2520 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Grand Manan at 8400,000 a year? A. Yes; I said that I call it, iji my 

 judgment, not over 8400,000; not to exceed $500,000. 



Q. Do you mean British or American catch or both ? A. I mean all 

 that is caught within three miles by both parties or all men. A great 

 many Nova Scotia people come down and camp. I mean that is the 

 catch of the island. 



Q. This you give as your opinion from having been on the island one 

 season a year for six years, and that for half a day? A. I gave that 

 opinion as being to the best of my knowledge, and I obtained it from 

 reliable sources. 



Q. Do you know Mr. W. B. McLaughlin f A. I have known him for 

 a long time. 



Q. Is he a respectable man ? A. Yes. 



Q. Is he a credible man ! A. I should think so. I don't know any- 

 thing to the contrary. 



Q. He is not a man who would make a misstatement under oath will- 

 fully ! A. I would not suppose he would. 



Q. Are you aware that it was his business to find out what the actual 

 catch of the British subjects was, and to make a return to the govern- 

 ment? A. I was aware he was fishery warden. I pay my weir-tax to 

 him. 



Q. You are not aware that it was his business to find what the 

 actual catch of the island was, and to make a return to the govern- 

 ment ? A. I don't know. 



Q. Mr. McLaughlin has stated that such was his business, and from 

 the returns made by the people themselves, which, he stated, were en- 

 tirely under the mark, he found that their catch amounted to half a mill- 

 ion dollars. Are you prepared to contradict that statement ? A. I am 

 prepared to let my statement stand as based on my judgment. 



Q. Either state that Mr. McLaughlin's statement is untrue or that it 

 is not. A. I will not make any such statement. I will say that Mr. 

 McLanghlin, I think, has erred in judgment. 



Q. At page 254 of Mr. McLaughliu's testimony there is the following: 



Q. Will you tell me what is the value of the fish taken by our own people each year 

 on the island T A. Well, I could tell from my fishing returns of last year. I could 

 have brought them all. 



Q. Do you make up your return for the whole year ? A. Yes; from the 1st January 

 to the 31st December. 



Q. You do not make it up for the fiscal year ? A. No; I am ordered to make it up 

 to the 31st December. The return states itself that it is so made up. The amount in 

 my estimate, as I made it up from inquiry last year, is $383,891, but that is far under 

 the real catch. 



Q. You say that it is far under the actual value of the catch. How do you account 

 for its being under the-amouut ? A. Well, the fishermen are reluctant to give an ac- 

 count of what they make on account of the taxation. We have a free-school law now, 

 and are taxed very heavily for it. 



Q. It happens that you are an assessor of taxes ? A. I am at times, and I am a 

 county councilor, and have been a census enumerator. 



Q. And they do not like to give this information to you T You are the last person to 

 wioni they want to give it f A. Well, I tell them that the Marine Department never 

 lets such information go out of its possession. They tell me there is no need of its 

 doing so ; that I have it all in my hands. They say it is too thin. 



Q. Then you believe the amount you have given is an underestimate T A. I know 

 it must be over half a million dollars ; that is our old $500,000. 



He is a gentleman who swears that from the lips of the men them- 

 selves he got a statement that the catch each year amounted to $383,891, 

 in round numbers $400,000, as being the British catch alone. He says 

 that is underestimated, and it is at least $100,OJO more. A. I cannot 

 help it ; I have given you uay opinion. 



