116 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



possibly an ill-defined rebellion lurked in it; of punishing 

 another because it was a near neighbor of that rebellion; 

 a third, because nothing would be accomplished if a third 

 were allowed to escape ; and a fourth, because the ministry 

 needed that to square their plan. 



Burke made a severe attack on the ministry in his op- 

 position to their bill. He thought that the results of this 

 bill would fall especially hard on British merchants and 

 manufacturers who had property in New England, as these 

 colonies could pay their debts only by means of the fish- 

 eries and trade depending upon them ; consequently the bill 

 would beggar the British manufacturers and merchants. 



When put to a vote, Lord North's motion was agreed to 

 by a ratio of about three to one. When the bill was taken 

 up on the 28th of February, several persons who were ac- 

 quainted with the fisheries were examined as to the value 

 of the fisheries and the probable effect of their suspension 

 on the people of New England. This evidence is of particu- 

 lar interest as showing the state of the British and New 

 England fisheries during the decade preceding the Revolu- 

 tion. 



Probably the most efficient witness was Mr. Brook Wat- 

 son. He had been called before the bar of the House of 

 Commons in 1765 and 1766 to give information concerning 

 the North American fisheries; since that time he had stud- 

 ied the subject and in 1766 went to America to corroborate 

 his testimony by personal investigation. From his testi- 

 mony and that of other persons who had been governors 

 of Newfoundland or merchants at that place or in New 

 England it is learned that the fisheries of New England 

 increased greatly between 1766 and 1775, although fish 

 were cheaper in the latter year. There were about 700 

 vessels engaged in the codfishery, five hundred of which 

 were of a tonnage of from forty to seventy tons, the others 

 from fifteen to forty tons. These vessels carried each a 



