whenever hostilities should recommence. From their centre, Placentia, on the southern shore, they carried on an extensive and lucrative fishery around the coasts; in the Gulf of St. Lawrence constant quarrels were rife, and their endeavors to gain possession of the island ceaseless. When war broke out in 1702, a squad. ron was sent out this time from England to drive the French out of the island. It was only partially successful, for though the Island of St. Pierre, off the southern shore, was captured and its forts destroyed, and also the many settlements on the southern coasts, Placentia, their chief stronghold, remained to them. Now, in their turn, the French became the aggressors, and assailed for a second time the capital, St. John's, and obtained possession of it. Carbonear successfully repeated its former story, and again defeated every attempt made upon it by the invader. In the din and confusion of the naval and military struggles between the two nations, and in the triumphs attending the English arms, Newfoundland seems now to have escaped for some time the attention of the contending parties until, in 1713, peace settled down once more in the Treaty of Utrecht. Certain of its provisions marked an era in the history of Newfoundland. The whole country, over Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Canada, and its governors frequently boasted that they would not rest till the "English colonists were driven into the sea," and now again the struggle between England and France for dominion in the new world began in earnest. In this struggle the conquest of Newfoundland was prominently before the minds of the French commanders. Not only would the possession of that island have enabled them to control its valuable fisheries, but it would have placed in their hands the key to their trans-Atlantic possessions, as it would command the narrow entrances to the sea front of Canada, the most valuable of them. In 1635 the French obtained permission from England to dry fish upon the shores of Newfoundland, on payment of a duty of five per cent. of its value. In 1675 the ascendency which Louis XIV. had obtained over the court and mind of Charles II. induced the latter to relinquish the five per cent. duty which had been paid as an acknowledgment of English sovereignty. From that moment the rapacity of the French increased, and within a few years they established their dominion over nearly two hundred miles of the southern coast. On the accession of William III. hostilities broke out between the rival nations. In his declaration of war, the royal manifesto speaks of one cause of it, Newfoundland, thus: "It was not long since the French had license to fish upon the coast, and paid a tribute for such license as an acknowledgment of the sole right of the crown of England to that island; but of late the encroachments of the French had been more like the invasion of an enemy than as becoming friends who enjoyed the advantages of that trade only by permission." Newfoundland now became the scene of naval battles and military skirmishes. In 1694 Chevalier Nesmond was ordered to drive the English out of the island, and a large squadron was placed under his orders to effect that purpose. He was repulsed, and failing in his effort returned to France. A more determined attempt was made later in the same year. The garrison of St. John's being weak in numbers offered but a feeble resistance; the fort and town were burned to the ground. The towns of Carbonear and Bonavista proved too strong for the invaders, and in the midst of the struggle the Treaty of Ryswick separated the combatants. The French were not then turned out of the island, as they should have been; the British settlers being thus left open to their attack 66 with the adjacent islands, was declared to be the possession of Great Britain; Pla centia and all other places were ordered to be surrendered." A very important reservation, however, was made in favor of the French, which was destined to be the trouble of to-day. By this treaty, though the French were excluded from all territorial rights in the island, they were allowed to fish concurrently with the English" along more than half the coast, and also permitted to use the shore of this portion of the island, so far as it was needed, in the prosecution of the fisheries. The shore here mentioned extended from Cape Bonavista to Point Riche. This unfortunate concession led to endless disputes. The French interpreted this, then and ever since, as an exclusive right to fish on this part of the coast, and being allowed the use of the shore for fishery purposes, it followed that they could forbid the settlement of such part by British subjects. These interpretations were repudiated by the Newfoundlander, and were never admitted as correct by the Imperial authorities, but successive governments left the matter undecided, and refused to put the portion of the coast under local government. The consequence has been very serious, and The following year witnessed the congreatly detrimental to the growth of the clusion of the Seven Years' War, and the island, as the inhabitants have been prac- Treaty of Paris. Here occurred a proper tically excluded from half their own terri- and fitting opportunity for terminating the tory; much of it is still a wilderness, the fishing privileges, or, in some measure, "squatters have had no title to their re-adjusting them, and this latter certainly possessions, and have lived outside the was attempted; but, unfortunately, instead pale of the law and of all civilizing influ- of securing the island to the Newfoundences. It was not till 1878 that magis-lander free from any use of its shores by trates were appointed to these districts, and it was only as recent as 1881 that the local government was empowered to issue grants of land and licenses to erect factories or for mining purposes in these localities. It has been the great stumblingblock to railway extension, and has thus most materially crippled the development of its resources. the French, this treaty gave to