72 FISHERIES AND FISHERMEN 



extraordinary system of happy-go-lucky administration,, 

 founded apparently upon the principle of " first come first 

 served," gave rise as might be expected to endless struggles 

 between the fishermen and the regular settlers, whose inte- 

 rests were sacrificed upon every occasion. To such an 

 extent did the Government carry out the policy of discoun- 

 tenancing settlement — a policy absolutely unintelligible to 

 modern minds — in order to favour the supposed interest of 

 the fisheries, that no one was allowed to cut wood for firing 

 within six miles of the port. Nay, one of the most promi- 

 nent merchants connected with the fish trade in Newfound- 

 land, Sir Josiah Child, went so far as to advocate the 

 entire displanting of the inhabitants of the colony on 

 the ground that, since the growth of the colony, the vessels 

 engaged with cod had declined by more than one-half in a 

 lapse of less than seventy years, and orders were actually 

 issued to put this monstrous decree into execution. After 

 the treaty of Ryswick confusion was rendered worse 

 confounded by the addition of two fresh officials, styled 

 respectively Rear and Vice-Admiral, in the shape of the 

 skippers of the second and third ships arriving for the 

 annual sojourn ; and the affairs of the colonists continued in 

 the utmost depression until in 1728 Captain H. Osborne 

 and Lord Vere Beauclerc restored some sort of order and 

 justice by restraining the autocracy of those ignorant and 

 incompetent despots. Several years later Labrador was 

 placed under the same jurisdiction, and the whole colony 

 was raised to a Crown plantation. Of late the rights of the 

 permanent inhabitants have been suffered to develop them- 

 selves with greater freedom from restraint ; but traces of the 

 old restrictive policy are still to be seen in the uncultivated 

 condition of the rich lands lying almost unknown in the 

 heart of the island. 



Passing over to the American coast we arrive at another 



