The Fishery Qttestion. 63 



M. De la Fosse or his government would 

 have consented to the choice. The impro- 

 priety of the selection arose from the peculiar 

 relations existing between the Belgian and 

 English reigning families. A delicate consid- 

 eration, but none the less real. 



The commission met at Halifax in 1877.^'' 

 Mr. Kellogg represented the United States ; 

 Mr. Gait, a Canadian, Her Majesty's Govern- 

 ment. M. De la Fosse acted as umpire at the 

 request of both Powers. The discussion was 

 ably conducted by counsel. The British case 

 asserted the extent and value of the in-shore 

 Fishery, the increase of the American mack- 

 erel fleet, and the privileges, included in the 

 abolition of the three-mile limit, of procuring 

 bait and supplies, transshipping fish and en- 

 gaging Canadian crews. Not a single Cana- 

 dian fisherman had used the American con- 

 cession north of the thirty-sixth degree of 

 latitude, under the treaty of 1854, because it 

 was worth nothing, while three-fourths of the 

 American mackerel were taken in the British 

 waters. 



Besides, the value of the in-shore Fishery 

 should be estimated not by actual, but by its 

 possible use. A million dollars a year was 



