520 .AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



the interests of " good neighborhood," that a joint high com- 

 mission should be appointed, " charged with the consideration 

 and settlement upon a just, equitable, and honorable basis* 

 of the entire question of the fishery rights of the two gov- 

 ernments and their respective citizens on the coasts of the 

 United States and British North America." The fishery 

 interests, he insisted, were intimately related to other gen- 

 eral questions dependent upon contiguity and intercourse. 

 This of course pointed directly to reciprocity, but the New 

 England fishermen protested so loudly against any change 

 of arrangements, that the President's recommendations to 

 \ Congress were adversely considered. 



To understand clearly the opposition of American fisher- 

 men in 1885 to any change in the regulations of 1818 that 

 placed upon them so many disabilities, and against which 

 they had so steadily clamored for years, a glance at the 

 changing character of the fisheries becomes necessary. In 

 the earlier part of the century, American fishermen were 

 almost wholly dependent upon their shore privileges, both 

 for the purpose of refitting, obtaining supplies and bait, 

 and for drying and curing their catch. The fishing grounds 

 along the Maine coast, having long before become practically 

 exhausted, the Canadian inshore waters were next exploited, 

 and the most liberal privileges to fish in such waters were 

 sought by the Americans. Gradually, however, American 

 cod fishermen withdrew to the richer fisheries of the Banks, 

 employing larger vessels and taking with them the necessary 

 supplies of salted or iced bait to last the entire cruise. 

 Thus they became more and more independent of the shore 

 privileges they had formerly sought. The drying and 

 curing process having also been abandoned for better 

 methods, the necessity for landing on Canadian soil was 

 again lessened. 



The sudden rise of the mackerel fishery (about 1850), 

 again made inshore privileges of value to a class of fisher- 

 men that followed it exclusively, for, as already observed, 

 this business was for the most part carried on within British 

 territorial waters. Even before this time (1885), the use 



