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96 



little, and gained in many ways ; for, in mldition to our own fisliini,' '^roinids, wliicli wu still ret^iinofl, wn had 

 the privile),'o, it' wu clioosu to aviiil oiirselvca of it, ol' (,'oinf; into L'liitiid Sliitc-s' waters to HhIi, and would 

 gain a free market, which would have the ell'eet of inc.rea.siiii^ the value of our own fisheries to a most 

 important extent. Newfoundland and Prince Kdward's Island iuid f^iveu strong iudicalions that they 

 V juld iiitify this Treaty ; and Americans having free access to tlie lislung grounds of the former, tliey 

 would he (juite indeiiendenl of us in the herring and cod (isherii's. Trince Kdward's Island's iiitifying 

 it would give them access to the mackerel ti.sliery of tliat island ; and with the right whicli tlicy now 

 possessed, under the Treat)' of IHIS, to take all kinds of lish w1k!u and wliere they jihsised at llio 

 Blagdalen Ishmds — and the Islands comjirisc, hoth for herring kcrel, ahout the best hshiiig 



ground of the llondnion — tlie Americans need care very little for eges that we might have the 



power to withhold from them, which would amount to hut a fc' i an inshore naickerel fishery; 



in reUirn for which the markets of the entire I'nited States >' i open to us, free, for all the hsh 



aud products of the fisheries of the whole Dominion." 



In the same debate of May 13, 1872, Mr. I 



of Ilalifux, said : — 



"Hg was in favour of aocejiting the Treaty oven as it was, and the following were some of his 

 reitsons, — they weiv not merely theoretical, hut the result of ycMiw of practical experience and careliil 

 obsenation. In the spring of each year, some forty or fifty ves.sels resorted to the Magdalen Islands 

 for herring, and he iiad known the numtier to ho greater. These vessels carried nn average of 1H)0 

 ban-els eacii, so that the ipiantity taken was generally in the neighhouihiMid of .'"(O.dOO barrels. During 

 the existence of the Iiin'iiirocitv Treaty, no United States' vessi^ls went after th(^sc fish. All the vessels 

 engaged in that fishery helouged '.o .some one of the ]irovinces now forming tliis Dominion, Since the 

 ahrogation of the Trc^aty and tlie imposition of tin; duly of t dollar per barrel by the United States, the 

 case had become entirely clmngecl. Vessels still went there ; but they were nearly all American. 

 Now, under this Treaty we wcuild get that iinportant branch of trade back again. The lower i)rovinces, 

 Nova Scotia in i)artieuhir, had a large herring trade with Xewfciindlaud. Vessels went there with salt 

 and other sn]i)di(^s, and lirought tiack cargoes of herring in bulk. Employment was thus gi\en to the 

 coojier and labourer in jireparing these fisii for ex]iort; and, as the business was prosecuted mostly in 

 the winter months, when other employment Wius (lillicult to obtain, it always proved a great boon to 

 the industrious. We hist this trade also when we hist the lieciprocity Trt'aty ; but it wtadd retinn to 

 us under the Treaty lunv offered for our acceiitance. A little mon^ than two years ago, two ves.sels 

 belonging to the I'rovince of Quebec arrived in Halifax from l,abrador. They had between them .">,400 

 barrels of lu'rrings. Not finding sale for them in llnlifax, flii\y |iroce(H[ed to New York, where liiey 

 sold. The duty on these two cargoes amounted to H,4i)ll dulhirs in gold. Under a Treaty of this kind 

 this 'A,UH) dollars would go into tlie pockets of llie owni'is and cnnvs of the ves.sels, instead of into the 

 United States' Treasury, and ca.ses of this kind occurred almost i^very day. The .same reason apjilied 

 (.o the naickerel fishery, but with slill greater foice, the duty being L' dollars per barrel. There was 

 another feature connected with this fishery, which ought to have a good deal of weight with this 