them the Island of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the southern coast, as a shelter for their fishermen, with the proviso that no fortifications were to be erected on them, and a guard only of fifty men were to be maintained there for police purposes. This concession doubtless had for its object a pacification of the constant embroilments arising between the rival fishermen, but it failed, and instead served only to perpetuate the old jealousies and lead to new mischief. Newfoundland, the ports from which she drew many of her supplies and actual necessaries were closed against her, all exports being forbidden to English colonies, and the island tasted the first pangs of famine. Gloom and despondency followed scarcity and want, and a check so severe was thus administered that it required a long period ere she could recover their combined effects. From the date of the Treaty of Utrecht to that of the Treaty of Paris a period of fifty years elapsed filled with events of the utmost importance to Britain, and affecting in some degree the island of which We may now pass over a period of we are speaking. Wars had been raging twenty years, in which events of great imbetween France and England, and in portance occurred to Great Britain, the 1758 the tide rolled towards Newfound-revolt of her American colonies terminatland. The expedition to the French posing in the Independence of North Amersessions in North America succeeding in ica. Privateers fitted out in the latter expelling the French from their strong- ports made sad havoc of poor defenceless hold of Louisberg, in Cape Breton, and in the following year the conquest of Canada broke their power, and their territories passed into the possession of England; but their hopes were yet still centred in regaining possession of Newfoundland, and in 1762 they made a determined effort to seize the island. A strong fleet fitted out at Brest, and, succeeding in eluding the British cruisers, arrived and landed a considerable force twenty miles south of St. John's. By a march overland, the enemy surprised and overpowered the garrison, and set about to strengthen the fortifications and to secure themselves in the possession of the capital. Communications were soon made with Lord Colville, then at Halifax, who immediately sailed, upon receipt of the intelligence, and blockaded the harbor of St. John's where the French fleet then lay. Eight hundred Highlanders were landed at Torbay, about eight miles to the north of the town, and, after struggling through a rugged country, carried the French defences by assault, and the enemy, after a brief opposition, surrendered conditionally that they might be allowed to return to France. Under cover of a friendly fog in this instance, the French fleet escaped the English squadron, and this was the last occupation of any part of the island by the French as an enemy. With the conclusion of the war in 1782, a change for the better set in, and the Treaty of Versailles, in 1783, effected an important alteration in the boundaries of the coast on which the French and Newfoundlander might concurrently fish. The king of France now renounced the right of fishing from Cape Bonavista to Cape St. John granted him by the Treaty of Utrecht, and agreed that henceforth the French fishery should commence at Cape St. John, extend around the north by Cape Bauld and down the west shore to Cape Ray." This has ever since been locally alluded to as the "French shore," and it is in prosecuting the fishing off this coast that all the jealousies, rivalries, and disturbances occur; and to settle constant disputes, to smooth the difficulties that arise, the presence of war ships of both nations are each season required; great tact and delicacy on the part of their commanders are demanded, and constant 211 I watchfulness is necessary. By clearly de- | tance, that is, since the enactment of 1881. This is, of course, a new industry; and fining the limits within which the French were to exercise their privileges, a source of contention was removed from any uncertainties as to its boundaries, and it ended the incessant quarrels which had been going on upon this point. Unfortunately, the ambiguity of the language used in another part of the treaty gave rise to even more serious misunderstandings, which continue until now. The stipulation ran as follows: "And that the fishermen of the two nations may not give rise to daily quarrels, his Britannic Majesty was pleased to engage that he would take the most positive measures for preventing his subjects from interrupting the fishing of the French during the temporary exercise thereof.. and that he would give orders that the French fishermen should not be incommoded in the cutting of wood necessary for the repair of their scaffolds, huts, and fishing boats." This is the celebrated section over which volumes of correspondence have been written, the French holding that from the phraseology employed the treaty gave them an extension of their privileges by securing to them exclusive and sole right over the coasts and waters in question. But never by any home government nor This is the tentative settlement, but is by any government or legislature in New-not yet ratified by the government of New. foundland has this claim been allowed. foundland. How is the permanent diffi England has maintained that her subjects have a right to fish concurrently with the French in those waters; that if there be room for both nations to fish without interfering with each other, this country is not bound to prevent her subjects fishing there. She has so far discouraged this privilege for many years that, as we have before mentioned, the law refused, until 1881, to recognize settlers upon that part of the coast as subjects entitled to its protective powers, or to any representation in the Newfoundland legislature. The French have steadily endeavored to suppress this new industry, and, failing in this, their efforts have ended in a modus vivendi, which is that they may be permitted to go on with this industry side by side