AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2895 



10 years ago on Prince Edward Island? A. Well, it requires 10 or 20 

 times the capital to get the same amount. 



Q. Do I understand you to state that the free admission of fish caught 

 in British waters into your markets does not affect the price ? A. I 

 do not think that it affects the price to any extent; indeed I do not 

 think that it does so at all. I do not think that this affects the price a 

 grain. 



Q. You differ a good deal from most of the witnesses we have heard. 

 A. I will tell you why I think so. It is because the price for consumer 

 does not change at all. I do not believe that the price of mackerel, to 

 the man who eats them, has changed a cent for the last ten years. I 

 consider that the price of mackerel depends to a great degree on the 

 manipulators the dealers in them. I do not think that the question of 

 duty on or duty off makes one fraction of difference as to the price; 

 this is, however, influenced by many things. If you took the duty oft' 

 oue year and put it on again the next year, 1 do not think that it would 

 alter the price one fraction, though some other influence might come in 

 and do it. If there was a change in this respect every year, I do not 

 think that it would affect the price one grain. We took the duty off 

 potatoes, which were brought from Prince Edward Island, for instance, 

 during reciprocity, and instead of having cheap potatoes in consequence 

 of this, during that ten years potatoes were higher in the provinces and 

 all over the States than was previously the case. I think they were 

 sold here in the provinces at the rate of $1 a bushel. 



Q. What is your opinion concerning the price of mackerel in this 

 regard f A. It is that a duty would not change the price one fraction. 



Q. I understand you to mean that if the catch was one-half below 

 the average, and if the demand could not be supplied by the catch at 

 all, or if, putting the case in an extreme light, the catch fell to one- 

 eighth, and there was not enough fish to meet the demand, still the 

 price would remain the same. A. It would not then vary save very 

 little. We have an illustration of it this year. Now, the catch of 

 mackerel this year has been smaller, I think, than has been the case for 

 a great many years. The price of No. 2 mackerel, for instance, for a 

 time went up to $10 and 811 a barrel. They were bought up, and the 

 price the fishermen asked for them was given, but still the consumption 

 almost stopped and decreased with no catch on the market ; and I have 

 known a man with 20 or 30 barrels on the market, when I have some- 

 times bought 10,000 barrels in one day, hunting round for a buyer. 



Q. Was not the year 1874 a year remarkable for a very large catch? 

 A. In 1874 there was an average catch, I think. It was nothing more 

 than an average, I think. If I am not mistaken, the catch for 1872 and 

 1873 was small. 



Q. Do you remember it sufficiently to state whether this was the 

 case or not? A. My impression is that there was about an average 

 catch in 1874. 



Q. We have the evidence of several witnesses who state that the 

 catch that year was very large. A. Still it was large, compared with 

 the catch of 1875 ; but taking the catches for a series of years, this was 

 not the case. 



Q. How was it in 1873? A. In 1872 and 1873 the catch was small 

 compared with that of 1870. 



Q. It was larger in 1874 than it was for the year immediately pre- 

 ceding? A. Yes. 



Q. How were prices that year ? A. In 1874 prices were about fair. 



Q. Are vou sure of that ? A. Yes. 



