Between 1854 and 1866 the American Government secured them by reciprocity; between 1872 and 1884 it bought them; after 1888 it enjoyed them by a temporary modus vivendi arranged under President Cleveland.
In 1902 Hay arranged with Sir Robert Bond, Prime Minister of Newfoundland, a new reciprocity agreement.

This, however, the Senate rejected, and the Cleveland agreement continued.

Newfoundland, angry at the rejection of the proposed treaty, put every obstacle possible in the way of American fishermen and used methods which the Americans claimed to be contrary to the treaty terms.

After long continued and rather acrimonious discussions, the matter was finally referred in 1909 to the Hague Court.

As in the Bering Sea case, the court was asked not only to judge the facts but also to draw up an agreement for the future.