BRITISH, COLONIAL AND OTHEB CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 507 



gone? If we had a plentiful supply of bait these vessels would be 

 bringing fish to our ports and enriching our sons. He might go 

 further and say where are the crews of those vessels? They are 

 the crews of the American vessels, our own sons, whom we are now 

 fighting and depriving of privileges. He would ask Capt. Bonia if 

 it were not true that his own brother, Capt. Joe Bonia, who was once 

 commodore of the Placentia fleet, is now commodore of the Glouces- 

 ter fleet? Speakers during the past two days have said that the 

 French fishermen were paralyzed by the Bait Act. That is a mis- 

 take. The Bait Act has not as much to do with the downfall of St. 

 Pierre as some people think. The French and Yankees cannot be 

 compared. The former are our competitors in the European markets, 

 while the Americans cannot get sufficient fish for home consumption. 

 We may double them in foreign markets. The bulk of their catch 

 is consumed in their own country, and their greatest difficulty is 

 they are unable to supply the demand. It is contended by the Gov- 

 ernment that the operation of the present Act has greatly injured 

 the catch of the American fleet, but the figures do not prove that. In 

 1904 the Grand Bank Gloucester fleet of 54 vessels caught 14,550,000 

 pounds of fish, the average catch per vessel being 162,000 pounds. 

 In 1905 the catch was 14,000,000 pounds, but the fleet was two vessels 

 short, this explains the slight reduction in the catch, though the 

 average per vessel was 182,000 pounds. He thought the catch this year 

 is something, as in 1905 though he had not the figures at hand yet. 

 Fifty-two vessels, then, are the total number sailing from Gloucester 

 to the Grand Banks. He would say that there are 160 other Glouces- 

 ter vessels which do not touch at our ports at all. They all go 

 to Nova Scotia ports, from which they get their bait and their sup- 

 plies. The house was told tonight that if these resolutions were 

 passed Canadian sympathy would pour in on us. 



To-day, as a matter of fact, Canada is taking advantage of our 

 irresolution in dealing with the Americans. Cold storage plants are 

 being erected and squid traps are being placed in the waters of every 

 harbor along the Nova Scotia coast. The idea of Canadian sympathy 

 coming over to us is ridiculous. That is how the Canadians are show- 

 ing their sympathy for us, and can we be dull in remembering how we 

 treated Canada and her fishermen twelve or fourteen years ago. Is 

 it any wonder either that they are showing no sympathy for us when 

 the people of St. John's are leaving the galleries empty and that not a 

 solitary breath of applause has been heard since the debate began? 

 Why do the Government, if Newfoundland was humiliated by the 

 passing of the modus vivendi, and if her constitution was infringed, 

 not take advantage of the privileges of Responsible Government? 

 Why do they not go back to the people they have deceived? When 

 the Imperial Government interferred with the Government of Natal, 

 they immediately began to show themselves possessed of courage and 

 some back bone. This is the last thing, however, the Newfoundland 

 Government would think of is resigning. The members of that gov- 

 ernment do not want to give up their loaves and fishes and the chances 

 of pickings they enjoy in their present berths. He challenged the 

 Minister of Finance and all the members of the West Coast districts 

 to say if they had told their constituents what attitude they were 

 going to take on the matter of the herring fishery. He. Mr. Cashin, 

 had been a member of the Liberal party for twelve years, and in all 



