f 



69 



peculiar nature, which attach to it a special value. It is a fact universally known 

 and uiKJisputecl, that codfish, lor exam|)le, cure<l on our coasts, CQiumand a much 

 higlicr price in foreign markets tlian those cured in the United States. This is 

 due in a great measure to tlie salubrity of the climate and the proximity of the 

 fishing grounds Permanent curing establishments ashore also enable the fisher- 

 men to obtain more frequent " fares," and tiie dealers to carry on the business of 

 curing and shipping on a mucli more extensive and economic scale, than if their 

 operations were conducted afloat. There arc further advantages derivable from 

 permanent establishments ashore, such as the accumulation of stock and fresh fish 

 preserved in snow or ice, and others kept in frozen and fresh state by artificial 

 freezing; also, the preservation of fish in cans hermetically sealed. The great 

 savins;- oC cost and of substance, and the rapid preparation of a more saleable, more 

 portable, and more nutritive article of food, which commend these improved methods 

 of treating edible fishes to general adoption, will, undoubtedly, induce cnterprizing 

 (lealers to avail themselves very extensively of the remarkable opportunities which 

 free access, and an assifred footing on Canadian coasts, are calculated to afford. 

 The broad effect of these increased facilities is to be found in the abundant and 

 increasing supply to the American public of cheap and wholesome fish, which 

 supply would certainly diminish or fail without the advantages secured by the 

 Treaty of Washington. 



5. Convenience of rpciprocul free market. 



A reciprocal free market for any needful commodity, such as fish, entering 

 extensively into daily consumption by rich and poor, is so manifest an advantage 

 to everybody concerned, the producer, the freighter, the seller and consumer alike, 

 that the remission of Canadian duties on American-caught fish imported into 

 Canada, cannot, in our opinion, form a very material element for consideration. 

 The benefits conferred by a cheap and abundant supply of food are evident, 

 especially to countries where, as in the United States and Canada, the chief 

 necessaries of life are expensive, and it is so desirable to clieapen the means of 

 living to the working classes. 



6 ParficipntioH in improrements resulting from the Fisheries Protection Service of 

 Canada. 



In addition to the statutory enactments protecting the Canadian Fisheries 

 against foreigners, and regulating participation i . them by the United States' 

 citizens, under Treaty stipulations, tiie Provincial Governments have for many 

 years past applied an organized system of municipal protection and restriction, 

 designed to preserve them from injury and to render them more productive. A 

 marked incre.ise in their produce during the last decade attests the gratifying 

 results of these measures. 



A large number of fishery officers is employed by the Government of the 

 Dominion in tiie iNlaritime States at an annual cost of about 75,000 dollars. This 

 staff' is activelx engaged, under an organized system controlled l)y the Department 

 of Marine and Fisheries, in fostering and superintending fish culture in the rivers 

 and estuaries. Regulations are enforcerl for the protection of these nurseries, and 

 considerable expense has been incurred in adapting and improving the streams for 

 tie reproduction of river fish. 



The intimate connection between a thriving condition of river and estuary 

 fishings and an abuuflant supply in the neighbouring deep-sea fisheries has not, 

 l)crhaps, as yet been sullieientiy appreciated. It is, however, obvious that the 

 supply of bait fishes thus produced attracts the deep-sea fish in large numbers. 

 Tiieir resort is consequently nearer insliore than formerly, and the catch of the 

 fishermen who have tiie privilege of inshore fishing is proportionately increased, 

 whilst they pursue their operations in safer waters, and within easier reach of 

 supi)lies. In addition to the measures above described for the increase of the 

 fisiicries, special care has been devoted to the protection of the spawning grounds 

 of sea fishes, and the inshores now swarm with valuable fish of all kinds, which, 

 owing to the expense incurred by the Canadian Government, are now abundant in 

 places hitherto almost deserted. 



It will also be necessary for the proper maintenance of these improvements 

 and for the preservation of order in the fisiiiug grounds, as well in the interest of 

 the United States as of the Canadian fishermen, to supplement the existing 

 Fisheries Service by an additional number of officers and men, which will probably 

 entail an increase of at least 100,000 dollars on the present expenditure. 



In all these important advantages, produced by the restrictions and taxation 



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