THE NORTHEAST COAST FISHERIES 523 



only with the understanding that they would not transport 

 merchandise, they were accorded, by most civilized nations, 

 certain special immunities from harbor and port regulations. 

 They carry no clearance papers or manifests, and are free 

 to come and go at will. Trading vessels, on the other 

 hand-, are strictly held to these formalities. For the protec- 

 tion of revenue laws and to prevent illicit trade, all commer- 

 cial vessels are obliged to carry ships papers that indicate 

 clearly their ports of departure and destination, and an 

 inventory of cargo as well. These laws are very stringent, 

 and therefore if American fishing vessels desire to become 

 merchant vessels also, they must comply with the usual 

 regulations imposed upon merchant vessels. 



For obvious reasons the captains of fishing schooners were 

 unwilling to be burdened with ships' papers. The nature of 

 their calling made their movements more or less uncertain, 

 and to be obliged by their clearances to call at Halifax when 

 St. John's happened to be the more convenient port, would 

 be an intolerable nuisance. The Druid of Gloucester, in 

 1886, furnished an example. With supplies for the Ameri- 

 can mackerel fleet she took out clearance papers for Harbor 

 de Bar in the Magdalen Islands ; but finding later that the 

 fleet she sought was off Prince Edward Island, she proceeded 

 to that point, and disposing of her cargo of provisions, put 

 into the nearest port, which happened to be Malpeque, 

 to obtain a return cargo of fish. There she passed an unhappy 

 week in the toils of the revenue officials of that port. 



As already mentioned (page 487), Congress had passed an 

 act in 1793 authorizing fishing vessels to take out licenses 

 to " touch and trade " at any foreign port, and to make pur- 

 chases necessary for their own use without being subjected 

 to the customs regulations of the United States. The form 

 of this permit was not the same as a clearance, but was a 

 document to be shown to customs officers of home ports, in 

 order to exempt the holder from certain customs dues. 

 The argument that the " touch and trade " licenses were 

 understood as " conferring upon the vessel a right to land 

 and receive on board a cargo of merchandise in the same 



