The Portland daily press., 1886-06-24
THgFlsHERYTRouBLEso OF 1886
Very Early Seizures on the Coast of
Nova Scotia.
Attitude Assumed by England TWO
Hundred Years Ago.

To Tie Editor Of the Press:
There are many papers in the French and
English archives which disclose a great deal
relating to the fisheries on the northern
shores OF America in the 18th century,
which are interesting at the present time;
and it may not be amiss to call attention to
dispute which took place two centuries ago
between the French, then ruling in Nova
Scotia, and the English government, and
which, i'll some Of its features, is not unlike
the present one. Byone Of these papers ''re-
lating to the Fishery of New England, 16
Jan, 1856, we learn that William Vaughan
and others living along our New England
shores, fitted out and sent, in the summer of
1855, number of vessels to fish ON the Nova
Scotian coast, as they had been iii the habit
of doing in former years, when the Governor
Of Nova Scotia or "Accadie' seized these yes
sells and sent their captains to France to an
swer there for infringing on the rights of
the French, which the Governor claimed
were exclusive. This outrage upon their
rights, as the New Englanders called it,
fred their hearts, and war was freely talked
about. The sufferers at once appealed to
the English government to right the wrong,
setting forth in their petition that they had
taken licenses to fish, and yet, without no
tice had been interrupted in their business,
and had thereby been subjected to loss OF
above seven thousand pounds. The English
government took immediate action on the
petition Of the New England fishermen, and
empowered Sir William Trumbull to demand
satisfaction from the Court of France, which
bo in, Txsin
the French ambassador made an elaborate
reply, setting forth that the Coast of Ac-
cadie,' extending from the Isle of Persee
to the Island of st. George" was in the pos
session Of the French until the year 1904,
when it was taken by the English; but three
years later was restored to France by the
Treaty Of Bs&da; that although the Eng
lsh had restored this territory to France,
they had continued to fish upon the coast,
taking, in recognition of the rights Of the
French government, licences for SO doing;
that In 1858 the King of France had given
permission to Lieut.. Bergier to establish fish
cries on the coast, with exclusive priyil-
leges. and that due notice of this had been
given to New England fishermen, with
warning not to continue fishing upon the
coast of Accadie. With reference to the yes
seis seized the ambassador stated that II bad
been discovered that two of the captains who
had been conveyed to Rochelle possessed IL
cences, and that they would be at once sent
back and their vessels restored to them with
out loss; but that the other vessels would be
centiseated. The English reply to this was
pointed and is of interest to-day. After stat
ing that the country was first discovered by
the Englisl--a claim which the author Of an
elaborate report on the subject in the French
archives ridicules in sarcastic terms--and ac-
l1nowledging that by the treaty of Breda, the
entire country extending southwest to st.
Croix and northeast to Canada, lying south
erly towards the entry Of the Great Bay Of
New England, had been given up TO the
French; it claims that the English had al
ways of right carried on an uninterrupted
fishery upon the coast, and that although the
French governor had demanded Of English
fishermen some small acknowledgment,
they had only consented to make it TO avoid
being in ANY way disturbed in the Fish
ery." In brief the English argued that
their right to fish ON the coast of Aecadie
had never been impaired by any act of
theirs, moi even by themconditional convey
anee Of the country to France. This claim
ia free fishery was persisted in by the English
until as we all know, they not only OBJ
tanned it. but the entire country as well. The
English argument against the French is
in spirit quite in contrast to that subsequent
III employed against the United States, the
inhabitants of which, as colonists, had for
lo,ig neriod cui0yed freely the common right
of fishing along those shores which had been