336 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



admission of her fish into the United States. The United 

 States realizes the immense importance of the Newfound- 

 land bait to her fishing interests and will do nothing that 

 will tend to jeopardize these interests. She does not want 

 the free admission of Canada's fish and fish products; 

 such a step to-day would seriously cripple the New Eng- 

 land fishing industry. The three-mile limit for catching 

 mackerel in Canadian waters is of little importance to 

 New England fishermen at present, so that Canada can 

 hold out little to this country, in the fishing industry, that 

 should tempt our government to allow the free entry of 

 Canadian fish. The fisheries of Newfoundland are not 

 held in so great fear by the Americans, however, because 

 Newfoundland is more remote from our markets and the 

 transportation facilities are not so good as Canada pos- 



Why, then, do not the United States and Newfoundland 

 enter into an agreement that might be mutually beneficial ? 

 Such a proposition was tried in the Hay-Bond arrange- 

 ment, but the measure received the veto of the Imperial 

 Cabinet. During the progress of the negotiations, Canada 

 entered a protest against such a treaty on the grounds that 

 Newfoundland should not be permitted to make an ar- 

 rangement with the United States and barter away her 

 inshore fisheries, because these were the joint possession 

 of all the North American provinces of Great Britain. 

 The importance of the interests of Canada and the in- 

 significance of Newfoundland as a colony led to the sus- 



Islands, Newfoundland, agreed to forego temporarily their rights 

 of fishing and become what they were in 1904, traders. By this 

 arrangement there was no license fee charged by the Newfoundland 

 officials and the Americans agreed to pay not less than $1.25 

 per barrel for herring. There were fifty-seven American vessels at 

 that port which purchased cargoes of herring valued at $251,652. 

 (Annual Report, Dept. of Marines and Fisheries, Newfoundland, 

 1907.) 



