

388 INTERNATIONAL LAWS FOR THE 



as masters, solicitors and magistrates' clerks could not see 

 their way clear to bring forward desertion cases under 

 another name. One thing is clear, that if it is allowable to 

 imprison an apprentice, say 20 years of age, for desertion, it 

 ought to be possible to do the same with his shipmates. 



It will now be the proper place to prove the assertion 

 made at the commencement of this subject, that of all 

 sections in the Act of 1880 this is the one which has most 

 injuriously affected the trade. In this trade expedition is 

 of the utmost importance, owing to the extremely perishable 

 nature of the fish, and other reasons. Shoals of fish may 

 be on the coast one day and the next they may be entirely 

 gone, no one can tell where, therefore, when the fish are on 

 the coast, there should be nothing to impede the gathering 

 in of the harvest. It will have been noted that the Act of 

 1880 applied to seamen as well as apprentices. Let the 

 case of the drift fishings be taken first. . An owner wants a 

 crew for his boat, say eight hands, seven men and a boy. 

 As a rule it is necessary that five of these men should have 

 been to sea before, so as to be acquainted with their 

 duties. These are got perhaps with difficulty, the other 

 two are simply required for their main strength to heave at 

 the capstan ; therefore most likely the first able-bodied men 

 who offer themselves will be shipped ; but as this is a 

 peculiar calling, and only a job of short duration (at all 

 events on the east coast), perhaps for only six weeks, or it 

 may be three months, men cannot be found, for the demand 

 is greater than the supply. Therefore at the various seasons 

 there is an influx of tramps to these fishing ports, glad to 

 accept almost any offer, so as to get a meal, and as a rule 

 almost naked. These men get the berths where no nautical 

 knowledge is required. But before they can go to sea they 

 must be provided with suitable clothing, for fishing is not 



