AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2901 



Q. Have you any bills or accounts with you as to what you paid for 

 bait on the coast of Newfoundland ? A. No. 



Q. How many times on an average each year would a vessel go in for 

 bait? A. I should say that some of our vessels would go in once and 

 others three times in one trip. I should think they would go in almost 

 three times on an average. 



Q. What bait have they got ? A. Herring, squid, and I am not sura 

 whether they got caplin or not. 



Q. Can you say as to what was the amount paid by each vessel for 

 bait for the year ? A. It would be an estimate. I have the drafts with 

 me that I paid this year. 



Q. Have you made up an average ! A. No. 



Q. Judging from your knowledge, can you approximate the amount ? 

 A. I think I can. I should say we paid from $2,000 to $2,300 this 

 present year. 



Q. Was that for baiting vessels 1 A. Yes. 



Q. Was that all paid for bait or did it include other articles? A. 

 The large part of it was for bait. 



Q. What proportion? A. There is only an amount paid for light-dues 

 at Newfoundland. 



Q. Were there any other supplies purchased by you ? A. No ; we 

 always fit out the vessels ourselves with the necessary supplies. 



Q. Do you buy everything for cash ? A. Always for cash. 



Q. You will barter any thing? A. Never. They draw sight drafts on. 



By Mr. Davies : 



Q. 1 think you said you did not think the British fisheries were of any 

 value 1 A. I think they are of very little value. 



Q. Then if you were excluded from the bay, it would be of little mo- 

 ment to you ? A. Yes, if your people were kept from our shores and 

 markets. 



Q. Without considering the question of market ; if American fisher- 

 men were excluded from the bay, it would be very little injury to them ? 

 A. It would be very little. 



Q. Do you wish that to go on record as your opinion ? A. Yes. 



Q. Can you then explain the previous anxiety displayed by them to 

 ' get the inshore fishery in the bay ? A. No ; that is something I should 

 like somebody else to explain. I never could understand why our people 

 wanted it. In 1863, 1804, and 1865, which were the most prosperous 

 years in the bay and when our vessels did the best they ever did there, 

 our vessels on our own shores could make three dollars where they made 

 two dollars in the bay; and yet the men wanted to go in the bay. They 

 always used to go ashore at Prince Edward Island, have a dance and a 

 good time. 



Q. You think it was due to the attractions of the island ? A. I think so. 



Q. The loss on the voyage in 1876 you place in the statement at $369 ? 

 A. That is a statement of the trip copied from the book. 

 By Mr. Foster : 



Q. Was the license fee of $1 per ton, in your judgment, as much as 

 a mackerelman going into the Bay of St. Lawrence could afford to pay 

 for the privilege of the inshore fishery in the best years? A. I think it 

 was more. 



Q* You Ijave been asked as to the longest of the trips. You have 



given the results in the bay and the results on the shore from 1870 to 



1876 inclusive. I want to know whether this represents the case of 



i vessels which fish through the whole mackerel season in the respective 