 Hou.se, in favour of the Treaty. American vessels following the cod and mackerel ti.sheries were 

 manned in great part by natives of some [)art of this Doniiniim. The chief cause of this was, that, us 

 the hands fished on share.s — viz., nne-half of what they caught,- those employed on board of United 

 States' ves.sels got theirs in free of duty, whilst the men eniployiMl in the vessels of the Dominion had 

 to pay the duty on theirs. A hand catching twenty-five barrels of mackerel to his share, on board of a 

 United States' vessel, woidd receive TiO dollars ukuc tliim he w(add receive for the same i[uantity taken 

 in one of our own vessels. A conse(|uence of this was, that the best men went on lioaril the American 

 vessels, and our ve.ssids had to ])ut up with the less ca|iable. Indeed, should the ju'esent state of 

 things conunne much h>nger, our people would be compelled to give up the hook-and-linu fishing 

 altogether, for it was imjiossible th.it they could coiitiiuie to com])ete against the duty and their other 

 disadvantages. During the existence of the licciiancity Treaty, the nuniber of vessels following the 

 hookand-lini^ mackerel fishery had increa.sed to aliout sixty in thi^ county of Lunenburg alone. Since 

 the termination of the Treaty the number had been gradually falling off, until, during hist session, no 

 more than half a dozen ves.sels engaged in that Iriisiness ; and he believed that, should this TYeaty not 

 be ratified, there would not be a single vessel titled out in that county for tlii! mackerel fishery the 

 appioaching .seascai. He had been a.ssared by vchsel owners in Havre an liouche — an enlei|irising 

 bettlement at the eastern eiul of the C'ounLy of Antigonish— and also by those on the western sidi! of 

 the Strait of C'auso, in the County of (iuysliuro' (liom both of which jilaces the mackerel and herring 

 llshi'iiea had been extensively jirosecuted), that the business will not iiiore than jiay expenses, and 

 that, unless soinclhing was done to relieve tho.se fi.sli from the iirescnt duty, they would be obliged to 

 abauilon the business altogether. This need create no surpii.se, when it is ccaisideretl that, at the 

 present value of mackerel and herrings, the duty is fully eipial to oO per cent. Owing to tlu^ advan- 

 iages offered by ihc American ves.sels over our iiioviiicial ves.sels engaged in fishing, not only were our 

 best iiieii iinluruii to ;;l\e their skill to the Americans in li.shing, but in many eiuies they ivmained 

 away, and their industiy was lost to the inoviiices. They went to the States in the ves.sel the la.st 

 tiiji, in Older to get settled up for the sea.son's work, aud generally remained there to man the fishing 

 and other vessels of the lieiaiblic. Why, a very huge iiiopurliou of the inhabitants of (iloucester and 

 other tisluug towns of Massachusetts and Maine were natives of .some of the ])rovinces of this 

 Dominion. Now, with this Treaty, the inducements to give a jireference to American ves.sels would 

 be removed, and lair own ves.sels would be able to .select good hands, who would renaiin at home, th<! 

 tem]ilation to emigrate, as he had just exijlained, being removed. Jli: had Jicunl it anid lluii llie mn- 

 suiiii r jHiid the iliiti/. AVw, ichilsl IhU miijlil In: Ihc iti.ii- icilh nuntc Kiiiclm, it irut, nvl so ii:ith tin; artiiiu 

 of (Iter Ji-ih. Id mir m,ie in tJiLi hiixiiit-in, (jki' Ji-^hii-imii, Jinhal .va/r //// siilc inlh their Amificav ririils, 

 hiith rdrri/iiii/ the jiri'cnd.i of fhi:ir c<(t(/i to /hr sitmc iiiurhil, trhcrc mir iin.ii, had to a/iitnu/ tii/((iii«l tlm 

 Jrce JUh oj tlic. Aiiuricdnjis/uriiicn. ].it liim iltudrntv ihif. An Amcrivan aiul a jtroiincial ussd look 



