THE FISHERIES QUESTION 335 



tempt to settle again the disputes that arose between our 

 fishermen and the citizens of Newfoundland within recent 

 years was the proposed Hay-Bond Treaty of 1902 which 

 failed of ratification. Its provisions looked to the free 

 admission of salted and dry-cured fish and green fish into 

 our markets from Newfoundland, with the privilege to 

 the Americans of securing free bait in Newfoundland 

 waters. The fishing interests of New England could not 

 see wherein they could be bettered by such a change, as, 

 by the terms of the modus vivendi, our fishermen can now 

 obtain bait by the payment of a license fee that in the ag- 

 gregate amounts to from $120 to $200 a vessel only. 



As the question now stands it is a three-sided one in 

 which Canada, Newfoundland, and the United States are 

 each striving to hold fast to all the privileges they now 

 possess and, if possible, make new arrangements whereby 

 their commercial interests will be furthered. Canada is 

 desirous of securing the free entry of her fish because her 

 own markets are inadequate for the annual supply of fish, 

 and because she believes that the removal of the present 

 duty into the United States would cheapen the cost of 

 fish for the consumer in the United States, and thus de- 

 velop a greater market for the supply that she could fur- 

 nish. She also occupies an advantageous position in re- 

 gard to the mackerel fishery, and has excellent train and 

 steamboat facilities for shipping her fresh food into Ameri- 

 can markets. 



Newfoundland occupies a commanding position in the 

 fact that the supply of bait used in the deep-sea fish- 

 eries centers very largely on her coasts. She contends 

 that the bait supply is indispensable to the United States, 

 and that the present arrangement of license fees, which 

 gives her only about $15,000 annually, is altogether inade- 

 quate. 1 This colony, too, would like to have the free 



i During the season of 1907 the American fishermen at Bay of 



