192 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC., 



Dr. Robitaille said that what he understood as the substance of the 

 remarks of the honorable minister of justice was that the Canadian 

 government could not protect the fishermen, and the imperial govern- 

 ment was not willing to do so. 



Dr. Tupper said he wished to enter his protest against the state- 

 ments made by an honorable member of the House, which would 

 damage the rights of our fishermen, namely, that we were not ready 

 and able to protect them. 



Mr. Fortin thought that the government would this time keep faith 

 with the announcement it ha a made. He was glad it had at last 

 announced the policy of refusing to grant licenses to American fish- 

 ermen. This refusal was better late than never. It was only right 

 that American vessels should be treated in Canadian waters in the 

 same way that our vessels are treated in theirs. Let any Canadian 

 vessel go within three miles of the American coast, and remain for 

 days and days, as theirs did in our harbors, and it would be taken 

 by the officers and sold, and would never be got back again. It was 

 a perfect scandal the way the American fishermen came and fished 

 on Sunday while our people were at church. 



Mr. Huntington would like to know from the member for Cum- 

 berland (Dr. Tupper) whether or not the government of Nova Scotia, 

 to which he belonged, had not inaugurated the license system. 



Dr. Tupper said it had not, but had resisted the scheme to the 

 last. It was only after the combined influence of both Great Britain 

 and Canada was brought to bear that they yielded the point, 

 and then only on the declaration of both governments that it should 

 be only for one year. The honorable member could find this fully 

 stated in the journals of the legislature. 



Mr. Huntington had not put the question to embarrass the hon- 

 orable member, but merely to elicit this reply, which he had ex- 

 pected. It appeared to him that the honorable member for Sher- 

 brooke had fairly stated the position of the question, and that in the 

 absence of the correspondence it was not right to enter into any 

 violent or extreme language on the subject before the House. 



Mr. Howe's opening remarks were inaudible in the gallery. He 

 said he quite agreed with the honorable member for Sherbrooke 

 respecting prematurely discussing this question before papers were 

 brought down. This was a question of so much importance and so 

 much delicacy that it ought to be discussed with patriotic feeling by 

 them, as British Americans anxious to maintain our territorial rights, 

 but at the same time to act with such delicacy and discretion as to 

 have the support of the national power behind us. 



Mr. Mackenzie thought the House favored a conciliatory policy 

 toward our neighbors, who must be our neighbors for all time to 

 come; and that to precipitate a needless collision with the neighbor- 

 ing power would be to be guilty of a most criminal act. He entirely 

 agreed with the observations of the honorable secretary of state. 



Mr. Dorion said it was evident from the remarks of the honorable 

 secretary of state that we were not in such a position as to discuss 

 this question. The other day the leader of the government declared 

 that the policy of the government was to refuse any more licenses to 

 American fishermen. To-day he (Mr. Dorion) inferred from the 

 remarks of the honorable secretary of state that such a policy had 

 not received the concurrence of the British government. He had 



