LONDON LETTER: Thursday Night: The disagreement with the French on the subject of the Fisheries off the coast of Newfoundland is the result of the way in which the Versailles Treaty 1783 was drawn up. By this treaty the French fishermen were allowed certain rights of fishing off the Coasts of Newfoundland, and also were permitted to cut wood for the repair of their scaffolds, huts, and fishing vessels. They now claim an exclusive right to all the inshore fishing, and object to the erection of British lobster factories in the region, and assert their right to erect them on their own account. In 1837 Lord Palmerston stated that, “in no public document in possession of the British Government could be found any proof that the French claim to exclusive right of fishery, whether of codfish or of fish in general, had been specially recognised.” Mr. Justice Pinsent, Judge of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, says that the treaties are unsuited to the conditions of the present day, and that their satisfactory working in their present form is impracticable. He advocates as a solution of the difficulty that France should either be compensated by purchase or exchange for the withdrawal of her claims. However, it is doubtful whether the French would agree to this, and in that case there will have to be concessions on both sides in order to obtain a practical working agreement …
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Referenced
GRO0747 Hennock: Robert John Pinsent: 1834 – 1893