United States, after a
lapse of thirty-five years, could have yielded
to such an unfounded, not to say impudent,
claim. If Great Britain, whether stung by
the rivalry her fishermen or her sailors had
experienced. put forth such pretensiOns no
dread of Waterloo should have prevented
their plump denial. She had no valid claims,
and if she had the time to have asserted them
was in the treaty of peace in 1915. The
treaty of 1918 was a weak surrender on our
part of rights which peculiarly belong to us,
and of other rights which belong to all other
nations which choose to assert and exercise
them. Not won by the blood and treasure Of
the parent country, they belonged u us by
right of discovery and occupancy, and be-
cause while we were yet colonies our rights
were fought for and our title confirmed 10y
our own valOr; but neither the French nor
the British ought to be permitted to monOp-
ohze sea-fsheries. By any rule of facts or
principle in the partition of territory and
rights, when our independence was acknowl-
edged we vert entitled To all the fisheries.
rather than Great Britain, and might with
much more prOpriety have insisted, not only
that we would not be excluded, but upon ex-
Guiding the British. We had always en-
joyed them TO a larger extent than all the
world beside, and they were of greatest
Z valua N uG II - time tho world retnEei r,
put fetters on the sea, and if any nation per
/ lists in such expansive desp potism it challenges
esist ance Exclusive rights to the products
of the ocean is a relic of feudal ages. and as
odious to nations us are game laws 70 COM
mon people.
1t should be noticed that when Nova Scotia
was ceded to Great Britain by the treaty OF
Utrecht the French subjects were thereafter
excluded from fishing within thirty leagues
of the coast and this exclusion was renewed
/ in the treaty of Paris, 1903, by which Spain
was also wholly excluded from fishing rights
- .d apsr SfS t5aso t4eiGSfSt tiaiiIlS
have within the century past diminished
/ from thirty leagues to three marine miles
from the coast.
But we did agree in 1918. let US say it in
sackcloth and ashes, to limit the boundaries
of our fishing grounds and acknowledge some
]
pany and we did agree to renounce forever
:. hook and line, bob and sinker ON oul
own motion any liberty heretofore enjoyed
to take, dry, or cure fish within three marine
miles of any coasts. bays, creeks, or harbor'
of his - Britanic Maiesty's dominion il
America.
As general international rule. the exclu
sion of foreign fishermen within three mile
from the shores of any country, is not, per
haps, to be complained of. but from thes
fisheries never having been SO excluded prio
TO ISIS it was strange remuneration ON tn
part of the American negotiatOrs, and canno
be atoned for with anything less than tn
complete restoration of our ancient rights.
Among the many treaties made betweel
the United States and Great Britain, ther
are four which will never be likely 10 in
crease the self-esteem of Americans. Imea
those of 1874, 1915, 1918, and 1851. Tn
inclusions and exclusions very nOticeabl
in those treaties show, not a lack {
ability on the part of the American nego
tiators of the three earliest treaties, but
lack Of weight in the cannon known to b
behind them. The last-named treaty wa
negotiated shortly after gross attempt ha
been made to bully us into a similar compac
by sending a considerable fleet of vessels 0
war to seize by force and stealth and confS
cate, as they did seize and ccnfscate hundred
of the vessels of our hardy fishermen, 70
pretended infraction of British rights unde
a new Interpretation given by them to tn
old treaty Of 1878 This was an affront tbs
should have barred reciprocity treaties fol
ever. Peace is eminently our necessity, br
I not more a necessity here than in Great Bri
: : ain Is it too much to claim that we hereaft,
: treat and be treated by her, when we treat
, all, as her equal, and, as to reciprocity. NJ
III Il
are worth purchasing. The interests of nj
tions dictate policies of mutual benefits, an
these will grow. They cannot be bougl
! with price, Let us bide our time.
| ANNEXATION.
: We should always remember that an adjoi
! ing people, weaker as a state than ourselve
] must not only be envious of our power but
G our prosperity. Railroads so far in advanC
i of wealth and population that their rccsip
j fall short of expenses must be a dead weigh
: That credit which requires the perpetual prC
4 of an endorser is delusive Emigration th
J. runs away from the soil is bad advertisement
: That trade where the advantage depends upC
V profitable diplomacy or illicit traffic is unr
4 liable, and furnishes no base to the charact
: of great people. Commerce blockaded |
J, ice for seven months of the year badly nee'
C a more sunny side.
h 1t is true that most of these drawbac
y would disappear if the British provinces we
h consolidated with the United States. For t
IF present, however, the United States have roc
Is and verge enough to spread all of its surpl
k capital, population, and enterprise upon t
t. prairies of the West and savannahs of I
is South. 1t might not be wise to weaken o
ID strength by diffusion over broader surfa
W than at present so greatly tempts our nation
Of enterprises. If neighboring provinces, we
r ded to aristocratic titles, though unsupport
es by estates, choose to cling to style of PC
id ernment whose chief strength discloses
nt every false alarm the fact of dependency, n
is so lag behind and retard their progress fo1
1t half a century, why, in an economical vie
s. the United States can afford to wait. Wh