New-York tribune., 1890-06-12
PRICE THREE CENTS.
NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES.
ORIGIN AND GROUNDS OF THE DISPUTE
WITH FRANCE.

WHAT TREATY PROVISIONS IT Rrsrs-
WHAT THE coLoSusrs LArM-wHAT
THE FRENCH cLAIM-ASD wHERD
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
STANDS
tvRox srAyy CORRESPONDENT nrsuxR,
st. Johns, Newfoundland, June lit cannot
be doubted that the French fishery dispute 10
rapidly bringing on crisis in the affairs Of Eng
lands most ancient colony The people here
are aroused to degree which is only possible
when men feel that their dearest rights are AZ
stake. There are political parties among them
and party politics and differences Of opinion a.
to how this question should be dealt with, but
in their essential purpose they unit. and every
man of them defines that purpose in almost iden-
tical terms. We must have our island for our
selves" they say, " to do with we please. We
must have every foot Of IL, every grain Of sand.
and our jurisdiction must be complete and SOW
ereign from centre to circumference and from
shore to shore With less than this we shall
never he satisfied. This conceded, we will make
easy terms with France about the fish, What
they will do IL they cannot get what they want
is Of course, the interesting question.
From time to time during the last three years
scrappy dispatches sent out by the cable from
this city and from London and Paris have mcn-
toned that ugly complications were arising he
tween the French fishermen and the Newfound-
landers; that the French, against colonial pro-
tests were constructing lobster-canning factories
upon the Newfoundland coast and, at the same
time, were denying to the Newfoundlanders them
selves the right to raise similar establishments;
that the Colonial Government was enforcing an
lohp nd otolt Raj Act
| the French fishermen, and that these matters
| were the subject of much correspondence between
| st. Johns and Downing Street, and of much no
| gotiation between Downing Street and the Quad
| d'Orsay.
More recently II has been given out that as the
| result of this negotiation nodus vivendi had
| been come at by the French and British Cabinets
! intended to act as a temporary stay Of proceed
ings and as provision against further difficulties
| during the fishing season now opening that this
modus, lodging the question to each party's
| actual rights, permitted each to 90 on doing the
things to which the other objected, provided the
number of Objectionable things done by the one
should not exceed the number done by the other:
that, instead Of exerting soothing influence upon
| the colonists, this singular arrangement had ex-
| cited their ndignation-provoking, indeed, such
bitter and defiant remonstrance as to cause keen
| anxiety in London-and that this feeling had been
| quckened and deepened by late occurrences in
| St Georges Bay, where the commander OF
| French cruiser had by force required some New
| foundland fishermen to take up their nets. Bus
these facts coming along in the newspapers at in-
| tervals, even il the last was remembered until
| the next was got, could give no fair conception
| of the present situation here. Its causes 60 for
| back Of these events. It has grown up during
| two centuries and can be understood now only
by considering the historic line Of affairs which
| have produced it. With these in mind however.
it is possible to follow the general press reports
understandngly and fully to appreciate the scenes
| I shall presently describe.
This difficulty is generally made to date from
the Treaty of Utrecht in 1913. But in reality 10
| is much older. 1t began to arise within seven
years after the Cabots discovered Newfoundland,
which was only five years after Columbus dis
| covered America. The fact that Just on this
| newly found country lay splendid ishng-grounds
| got quickly to the ears Of the famous Basque and
| Norman sailors, and they began to resort thither
| even before their English rivals came. When, In
15s5, Sir Humphrey Gilbert formally took posses
| sion of the island under royal grant. he found
| thirty-six fishing vessels in the harbor OF st.
| Johns and more of them were French than
| English 1t was in 1888 that the French obtained
| their first privileges the shores Of Newfound-
| land but the arrangement then made was merely
| a formal sanction by the English King Of the
practice which had for many years gone on-that oS
| landing on the coast and of erecting huts and
stages" or platforms. for the drying OF the fsh
already caught The English monarch thoughs
| that his. cousin of France ought to pay him q
little something for this privilege and for a time
he actually got revenue Of per cent OF tho
value of the French catch. Under Louis XIV
| lr ahnsaA no
| dominion in North America was then at its
greatest extent and to Canada and Acadie. he
| had mind to add Newfoundland BY this acqui-
| sition he would have commanded the Gulf Of st.
Lawrence and would have had the fisheries fully
| in his control While his fishermen were building
sheds and stages his naval officers were building
| Notifications, and presently they had 200 miles
| of the islands southern coast firmly within their
grasp.
| This was one Of the counts in William ITS
| grand indictment of Louis in 1892, but In the
| Peace Of Ryswick, five years later, he failed to
| take it into account. In that treaty the first
| of long series of blunders from which the
present crisis has developed was made. The
| French were confirmed in their possession OF
| Placentia and the southern shore. and were left
with advantages which they wisely used. When
war broke out again in 1902 they were stronger
than ever in Newfoundland and practically the
entire island was soon in their possession. When
Msrlborough's victories compelled Louis TO con-
sent to the Peace of Utrecht. this clause was in
| serted in the convention, and with some qualifi-
| cations it remains the defnitive agreement be-
tween France and England concerning this much.
disputed land: "The island called Newfound'
land with the adjacent islands, shall from this
time forward belong Of right wholly to Great
Britain; to that end all the French settlements
within the island must be promptly surrendered;
| nor shall France at any time hereafter lay
claim to any right to the said island and islands
or to any part Of it or them; nor may French
subjects fortify any place upon the island or
erect any buildings there except stages made Of