The Agreement to submit the Newfoundland Fisheries dispute to the
Hague was concluded at Washington on Wednesday, but with reservations which, as the Times corre- spondent says, might possibly reopen the *hole question. This tentative arrangement was made because Mr. Root was anxious to make an announcement on the subject to the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate, and because information as to the attitude of the Newfoundland Govern- ment was inadequate at the moment. As it was, Mr. Root was enabled to urge the advantages of the compromise before the Committee. The course was unusual, no doubt ; but it is to be remembered that the Agreement was not a Treaty, but, as the Times correspondent says, "a compromise arising out of last year's general Arbitration Treaty." The decision of Newfoundland is still in suspense, and there is no wish in the provisional signing of the Agreement to force her hand. At the same time, it is hoped that the Newfoundland Govern- ment will see that they are more likely to gain than to lose by submitting the Treaty of 1818 to arbitration. The Times correspondent in Friday's paper says that they are believed to show a more conciliatory spirit than before, which we hope means that Sir Robert Bond recognises that this matter is much more than a local problem, and touches delicate points in our Imperial relations.
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