The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-05-31
GATHERING
OF An Array Of IIIuSiriOuS
Counsel At The Hague
To Conduct The Oral Arqu.
mGntS In Dispute
Relative To The NeWfOund-
land Fisheries
The Legal Representatives
OF Great Britain
And Distinguished Citizens
Of The U. S. Present

| The Hague, May 2S.-An array of
illustrious counsel engaged to conduct
the oral arguments in the Newfound-
land fisheries dispute before the In
ternational Arbitration Court next
week is beginning to put in an ap-
pearance here. The diplomats and
lawyers are accompanied by host of
secretaries, technical experts and at
taches, together with number of
newspaper correspondents, and the
lazy old Dutch capitol is beginning to
huzz with an animation such as has
not been witnessed since the last
worlds peace conference.
The personnel of the arbitration
court is to be the most distinguished
ever chosen to preside at the trial of
special case before the great peace
tribunal. The presiding officer will be
Dr. Heinrich Lammasch, the noted
Austrian authority on international
law. The other members of the court
will be Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, Chief
Justice of the Supreme court of Can
ada; Judge George Grey, of the Unit
ed States Circuit court, Jonkheer A.
+. De De Savornin Lohmano, of the
Netherlands, and Luis M. Drago, of
the Argentine Republic.
The legal representatives of Great
Britain, including Canada and New
foundland, will include the Hon. A. B.
! Aylesworth, Minister of Justice of
Canada; the Hon. Sir Edward
Morris, X. c., Premier of Newfound-
land; the Right Hon. Sir William Rob-
England; ID. Morrison, X. c., Attorney
General of Newfoundland; the Hon
Sir James Winter, X. c., former At
torney-General of Newfoundland; the
Right Hon. Sir Robert Finlay, former
Attorney-General of England; Sir H.
Erie Richards, X. c., who was coun-
sci for Great Britain in the Samoa
and Venezuela arbitrations; John S.
Ewart, K. c., ald George Shepley, X.
c., distinguished Canadian lawyers.
Messrs. Blake and Redden are the
British solicitors.
Equally distinguished, though not
quite so numerous, will be the repre-
sentatives of the United States. Sen
ator Elihu Root of Ney York heads
the list of counsel, the other members
including Charles p. Anderson, who
acts as agent, former Senator George
Turner of Washington, who represent
ed the United States on the Alaska
Boundary Tribunal; Samuel j. Elder,
a distinguished lawyer of Boston, and
James Brown Scott, solicitor for the
Department of State.
The Newfoundland fisheries case is
regarded as one of the most important
Great Britain and the United States in
the last century and is the first case
to come before the International Ar
bitration Court under the agreement
Of the Powers as signed by the Peace
convention held at The Hague in 1907.
The dispute dates back almost one
hundred years and during much of
that time it has been the fruitful
source of irritation and of a volumi-
nous diplomatic correspondence. Nat
urally it will be a matter of congrat-
ulation for both nations when the con-
troversy is at last laid to rest, as it
will be by the award of the tribunal
about to convene,
The controversy had its origin in
the treaty signed by the United Stat
es and Great Britain in 1918, by which
certain rights of fishery in common
with British fishermen, which had
been claimed by the United States
for its people under the treaty of
: peace of 1888, were recognized by
Great Britain, while others were re-
nounced by the United States. By
this renunciation American fishing
vessels were not allowed to take, dry
or cure fish within three marine mil
es of the coast, bays, harbors and
creeks" of the British possessions ex-
cept certain specified coasts an ex.
cept in certain cases of immergency
Some twenty-five years after the
treaty was signed the colonial gov
ernments declared that the word
bays" used in the treaty meant any
bay SO named on the maps, irrespec-
tive of its width, and some American