i-nt 





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U |. 



252 



wagi's to be ^'iveii than nro done for cod. In fiict, 1 lielii^vo that very small, if imy wtiL;i'.s iiiv j,'iven at 

 nil, till' money due lo the tislieiniiin for his .summer luhour heinj,' absorhetl in food imd elothing for 

 himself and family, repairs of bouts and li.sliinj,' ^ear, almost always deejily in di'bl in the s])rinf,', or at 

 an_\"nite sullii'iently so t'> en. -ne his labour for tlie ensuin-,' summer, and .so more persons would be 

 induced to resort hero in the summer season." — {Cuiijiilintial Oj/irial L'urnxpnmli:im\}>p. 4 mid 5). 



This is precisely tlic testimony of tlio Oasjie witnesses wlio wen- put upon tlie stand. 

 Tlie great Jersey liouses wliicli tlo represent tlie capital, enlerpri.se, experience, and skill 

 of tile coimtry, do not toueli tiie mackerel fisliories. As tiioy did a (piarter of a century 

 ag;o. so iiey do to-day ; they abandon, uefjlect utterly, wliat lias been called tlie Cali- 

 fornia of tlic coast, and make and maintain their fortunes by giving up mackerel fishing, 

 and coiilining their atlenlion exclusively to cod lisiiiiig. 



Tlie otiier lad which strikes me is tliis : that whatever development there lias been, 

 and it lias been ciiieiiy, if not entirely, on Prince Kdwanl Island, has come since 1854, 

 and lias grown larger and riclier under the Iteciprociiy Treaty. In 18.")2 tiie Legislative 

 Council and Assembly of I'rinco Kdwanl Island, in Colonial Parliament assembled, 

 declared that "the citizens of the United States have iin advantage over the subjects of 

 your Majesty on ihis island, which prevents ;dl successful competition, as our own fish 

 caui'ht on our own shores by straiii-ers, are carried into iheir ports by themselves, while 

 we are excluded by high proleciivc tariil's." (Conlidential OtHcial Correspondence, 

 page ;■).) 



From 1851, two years only after this declaration, (hero was a large and prosperous 

 development of tiie Prince Kdward .shore fishery. This ])oint has been insisted on, and 

 reiterated over ai'd over again by the Britisli witnesses. And \et we are asked now to 

 pay 1;"),0(J0,()00 dollars for the twelve years' use of the very iirivileges given by that 

 Treaty under wjiich this prosperity was develoiied : for, as far as the fishing articles and 

 the fisheries are concerned, the jirovisions and privileges of tlie Treaty of 1871 are almost 

 identical with the Treaty o'' 854, the Treaty under which this li.-hery, which now 

 demands l'),< 100,000 dollars ci,.iipeiisation, was. 1 may almost say, created. 



Passing by tiiese topics, however, let me ask you to consider tiie difference in the 

 character of the testimony upon whicii llie two cases rest. 1 do not mean to institute 

 any comparison between the veracity of the witnesses, or to imply that one has more 

 than another deviated from the truth. But I can best ilhistrate what I do mean by 

 askin;.' the same question I did as to tlie herring fishing. 



If \ou Nvisiied to invest in mackerel, would yon trust tin- rambling stories of the 

 most lione.st ot' skij)pers, or the most industrious of boat-fisJK'i's, against the experience 

 and tlie books of men like Procter, Sylvanns Smitii, Hall, Myriek. and Pew ? Would 

 you feel safe in buying when tiiey refused to buy ? Would you bt; disposed to hold when 

 yon saw them selling? And here lies the whole difference betwi en us. Ours is the 

 estimate of the capitalist, theirs the estimate of tlu! labourer. l..et me tak(! another 

 illustration. Sniiposi; lliat, instead of estimating the relative value of these fisheries, you 

 were called on to estimate the relative value of the cotton crops of Georgia and Mi.ssis- 

 siiipi. Would it enter your minds to go into remote corners of these great States, and 

 gather togetlier eiglity-three small tarniers, idanting on poor lam's, without artificial 

 manure, without capital to hire laliour, and draw your inference of jirotluction from 

 their experience, altliougli every word of it svere trui;? Would you go to a few great 

 planters and judiie of the return of cotton planting from the results of lavisli expendi- 

 ture .' No. You would go to Savannah and .Moliile, to Charleston and New York, to 

 the otfiees of tlie factors, to the counting-houses of the great buyers, to the receipts of the 

 railroad.s, to the freight lists of IIk! steamers. 1 may s.ifely say tiial there is no great 

 industry, tlie cost and jirotits of wliich can be ascertainetl by such jiartial, individual 

 in(piir\. I am willing to admit perfect honesty of intention on the pail of tiie individuals, 

 but they never can understand how small a portion of a great result is the product of 

 their local contribution; and, just as a small farmer in all .sincerity measures tlie crop of 

 grain or cotton tliat feeds and clothes tiie world, from the experience of his few acres, so 

 the boat fishermen of Prince Kdward's measuns the mackerel catch of the gulf by tlie 

 contents of his boat, and imagines the few sail hi- sees in the oiling of his iiarbonr to bo 

 a huge fleet that is stealing his treasure. I mean no disrespect to very exeillent [leople, 

 but as 1 liave heard tlieir testimony, I could not but recall the humble address of the 

 Legislative Council and House of Assendily of No\a Scotia, *' to the Queen's most 

 Kxeelleiil .Majesty," in March, 18^8, in wiiicli the fi.shermeii of Priciee Kdward and 

 the Magdalen Islands are tersely described as ''a well-intentioned but secluded and 

 uninformed portion of your Majesty's sid)jects." 



Let me call sour atlenlion to anotlier important point of diirerenee between their 

 tesliniuny and oiu's. Theirs is the atliruiative in this contention. They must prove their 



