3440 AWARD OP THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 



- 



Mr. DOUTEE proposes to ask witness at whose request he prepared . 

 the book. 



Mr. DANA. If the subject is to be dropped, that is one thing, but I do 

 not think you should ask me to drop it and take it up yourself. 



Mr. DOUTEE. O, go on. 



Mr. DANA. Do yon wish the subject dropped? 



Mr. DOUTRE. No, we have nothing to conceal. 



Mr. DANA. The imprinted one, the manuscript, I never saw until last 

 night. 



WITNESS. That is a continuation of the present one. 



Mr. WEATHERBE observes that if the counsel for the United States 

 had the manuscript book they were better off than the counsel for Her 

 Britannic Majesty. He had not seen it at all. 



Hon. Mr. KELLOGG. What is to be the use of this book ? I don't un- 

 derstand. 



Mr. DOUTRE. It was for our own use in examining the witness. 



Hon. Mr. KELLOGG. I only want to know whether it is to be used by 

 the board or not. 



Mr. DOUTRE. No, not as part of the evidence. 



Mr. DANA. 1 hope we have not been guilty of any mistake. The first 

 part came here only yesterday, and Mr. Foster got it from the British 

 Agent. 



Mr. DOUTRE. Several copies were given to Professor Baird. 



Mr. DANA. Not until after he had given his evidence. 

 By Mr. Trescot : 



Q. With regard to the theory of this report, a great portion of which we 

 have read with a great deal of interest, as 1 understand, the purport is that 

 the advance in the study of ocean physics has been such that cetrain laws 

 have been discovered, the application of which, like other scientific laws, 

 will develop a large fishing industry if properly applied ? A. Certainly. 



Q. You think that promise of increase in the extension of the fisheries 

 ought to be taken into account in estimating their value ? A. Yes. 



Q. Has the discovery of these laws advanced far enough to be prac- 

 tically applied within the next two or three years ? A. Certainly. They 

 are already practically applied in Norway and by 



Q. Taking the habits of the fish into consideration, the orographic out- 

 line of the coast, the operation of the Arctic current and the Gulf Stream, 

 the variation of the zone temperature, .together with one or two other 

 things, the winds and tides; all those considerations govern the question 

 where the mackerel will be found. Now, is your knowledge of that habit 

 sufficiently certain to enable you to say, at any given moment, that the 

 mackerel will be there at such and such a time, on such and such a line 

 of coast? A. Certainly not. But there is now being instituted, under 

 the auspices of the United Staces Government, a series of marine obser- 

 vations, especially under the direction of the Coast Survey, and all of 

 those will pass through the hands of Professor Baird. Those are for the 

 purpose of taking the temperature, not only at the surface but at certain 

 depths below. But nothing has been done yet. 



Q. That being the case, and you having admitted the American fisher- 

 men under the treaty of 1871, so as to make this practically one continu- 

 ous line of fisheries dependent on each other, don't you think a system 

 that would end by putting the whole thing under one joint commission 

 would be a great deal better than any award of any kind ? A. I atn 

 not capable of answering the question so far as the award is concerned, 

 but so far as the development of the fisheries is concerned it would be 

 an immense advantage, there is no doubt. 





