Tue Newfoundland Fisheries Dispute is causing great sensation at home, and there is a growing sense of an uneasiness about the question as the difficulties of it become apparent. The French have undoubtedly treaty rights on their side, but these are so involved and so little suited to the present times and the interests of the Colonists, that it seems absolutely necessary that arbitration should be resorted to for a satisfactory settlement. There is no real proof that the French Government wish to act in ant unfriendly spirit, and fortunately for England the matter is in the hands of Lord Salisbury and not Mr. Gladstone, ssu that there is " good prospect of the dis-pete being settled by him with honour to his own country and without unnecessarily incensing his neighbours. This is the state of the case as put by the Ssu wrduy Revien The time has very clearly come in which an attempt should be made te settle the long standing fishing quarrel in Newfoundland. Ihe mere fact that the colonists are becoming daily more angry is enough to show that the present irritating position cannot be yer, except at the risk of very serious trou)!
We really have right to expect that the French should not ask us to run the risk; and if they do make the demand, it must be declined. A mere statement of the bare facts is enough io prove the need for a new settlement. The French have an exclusive right to fish for cod, and dry their fish on a portion of the Newfoundland coast. Within the last. few Lobsters, It is not asserted by the more years they have begun to catch and tin reasonable among the French that they are within their technical rights in doing but they ask us to interpret the treaty in a friendly and liberal way. The request would be perfectly reasonable if the French, when asking for liberal treatment themselves, were Gisposed to conceive it to the Newfound. landers If, while extending their own fishery rights from cod to lobsters, they were prepared to to allow the colonists to catch lobsters on the French coast, there would be little fault to find. But, as all who are acquainted with the French character will have learnt without surprise, they have done no such thing. On the contrary, whenever they have anything to gain thereby they insist rigidly on the letter of the bond. They will not allow the Newfoundlanders on to the coast of which they are themselves making a use not expressly authorized by treaty. To the very natural further aggravation of the colonists, the French Government tas given bounty to encourage the lobster business. The inevitable result is, that the Newfoundlanders tind themselves under sold by a foreigner who is entitled to a privily use of a portion of their own territory. added to what they already suffer by the loss all control over the so-called "French oast," the rivers which cross it, and the woods or mines in the neighbourhood, is naturally felt to be intolerable.
The call made on the Home Government for help and the violent language used are only what were to be looked for. The Foreign Office will neglect an excellent opportunity if it does not answer the demand. There will nity in coming to " settlement if ndition is present: and if that be wanting, there should be no doubt as to the course to be tak The condition, it is almost unnecessary to say, is a disposition on the part of the French to behave in a loudly manner. With that to_help, a com. promise will soon be made. If, however, there should be no such disposition, then our cour eis clear. There will be nothing for it Dut to tell the French that since they insist on their full rights, they shall have them, according to the letter of the bond strictly interpreted, and nothing more. They are entitled to catch fish, meaning cod; but lobsters are not cod, so they shall not catch lobsters. We will vot listen to might have beens. The Treaty of Utrecht and the subsequent confirmations say nothing about lobsters, and we will look to what they say, and nothing more. Wood sheds to dry fish may he set up, and fishermen may stay by them for the season only. But a stone lobster-tinning factory, put up for permanent use and permanently inhabited, is not a temporary wooden shed. The tinning factories shall come down. Further, English naval officers on the station shall' have orders to enforce the observance of the treaties in the most exact manner. Every breach, or pearance of a breach, of them shall be made subject for protest and complaint. If, for instance, a French captain permits himself to lund an arnied boat—as one is said to have done—it shall be made a Star Chamber matter of at once. It shall always be taken for granted that the colonists are in the right in their complaints unless the contrary is proved. to demonstration; and if they fire on armed. Frenchmen on shore, the French shall be reminded that they hadnobusinessthere. Everything not expressly named in the treaty everything which, for instance, has been in: ented since they were made, shall be considered as an infringement of outrights. It Aisagrecable to havetolive with people on these terms; but the blame for the inconvenience rests on those who make friendly relations impossible. We have done enough, und more than enough, to prove that we have no wish, to be exacting in our dealings with the French in Newfoundland. If we are not met in the same " there will be nothing for it but to fall back' on correspondence through our French to mix the Newfoundland with any lawyer." Any attempt on the part of the
other question should at once be taken as an excuse for dropping any attempt at com: promise, Prince Albert Edward of Wales has been created Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the former being the title that was held by William IV. The Avondale is presumably the Lanarkshire parish, but the Pull Mall sarcastically remarks that "the Avondale of which every one will think when the title is heard is Mr. Parnell's estate."
Punch is not very attractive this week, Clu Maurier's sketch of the master and school boy is good, and the answer of the latter to the query What are the peculiar distinctions of the Quakers? For instance, how do they speak differently from You and Me!" is swartly given as Please, Sir, they don't swear!" Lindly Sambourne's sketch of 'The Autocrat" will prevent this number being seen in the Russian Empire. Tenniels' cartoon is a skit on the New Muzzling Order as applied to politico, and the Pall Mall has also a sketch on the same subject, but needless to say taken from quite another point of view.
The Pall Mull boasts an unusual number of illustrations. The front page contains a portrait of the Queen from a study by W. E. Lockhart, R.S.A., made at special sitting given for the Jubilee Picture, butin this sketch it is very, very difficult to trace the familiar features of Her Majesty. The sketches illustrating a Driving Tour through Sussex sre interesting; but the worst blow the Salvation Army ever re-relyed is the publication in this number of W. S, Strange's etching of that religious body. In connection with the Philatelic Exhibition the Pall Mall gives a clever reproduction of John Leech's skits on the Mulready envelope.
In continuation of the Great African question the Pall Mall says Mr. Stanley certainly made his best speech to the members of the Devonshire Club last week. He was much less dependent on his manuscript than usual, and his description of the situation in Africa was a model of terseness and lucidity. " Accept the German courtesies with scrupulous politeness," he said, "but act as if you didn't believe a word of them." He spoke in the highest terms of the Uganda mission, and declared that in that quarter of Africa there was a recruiting ground for 200,000 black soldiers, who might, some day, carry "'the momentum of civilisation" ta
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.