1876 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Page 389. Sylvanus Smith : 



Q. Supposing the mackerel caught in colonial waters were excluded, would it or would it 

 not have any effect upon the price you get for your fish ? Supposing one-fourth of the quan 

 tity consumed in the States was excluded, would it have any effect on the price of the other 

 three- fourths? A. I think some, not much. I think it would stimulate our home pro- 

 duction. 



Q. In what way would it stimulate it ? By raising the price, is it not ? A. Well, to a 

 small extent. 



Q. Well, then the effect of the British mackerel coming in is that the consumer is able 

 to buy it cheaper thiin he otherwise would ? A. Well, up to a certain point. The effect 

 would be very small. There is not a large enough quantity. It is our home catch that af- 

 fects it. 



Page 429. Myrick : 



Q. What would be the effect upon the business of your firm of putting back the former 

 duty of 82 a barrel upon mackerel sent from Prince Edward Island to the States? I would 

 like you to explain your views in this regard particularly ? A. Well, I suppose, since we 

 have got our business established there and our buildings and facilities for carrying on the 

 fishery, it would be difficult for us to abandon it altogether, but we would then turn our 

 attention more particularly to cod-fishing, until, at any rate, the mackerel season got well ad- 

 vanced and the mackerel became fat, and if any would bring a high price it would be those 

 taken in the latter part of the season. We might catch some of them, but we would not un- 

 dertake to catch poor mackerel to compete with those caught on the American shore. 



Q. Explain why not ? A. Well, No. 3 mackerel, which are poor mackerel, generally 

 bring a good deal less price than fat mackerel, and men do not catch any more poor mackerel 

 than they do fat ones ; the cost of catching them, and of barreling and shipping them, is the 

 same, while the fat mackerel bring a better price. We would carry on the cod-fishing busi- 

 ness irrespective of the American market ; we would catch, cure, and ship codfish to other 

 markets to the West India markets and we might make a fair business at that : but as to 

 catching mackerel exclusively under such circumstances, it would not do to depend on it 

 at all. 



Page 430. Myrick : 



Q. What is it that fixes the price of mackerel in the United States market? A. 0, well 

 of course il is the supply and demand, as is the case with everything else. When there is a 

 large catch of mackerel on the American shore, prices rule low ; this is a very sensitive 

 market. If a fleet of f>00, 600, or 800 vessels are fishing for mackerel, and those interested 

 get reports of the fleet doing anything, the market falls at once ; and this is the case par- 

 ticularly when prices are any way inflated. 



Page 488. Isaac Hall : 



Q. You told Mr. Foster that if a duty was reimposed you would consider very seriously 

 whether you would continue in the business ? A. Yes. 



Q. You made that statement on the assumption that you paid the duty ? A. Yes. 



Q. I think it has been explained very clearly that the price of fish depends almost alto- 

 gether on the catch ; this is the case to a large extent ? A. To a large'extent ; yes. If there 

 is a larg^e catch of mackerel prices rule low, and if there is a small catch they rule high. 



Q. It the evidence given here on the part of British witnesses is correct, two-thirds of the 

 fih taken by American vessels in the Gulf, I may say, are caught inshore; and assuming 

 that two-thirds of their whole catch in the Gulf is taken inside of the three-mile limit, could 

 the American fleet, if they were excluded from fishing within this limit, prosecute the Gulf 

 fishery for the other third ; would this pay them? A. I think it would be a difficult busi- 

 ness to do HO, if that proportion is correct. 



<i. If the price goes up, who pays the enhanced price ; is it not the consumer ? A. Yes. 



(^. And if the catch is large the price goes down? So it would depend in some measure 

 on whether the catch on the American or on our own shore was large as to who would pay 

 tins duty T A. Yes ; and on the quality of the mackerel. 



These are quotations tli at I make from the American evidence. I do not 

 quote from our own, as Mr. Dana admitted that there was such a con- 

 sensus of evidence on that point that he almost insinuated that it was 

 too uniform to be depended upon. 



1 now propose to deal at length with two questions of vital importance 

 in this inquiry, viz: 



1st. In favor of which country is the balance of advantages arising 

 from reciprocal freedom of trade gained by the Treaty of Washington ? 

 .And 



