I 



67 



concluded, therefore, that the inshore fisheries afford never-failing' occupation for 

 men and inoiicy preferable to many oilier lucrative industries. 



The advantages resulting to the commerce and supply of United States' citizens 

 g;ener^lly from the privileges to which American fishermen are admitted hy this 

 Treaty are most important. The demand for (Ish I'ood in all parts of the American 

 Union is yearly increasing, and immense elforts are now being made to supjily this 

 want. a' population already exceeding 40,000,000, constantly angmenting in 

 numbers by immigration from Ibreign countries, and where the people consume the 

 products of the sea to a vpry liM-ge extent, requires much more of this kind of food 

 than the failing fisheries ol' the United S'ates can now produce. Their [jroductive 

 power is no longer equal to the consumptive capacity of the nation. The rapid 

 means of trans,p()rt, and the improved methods of prcservatiim now available, are 

 fast liringing the inhubitants of the interior practically witiiin easy reach of the sea- 

 board ; and lish of all kinds, even the most ini'erior descriptions, and qualities not 

 hitherto saleable, are required to supply the public want. The magnitude of the 

 present fish trade of the United States is hardly cor.ceivable from the meagre and 

 partial statements derived from oliicial returns. These Tables pulilish only the 

 "products of American fisheries receive;! into thc("nstoms districts," which form but 

 a small proportion of the enormous quantities of fish landed from United States' 

 boats and vessels, and mucli of which is obtained from the sea-coasts of Canada. 



We have referred elsewhere to i-cports made by American officials regarding 

 the deteriorated condition of the fisheries on the coasts of the New Kngland States. 

 They attirm that, owing to sucii decline, "the people are obliged to resort to far- 

 distant regiiMis to obtain the supply which formerly could be secured almost within 

 sight of their homes." Tiie above state of things already renders it necessary for 

 United Stales' citizens to secure access to Canadian fisheries; and the growing 

 demand for local consumption before-mentioned, apart from the re<|uirenients of 

 their foreign trade, must teiul greatly to increase this necessity- 

 Were United States' citizens unable (o supply such an extensive demand in 

 consequence of being |)recludud from fishing in liritisii Canadian waters, it would 

 no doubt be supplied through British subjects, who would also catch more (ish in 

 their own exclusive waters tiian if fishing in the same limits concurrently with 

 American fishermen. This consideration, therefore, forms an additional reason for 

 the compensation which we now claim. 



2. Liln'rlji to land for tlir purposes of clrji'nty nets, curing fish, S<c, 

 The privileges secured to United States' subjects in this respect by the Treaty 

 of Washington are — the liberty to land for |)urposcs connected with fishing on the 

 coasts of Labrador, the Magdalen Islands, and the other portions of the seaboa d of 

 the Dominion of Canada. As the rights thus secured to United States' fishermen for 

 a period of twelve years vary somewhat in tlic different localities above named, it will 

 be well to consider them separately. 



Under the Convention of 1818, United States' citizens were privileged to fish on 

 certain parts of the coast of Labrador, but were restricted in the liberty of drying: 

 and curing lish to unsettled places. Such districts as were then occupied, or might 

 subsequently become settled, were reserved for the exclusive use of British flslier- 

 men, and rights and properties possesse<l by the Hudson's Bay Company w(?re 

 likewise reserved from common user. (Gradual settlement during fifty years past has 

 filled up nearly all available landing-places along the southern coast of Labrador, 

 between Blanc Sablon and Mount .loly ; and the establishments maintained l)y the 

 Hudson's Bay Company, whose rights and [irivileges are now acquired by Canada, 

 have confirmed the exclusive occupancy contemplated by the Convention. Under 

 such altered circumstances, United States' fishermen might have been excluded 

 under the terms of the (Convention from using these landings, without the free use of 

 which the fisheries cannot be profitably pursued. The fish taken in these waters 

 include herrings, cod-fish, and sometimes mackerel, which are seined on the main 

 shore, and among the islands throughout that region, and the famous " Labrador 

 herring," which abounds there. 



The Convention of 1818 entitled United States' citizens to fish on the shores of 

 the Magdalen Islands, l)ut denied them the privilege of landing;,' there. Without 

 such permission, tiic practical use of the inshore fisheries was impossible. Although 

 such permission has tacitly existed, as a matter of sud'eranee, it might at any 

 moment have been withdrawn, and the operations of United States' fishermen in 

 that locality would thus have been rendered iiiell'ectual. The value of these inshore 



