552 MISCELLANEOUS 



chusetts, and who declares that it is of the greatest importance to 

 United States fishermen to procure from Newfoundland the bait 

 necessary for those fisheries, and that such benefits can hardly be 

 overestimated ; that there will be, during the season of 1876, upwards 

 of 200 United States vessels in Fortune Bay for bait, and that there 

 will be upwards of 300 vessels from the United States engaged in the 

 Grand Bank fishery ; that owing to the great advantage of being able 

 to run into Newfoundland for bait of different kinds, they are enabled 

 to make four trips during the season ; that the capelin, which may be 

 considered as a bait peculiar to Newfoundland, is the best which can 

 be used for this fishery, and that a vessel would probably be enabled 

 to make two trips during the capelin season, which extends over a 

 period of about six weeks. The same experienced deponent is of 

 opinion that the bank fisheries are capable of immense expansion and 

 development, and that the privilege of getting bait on the coast of 

 Newfoundland is indispensable for the accomplishment of this object. 



As an instance of the demand for bait supplies derived from the 

 Newfoundland inshore fisheries, it may be useful to state that the 

 average amount of this article consumed by the French fishermen, 

 who only prosecute the Bank fisheries during a period of about six 

 months of the year, is from $120,000 to $160,000 annually. The her- 

 ring, capelin, and squid amply meet these requirements and are sup- 

 plied by the people of Fortune and Placentia Bays, the produce of 

 the Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon being insufficient to meet the 

 demand. 



It is evident from the above considerations that not only are the 

 United States fishermen almost entirely dependent on the bait supply 

 from Newfoundland, now open to them for the successful prosecu- 

 tion of the Bank fisheries, but also that they are enabled, through the 

 privileges conceded to them by the Treaty of Washington, to largely 

 increase the number of their trips, and thus considerably augment the 

 profits of the enterprise. This substantial advantage is secured at 

 the risk, as before mentioned, of hereafter depleting the bait supplies 

 of the Newfoundland inshores, and it is but just that a substantial 

 equivalent should be paid by those who profit thereby. 



We are therefore warranted in submitting to the Commissioners 

 that not only should the present actual advantages derived on this 

 head by United States fishermen be taken into consideration, but 

 also the probable effect of the concessions made in their favor. The 

 inevitable consequence of these concessions will be to attract a larger 

 amount of United States capital and enterprise following the profits 

 already made in this direction, and the effect will be to inflict an 

 injury on the local fishermen, both by the increased demand on their 

 sources of supply and by competition with them in their trade with 

 foreign markets. 



III. The advantage of a free market for fish and fish-oil in 

 Newfoundland. 



It might at first sight appear from the return of fish exports from 

 the United States to Newfoundland that this privilege was of little 

 or no value; indeed, the duties when collected on this article were of 

 insignificant amount. There is, however, an important benefit con- 

 ferred by it on United States fishermen engaged in the Bank fish- 



