2788 AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



Q. Is Dot the weather on your coast in winter very hard on the, rig- 

 ging of vessels on the sails, and so on ? A. Yes. 



Q. It is a good deal harder on them than is summer or fall weather in 

 the bay, before the stormy season sets in ? A. Certainly ; more wear 

 and tear is suffered in this regard in winter than in summer on any coast. 



Q. You admit, then, that if it was not for the bay fishing in your time, 

 you could not have kept the crews together, as you could not do so on 

 your own coast? A. Well, that was one reason why I went to the bay; 

 when we lost a man on our shore we could get another, but this occa- 

 sioned loss of time. 



Q. You could not keep your crews there ? A. When we would lose 

 one we could find another to replace him, but this caused loss of time. 



Q. And time is money ? A. Of course. 



Q. Therefore you made more money by taking your crews to the gult 

 than you could have made if you had fished on your shore, losing and 

 replacing men the while? A. I suppose that sometimes we would thus 

 make more money and sometimes we would not; we had to run the risk 

 of it. 



Q. You saved yourself inconvenience and came to the gulf? A. I 

 used to go there some seasons, when I had a mind to do so. 



Q. Did you really send your vessels or come to the gulf knowing that 

 you could thus make more money than if you fished on your own coast? 

 A. I never sent a vessel into North Bay ; I let the skipper do as he 

 wished in this respect. He was his own guide, and he could go to the 

 gulf if he liked, or fish on our shore, according to his preference ; he 

 was master of the vessel, aud I fitted her out. 



Q. Is that the rule of that particular trade, to allow the master to go 

 and fish where he pleases ? A. As a general thing, yes. 



Q. Without the owner controlling him at all ? A. Well, I made it a 

 rule, at any rate, to do so. When I went for other people I went just 

 where I had a mind to. I went just where I thought I could do best. 



Q. And the owner never attempted to control you in this regard ? 

 A. No; if he had, I would have left his vessel. 



Q. Was your practice in this respect the usual practice of other skip- 

 pers? A. I presume so, but I do not know that it was ; I know, how- 

 ever, that I did so myself. 



Q. Have the skippers an interest in the vessels ? A. Most of the 

 skippers of Cape Ann, for the last few years, have been part owners to 

 the extent of J or , or something like that, and the owner of the vessel 

 will think that the captain would go where the most money is to be 

 made, or try to do so, and so the skippers are allowed to be the judges 

 in this relation. 



Q. Therefore it is to be presumed that the captains who have gone 

 to the gulf have done so because they could make more money by fish- 

 ing there than by fishing on your coast? A. Certainly; that is the 

 reason why I went to the United States because I could do better there 

 than here. 



Q. You will admit, at all events, that coming to the bay is a conven- 

 ience with respect to keeping the crews together? The gulf fishery is 

 an important fishery to the Americans? A. It was so for a number ot 

 years, but this is not the case at the present time, from what I have, 

 learned. 



Q. You do not pretend to know anything about this matter since 1868 f 

 A. I know the result of the fisheries from the figures in the papers, 

 aud I know what is going on at Cape Ann. 



