1G22 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



of the British fisheries, did not form a part," And after the Treaty of 

 Washiu-ton had been ratified, Earl Kimberly wrote to Lord Lisgar: "It 

 cannot be denied that it is most important to the colonial fishermen to 

 obtain Tree access to the American markets for their fish and fish-oil." 



You can explain the language of these statements only upon the 

 theorv that they knew and understood that the duty was necessarily a 

 tax upon the fish production of the provinces. How idle to have made 

 observations of the kind that I have been reading except upon that 

 plain hypothesis! 



In the debates on the ratification of the treaty it was said by Sir 

 John A. Macdonald that 



Thr only market for the Canadian Xo. 1 mackerel in the world is the United States. That 

 i$ our oiili/ market, and ice are practically excluded from it by the present duty. The conse- 

 qmrurt </ that ditty is that our fishermen are at the mercy of the American fishermen. They 

 arr modi the hncers of irood and draicers of water for the Americans. They are obliged to 

 nil tknr fixh at the Americans' oirn price. The American fishermen purchase their fish at 

 a nominal rahie and control the American market. The great profits of the trade are bauded 

 over to tin- American fishermeu or the American merchants engaged in the trade, and 

 they profit to the loss of our own industry and our own people. 



And here let me call your attention to a striking fact, that from the 

 beginning to the end of these negotiations the people of the maritime 

 provinces, who own the inshore fisheries, have been the people who 

 have been most anxious on any terms to have the duties removed in 

 the United States markets. It was said in this debate by some one (I 

 do not remember the name of the speaker) that "it is harsh and cruel 

 lor the people of Ontario, for the sake of forcing a general reciprocity 

 treaty, to injure the fishing interests of the provinces by preventing 

 them from getting a free market in the United States." 



A gentleman from Halifax Mr. Power who is said to have devoted 

 his whole life to the business, and to understand all about it, tells the 

 story in a more practical way: 



In tin- spring of each year some forty or fifty vessels resorted to the Magdalen Islands 

 for herring, and he had known the number to be greater. These vessels carried an 

 average <>1 IKK) barrels each; so that the quantity taken was generally in the neigh- 

 borhood of :.(!,( XiO barrels. During the existence of the Reciprocity Treaty no United 

 State* veKHfl* ent after these fish. All the vessels engaged in that fisheiy belonged 

 to Mime one of the nr-'Vinces now forming this Dominion. Since the abrogation of the 

 tnaiv and the imposition of the duty of $1 per barrel by the United States the case 

 had i>. ...me entirely changed. VYssels still went there, but they were nearly all 

 Aim-man. Now, under this treaty, we would get that important branch of trade 

 bark again. 



Yon will remember that I said yesterday, gentlemen, that herring a 



lab M) poor and so cheap that American vessels cannot afford to en- 



jinjie in the tihhery, it is far more advantageous for them to purchase 



i N, cHtch would be, by a duty of $1 a barrel, entirely excluded 



tlie markets of the United States, and it seems that such was the 



M)!I in i In- interval between the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty 



the ratification of the Treaty o^' Washington. See how Mr. Power 



nli this question of whether the consumer pays the duty: 



f lit, ** ' -i"''<x*H unu u piuimvtui itnyei wvn uuu uui ci 



U iWMrb VIT eo/if to the same market, where theif sold at the same 



topcy a duty oftl,W, trhile the other had not to do 80. Who, then, paid the 



'n* ' "" Pireluuer or consumer, but the poor, hard worked fithrrnen 



$1,000 trim deducted from his account of sales. Those who WH.- 



t cao the coMHiimer paid the duty ought to be able to show that if the 



e takcu ofl m the LuiU-d States the selling price there would be reduced by 