with the Newfoundlander. culty to be met? It must be met either in the form of compensation as a direct purchase or by an exchange of something for these treaty rights. They never should have had birth; but they exist, and we cannot repudiate_them. The Newfoundlander looks to England, as the party to the making of them, to free him from the disadvantages under which they place him. Any exchange the French are loth to accept, as they advance the main reason why they are so tenacious of this fishing is that it forms a valuable naval nursery for her sailors, employing as it does such large numbers in the prosecution of it. The only other alternative is the adoption of the most sensible practical working arrangement of which the circumstances will admit. In justice to both the English peoples and the French workers on the coast, it must be said that great credit is due to the forbearance and avoidance of The renewed vigor with which the violent measures which have, on the whole question has lately been inspired whole, marked the embarrassing situation arises from a quite unforeseen and mod-in which the ambiguities of the treaties ern turn of affairs. Within the last few or their diverse construction have placed years the prosecution of lobster fishing the two countries. Territorial jurisdiction over the whole island is now conceded to the colonial governor, the power of making land grants and issuing mining licenses is accorded, and representation of the inhabitants in the St. John's Parliament is secured, the French fishing rights being, of course, strictly recognized as interpreted by England and Newfoundland. and lobster canning has risen into impor-1 H. C. GOLDSMITH. THE "GOLD FEVER" IN MADAGASCAR. A CORRESPONDENT of the Standard, who has returned to Madagascar after an absence of three years, found "gold," and scarcely anything but "gold," the topic of the day. Writing from Antananarivo on February 28, the correspondent says: An There are signs everywhere of the riches to be gathered from the earth of this fine virgin country. The Madagascar government is bound to open up the island. They are, of course, in much need of money, the French disturbance having impoverished them to a great extent. country; and I was shown a fine specimen Some enthusiasts are ready to believe that from near Tamatave, on the east coast. the island will prove another Eldorado. People are making large purchases. Englishman who had just arrived at the capital from the country told me that on his journey up he saw thousands of natives working gold in various parts on I had not been many hours at Tamatave account of the government. It is forced ere I saw practical evidence of the belief labor, and the people have not only to in this. I found the town overrun with work on weekdays, but on Sundays too. poor emigrants, chiefly from Mauritius and Children even are taken from the schools Bourbon, and every incoming steamer add- for this work. I myself went out to the ing to the number. The last French mail west of the capital, about fifteen miles, arrived ere my departure for the capital, yesterday, to a place where the governand brought over one hundred and twenty ment have been working gold-operamen, women, and children, most of whom tions are suspended at present- to see were almost penniless. Such a flotsam where they had been working, and I coland jetsam of helpless humanity I have lected a grain of gold after washing a little seldom seen. They are under the impres-earth on a plate in a stream close by. sion they have come to an Eldorado; but it does not take long after landing here to find out their mistake. Fortunately for these adventurers food is plentiful and cheap, especially in the country, and they can live on very little. On my journey to the capital I passed a poor fellow on the tramp to the gold-fields of Maeratanarivo, on the west coast; he told me he had heard so often the cry of "Gold, heaps of gold, being found, and only waiting for the getting," in Madagascar, he had been tempted to come and try his luck. He had formerly been in the police force of Mauritius, and being out of employment he was advised to prove what he had heard so much about. I should imagine him to be almost penniless, as he lived just as the natives do, and lodged amongst them in the villages he passed through. He was a fine, good-looking fellow, and I felt sorry for the hardships he was undergoing, and was glad to assist him with some of my spare provisions. But these are not the people required here as yet. What the country greatly needs is a number of experienced Australian and Transvaal diggers, with their strength and knowledge of the situation, to come and make a good headway for others to follow. Concerning the location and distribution of the gold there are numberless stories floating about. It is being found in scores of places in various parts of the I had not been long at the capital ere I noticed what had similarly struck me on landing at Tamatave-namely, that the French influence is making itself very strongly felt in those towns, which, after the earnest labors of our English and other Protestant missionaries for so many years, must be a disheartening spectacle to them. One very noticeable change is in the slave market. Formerly not more than twenty or, at most, thirty slaves were ever exposed there for sale, and transac tions took place in such a quiet way that they were not noticed; indeed, the natives appeared ashamed to acknowledge complicity in slave-trading. But when I visited the market the other day over two hundred slaves of both sexes, men, women, and children, were on offer, and there was little or no reluctance on the part of the owners to quote prices. Dancing, also, in European fashion is now the order of the day. The French resident gives balls, inviting the Malagasy aristocracy, the prime minister and the queen's ladies-in-waiting taking a very active part, and giving balls themselves in return. For EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & Co. Single Numbers of THE LIVING AGE, 18 cents. |