2226 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



ing me as to the time when I was skipper. I deny anything of that 

 description. 



Q. Do you deny you were skipper in 1861 ? A. I deny I was skipper 

 in 1861. 



Q. Then deny that you were skipper of the Hiram Powers in 1861 ! 

 A. I have got things mixed now 1861 No, I don't. I was thinking 

 of 1851. 



Q. You were wrong 10 years. That is just what I thought. A. In 

 1851 1 told you I knew vessels going ashore. 



Q. In 1861 you were master of the Hiram Powers ? A. That is right. 

 I got a little mixed up. 



Q. Then you were fishing in the bend of the island ? A. No, I was 

 not. 



Q. In 1851, were you in the Hiram Powers at all ? A. I was in an- 

 other schooner, the Alexander. 



Q. Now, you said you never took out a license ? A. I never did. 



Q. Your reason was that it was not worth while ? A. No, I did not 

 want to go to the expense. 



Q. It was not worth while, and the privilege it would confer you did 

 not consider worth what it would cost. Are you of that opinion now! 

 A. Yes. 



Q. Was that opinion shared by the American* fleet generally ? A. The 

 opinion of the American vessels was that it was no benefit, the three- 

 mile line, that is, the privilege of fishing within the three-mile line. 



Q. Have you any doubt about that ? A. No. 



Q. Would you be surprised to know the opinion was directly the op- 

 posite of what you state ? A. I would be surprised. 



Q. Very much ! A. Yes. 



Q. Well, I will surprise you. In that year, 1866, there were taken 

 out by American vessels 592 licenses. So 592 captains there seem to 

 have entertained a different opinion from yours. A. That was only for 

 safety. 



Q. How do you know ? Did you consult each one of those captains 

 and ask if that was the general opinion ? A. I came in contact with 

 those men every day I was in Gloucester. 



Q. What do you mean when you say they took those licenses for 

 safety ? A. If they were three, four, or five miles off they would not 

 know for a certainty whether they were five or three miles. If there 

 was a cutter coming in and they had a license there would be no trouble, 

 but if she happened to make up her mind they were within she would 

 bother them. 



Q. Do you think a cutter would capture a vessel five miles out ? A. 

 Yes ; that is, not thinking but what she was doing right. One man 

 might say it was five miles, when another would not think it was. 



Q. But if the vessels fished where you described, on Bradley and 

 Orphans and at the Magdalens, hardly within sight of land ! A. Well, 

 probably other vessels went inshore. 



Q. Do yon believe other vessels did go in ? A. I don't believe any- 

 thing about it. As a general thing, those years I was there the heft of 

 our vessels were at the Magdalens. 



Q. Do you think any of these vessels that took licenses didn't go in- 

 shore ? A. I think so. 



Q. Can you name one that did not ? A. Well, when a vessel would 

 come along we would ask if he had been to the Bend, he would say yes. 

 We would ask if he found anything there, and he would answer no. 



Q. Was that the invariable answer ? A. No; of course not. 



