AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 3391 



trary. But with the mass of testimony just recited the 8 or 10 men 

 upon the rail the casting and hauling in of the mackerel lines the 

 throwing of bait the emptying of the strike barrels on the approach 

 of the cutter, and the clear and positive evidence of three disinterested 

 witnesses from the Dusky Lake what is to said of such a defence I In 

 the face of it all, the master and four of the crew of the A. H. Wanson 

 five out of the 1C or 17 men, said to be on board, have sworn that said 

 schooner, or the captain or crew thereof, did not fish, or prepare to fish, 

 within three marine miles of the coasts, bays, harbors, or creeksof Canada, 

 or of that part of the coasts and bays thereof known as Broadcove and as 

 Seawolf Island on the north-west coast of Cape Breton, on the 3rd day 

 of September last, or at any other time during said season. This might 

 be supposed to be a mere formal denial, repeated, however wrongfully 

 and incautiously, by all five, in the very words of the responsive al- 

 legation, but in the body of their evidence they assert that none of the 

 men were fishing, or had been fishing that morning, or at any time after 

 going into Broadcove, or were preparing to fish. By what strange cas- 

 uistry these men reconcile such an assertion to their consciences, and 

 sense of right, it is difficult to tell. The human mind practices singular 

 delusions upon itself, and the spectacle of conflicting evidence is only 

 too common in courts of justice. It is enough, in the present case, 

 to say that the evidence for the prosecution is overwhelming and irre- 

 sistible. The allegation that the men were only clearing out their tan- 

 gled lines, besides being inconsistent with the usage and habits of ex- 

 pert fishermen, is wholly insufficient to account for the actions of these 

 men while on the rail, as seen and testified to by so many of the wit- 

 nesses. 



" I pronounce therefore, for the condemnation of the A. H. Wanson, 

 her tackle, apparel, furniture, stores, and cargo, as forfeited under the 

 Dominion Acts, and the same having been bailed at the appraised value 

 of $3,500, 1 direct that the amount shall be paid into court, to be dis- 

 tributed as directed by the Act of 18158. I pronounce also for the costs 

 secured by the first bond, on the defence being put in." 



No. 4. 



[Extract from the Halifax Daily Reporter and Times, February 13th, 1871.] 



IN THE VICE ADMIRALTY COURT, 10TH FEB'Y, 1871. 



The " A. J. Franklin." Sir William Young, Judge Vice Admiralty. 



"This is a schooner of 53 tons burthen, owned at Gloucester, in the 

 State of Massachusetts, under an enrolment of 4th February, 18G8, and 

 sailing under a fishing license of 28tu January, 1870. Attached to her 

 papers are also printed copies of the Treasury Circulars issued at Wash- 

 ington on 16th May and 9th June last, apprising the owners and mas- 

 ters of fishing vessels of the first article of the Treaty of 1818, of the 

 Dominion acts of 1868 and 1870, and of the equipment of Canadian sail- 

 ing vessels for the enforcement thereof. This vessel the A. J. Frank- 

 lin having been warned by Captain Tory, of the cutter Ida E., against 

 fishing within the prescribed limits, and having been found on the llth 

 October in the midst of a mackerel fleet at Broad Cove, was overhauled 

 aud visited by the cutter, and was then let go ; but, on further inform* 



' 



