CAPTAIN PRICEasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, 677 Whether Her Majesty's Government recognizes the claim of the French to the exclusive right of fishing on that part of the coast of Newfoundland extending from Cape Ray to Cape St. John; and, if they do not, whether they intend to take steps to prevent the French cruisers from seizing our fishermen's nets, and otherwise committing acts of interference; whether it is the case that the Newfoundland Government have recommended that a stronger naval force be kept in their waters, and if the Government intend to act on that recommendation; and, whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been directed to the complaints made of damage done to the Newfoundland fishermen by the officer commanding the French ship of war "Diamant" in 1873, and to other acts of molestation committed at various periods, as mentioned in the Fishery Reports of the Senior Naval Officers on the Newfoundland Station in 1873, 1874, and 1875?
§ MR. J. LOWTHER, in reply, said, Her Majesty's Government certainly did not recognize any claim on the part of the French to an exclusive right in the Newfoundland coast. Complaints similar to those which the hon. Gentleman had referred to had from time to time reached Her Majesty's Government, and had engaged their anxious attention. The whole subject was, however, undergoing a thorough investigation at the hands of a Joint Commission now sitting in Paris, so that he hoped an amicable settlement of all these difficulties would be shortly effected.