282 



FISHERY QUESTIONS. 



The President notified the American fishermen 

 by proclamation of the cessation of their fish- 

 ery rights in Canadian waters, yet they con- 

 tinued to fish within the three-mile limit, as 

 before. Then a license fee was exacted by the 

 provincial authorities, and American fishermen 

 paid it until it was raised from 50 cents to $2 

 a ton. In 1868 and 1870 the Dominion Par- 

 liament passed special acts prohibiting foreign 

 fishermen from poaching on the Canadian 

 grounds, and imposing penalties for their in- 

 fraction. 



The Washington Treaty of 18T2. When the 

 provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 

 were united to Canada, and the fisheries were 

 placed in charge of a Cabinet minister, that 

 official took measures, not only to protect the 

 Canadian fisheries, but to secure for the fisher- 

 men of the Dominion advantages over their 

 American competitors in the open-sea fisheries 

 by reviving the illiberal interpretation that, in 

 periods of tension, had been given to the words 

 of the treaty of 1818. The right of buying 

 bait and other supplies in Canadian ports was 

 called in question. The right of landing fish 

 and shipping them in bond over the railroads 

 to the United States was denied, but the sup- 

 pression of the practice, as well as the exclu- 

 sion of Americans from the bay fisheries under 

 the old doctrine that the headlands mark the 

 shore, was left in abeyance pending a satisfac- 

 tory settlement of the whole question. The 

 Canadian authorities had reason to complain 

 of the New England fishermen, who continued 

 to invade the territorial fishing-grounds with- 

 out regard to the proclamations of their own 

 Government, or the pains and penalties of the 

 Dominion acts. During 1869-'70 the Cana- 

 dian Government endeavored to police its fish- 

 eries with cruisers, which cost nearly $1,000,- 

 000 to maintain. The United States protested 

 at the English court against the exercise of 

 technical rights, such as the prohibition of the 

 purchase of bait. Negotiations were begun 

 for the adjustment of disputes between Great 

 Britain and the United States. The fishery 

 question was complicated with the American 

 claim for damages for the depredations of Con- 

 federate cruisers built and fitted out in Eng- 

 land. The American Government made an 

 offer of $1,000,000 for the right of the inshore 

 fisheries in perpetuity, but it was declined. 

 The joint commission, which sat at "Washing- 

 ton, agreed that the fisheries of Canada and of 

 the United States, north of 39 north latitude, 

 should be thrown open to the citizens of both 

 countries, and that the United States, besides 

 admitting Canadian fish and fish-oil free of 

 duty, should pay in money the value of the 

 rights granted to American fishermen in Cana- 

 dian waters, with the deduction of the value 

 of the American fishery rights to Canada. 

 The amount was to be fixed by joint commis- 

 sioners and an umpire. The treaty went into 

 force in 1873. The fishery commission, com- 

 posed of Messrs. Gait and Kellogg, represent- 



ing Canada and the United States, and M. de 

 la Fosse, the Belgian Minister at Washington, 

 as umpire, met at Halifax in 1877. The Cana- 

 dian counsel claimed that the actual and pros- 

 pective value of the mackerel fisheries to the 

 United States was $1,000,000 per annum ; the 

 American case represented that the commis- 

 sion had nothing to do but to calculate their 

 value from the trade returns, and that the re- 

 mission of $350,000 of duties, collected annu- 

 ally on fish and oil, was a full equivalent for 

 the Canadian fishery privileges. By its de- 

 cision, rendered Nov. 23, 1877, the commis- 

 sion fixed the sum due to Canada for the term 

 of treaty at $5,500,000. There was much 

 surprise at the amount of the award, which 

 was compared with the sum awarded to the 

 United States by the " Alabama " commission. 

 Congress authorized the payment only under 

 the proviso that the President should consider 

 that the good faith of the nation demanded it. 

 Mr. Evarts, the Secretary of State, laid before 

 the British Government statistical evidence, 

 showing that the Canadian fisheries were 

 worth to the United States only $25,000 per 

 annum, and that the highest computation 

 would not place their value at more than $125,- 

 000, while the duties remitted amounted to 

 $4,200,000 for the twelve years' period of the 

 treaty. Lord Salisbury insisted that the de- 

 cree of the commission was final, and the award 

 was duly paid. 



Some years after the treaty went into opera- 

 tion, the irritation of the Americans was in- 

 creased by the Fortune Bay dispute. A mob 

 of Newfoundlanders had attacked American 

 fishermen, and driven them out of the bay, for 

 the reason that they were fishing on Sunday, 

 which was forbidden by the local statutes. 

 Lord Salisbury claimed, when the case was 

 presented to him, that the fishery rights were 

 held subject to all local regulations. Lord 

 Granville, who succeeded him, admitted that 

 unreasonable local laws could not act as a re- 

 striction of rights granted by treaty. Damages 

 were paid for the Fortune Bay disturbance, 

 and rules for a close season were made the 

 subject of further negotiations. The treaty of 

 Washington was made for ten years, and either 

 party had the right to abrogate it thereafter 

 on two years' notice. The United States 

 promptly renounced the treaty in 1883, and it 

 expired on July 1, 1885. 



Recent Fishery Disputes. As the termination 

 of the fishery rights occurred in the midst of 

 the fishing season, the British Government 

 agreed to prolong them for six months, while 

 the President promised to recommend to Con- 

 gress the appointment of a joint commission to 

 consider an arrangement for the extension of 

 trade between the United States and British 

 North America. Congress, which even under 

 the Washington Convention had taxed tinned 

 metal cans, now imposed a duty of one cent a 

 pound on preserved fish for the benefit of the 

 Maine canning-establishments. The Canadian 



