510 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



curing their fish ; provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere 

 with the rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in 

 the peaceable use of any part of the said coast in their occu- 

 pancy for the same purpose. 



By the second article, Canadian fishermen were accorded 

 similar privileges in American waters north of latitude 36. 



With the sole exception of taking " shell fish," the Ameri- 

 cans were practically placed upon the same footing with 

 British subjects in the prosecution of the fisheries in Cana- 

 dian waters. By the fifth article it was stipulated that the 

 treaty " is to remain in force for ten years and further, until 

 the expiration of twelve months after either party shall give 

 notice of a wish to terminate the same." 



The effect of this agreement upon American fishermen 

 was almost magical. Their disputes were immediately for- 

 gotten, and harmony reigned. In Canada, where formerly 

 the American fishermen had been regarded as enemies, they 

 were now welcomed as the best of friends. The Canadians 

 rejoiced in the new and extensive markets opened to their 

 produce, and their trade soon quadrupled. Nova Scotia and 

 New Brunswick entered upon a period of extraordinary pros- 

 perity, and their fisheries leaped at a bound from conditions 

 of adversity to those of great prosperity. But such delight- 

 ful tranquillity upon the fishing grounds was not destined 

 to last many years ; a variety of causes led to the abrogation 

 of the treaty of 1854 by the United States at the end of the 

 stipulated ten years. The first note of alarm was sounded 

 by the Maine and Massachusetts fishermen themselves, who 

 began to complain that the free admission of Canadian fish 

 into the United States crippled their own industry. Owing 

 to cheaper labor, and their greater proximity to the fisheries, 

 the Canadians were enabled to undersell the New England 

 fishermen in the Boston markets. The extent of the free list 

 of Canadian products was so great that it largely curtailed the 

 revenues the government needed. Senator Sherman estimated 

 this loss upon the single item of lumber to be $5,000,000 a 

 year. It soon became evident that the price being paid 

 Canada for the freedom of her fisheries was too great. 



