BRITISH, COLONIAL AND OTHEB CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 373 



Canadians do not fish for themselves, but buy herring and export 

 them to Halifax and other Nova Scotian ports. Some Canadian 

 schooners work independently, some work for the Atlantic Fish 

 Company. This Company has built an establishment at Benoit's 

 Cove, Bay of Islands, to which they hope gradually to attract the 

 main portion, if not the whole, of the herring export trade from 

 Bay of Islands, and eventually to cure and smoke their herring them- 

 selves, so as to export all over the world and rival Gloucester as a 

 fish market. 



So, it is obvious, that Canadians have a distinct interest in the 

 ultimate preservation of this fishery. 



Beyond these Canadians and the Americans, there is, as far as I 

 know, no other means by which a Bay of Islands fisherman can dis- 

 pose of his herring except to one or two local traders, who export 

 to Gloucester, and to a, coasting steamer which calls fortnightly and 

 collects barrels of herring which she takes to Halifax. 



Hence, there is, to my mind, as much to be said for the attitude 

 of those Newfoundlanders who insist upon working for Americans 

 as for those who do not, yet no apparent reason why the American 

 fishermen themselves should object to the Bond-Hay Convention. 



I found that the conditions of that Convention were very vaguely 

 known either to Newfoundlanders or to Americans, so I sent copies 

 of it to several Newfoundland fishermen of my acquaintance, some 

 of whom were working on board American schooners, thinking that, 

 as it appears to offer a solution advantageous to both, friendly dis- 

 cussion of its terms could do no harm. 



There remain the 4th, 5th, and 6th points of view, about which it 

 would be presumption on my part to say much, but I venture to 

 hazard the opinion that it would seem that if the Bond-Hay Con- 

 vention were to come into force, there would probably be no further 

 trouble. Whether it has got a better chance of getting through the 

 Senate now than it had two or three years ago is hard to say, but I 

 think the Gloucester men recognise that it is of the utmost importance 

 to them to get the herring, and that it pays best to buy them direct. 

 I believe that their chief objection to that Convention is the fear that, 

 under it, Canadians might succeed in getting their fish into the 

 American market under the cloak of Newfoundland, and that, as 

 Canadians pay lower wages to their crews, and build their schooners 

 more cheaply, the Gloucester men would not be able to compete 

 against them. Article 3 of the Convention ought to be a sufficient 

 safeguard against such a thing. 



Failing the Bond-Hay Convention, some other solution of the 

 question will, no doubt, be found ; but whatever it may be, I confess 

 to feeling that it would be preferable if Newfoundland men were 

 allowed to ship from the mainland, rather than just outside the Bay, 

 as the practice is galling to the local authorities, and very dangerous 

 to the fishermen in bad weather. 



If American skippers could thus be sure of getting Newfoundland 

 fishing crews there would no longer, I imagine, be any question of 

 using purse seines, which are very expensive, and not very much 

 use, except just when the herring are cruising in the Bay preparatory 

 to settling into one of the Arms. In this way the most serious 

 danger of disturbance amongst the fishermen would be removed, 



