279 



ijiilena 



Benjamin Maddocks, of Gloucester, page 134, saya: — 



" <,>. 'Wi'll, I t.ik(^ Nn, 1 tlifii. How (lij tlioso inaikcd ns No. 1 shore mackerel compare with those 

 markcil us No. 1 lay nnickiTi'l >. — A. Well, thi; Imy iiiacki'icl, at least 1 sliould say tiie siiore mackerel, 

 has lict'ii a j;ii'at (IimI licltcr tlian ihi' hay iiiackerel the last seven or ei;;ht years. 



" i). That is not siniply an o]iinioM. Imt the market ]irices mv. hetler ! How much more Jo the 

 No. 1 shore inac.kfri'l hrin^' than the Xo. I liay mackerel '. — A. Well, there has been 7 or 8 dollars 

 ilillercnce helwecn thi^ni. 1 have seen the time when the hay mackerel was equal tu our shore 

 mackerel. It has not been lor the last seven years." 



It is also true, a matter of t(>stimony and figures, tliat the American catch (the 

 catcli upon tlio American shore) is very lara;e, and lias increased, and is attracting more 

 and more tlie atUmtion of our people engaged in fisliing, and it is only tliis year that 

 (lie shore lishing provi^d to he unprofitable, and tiie confiding men who were led to send 

 their vessels to a considerahle extent, though not very great, into tlie Gulf by reason 

 of the British advertiscMiii.'nts sealtered about Gluueester, have come away still more 

 disapi)ointed than they had been by tlie shore fishing, because they had employed 

 more time and more capital than their catch compensated them for. There are some 

 statistics which I will read, taken from a prominent and trustworthy man, as to the 

 American catch. David W. Low, on page 35S of the American evidence, states the 

 figures as follows;— 



i 



"18G9. 104 vessels in snlf, avera<,'o catch 100 barrels... 

 „ 151 ,. offsliore „ „ -'2-' „ ... 



Mackerel cauiiiit by boats and some Eastern vessels 

 packed in Gloucester... 



!Mackerel insi)ected in Ohaicestcr ... 



187i). .')S vessels in Rulf, average catch 101 liavrels ... 

 117 „ Am. shore „ „ 4U'.) 



40,540 barrels. 

 33,552 „ 



10,028 



03,12(3 



11.078 barrels. 



47,S53 



"Till' averajri' catcli is liasn 

 vessi'ls ill bay and 02 vessels ntf 

 than tiie rest.'' 



(Ml the avera'je ciitch of 84 vessils 

 .Viiierican sliore I'mni 2ii lirms ill 1875 



58,021 

 t'rom 17 tirms in 1800; and 28 



These linns iiave 



done Lietter 



The statistics of John H. Pew and Sons, put in by Charles H. Pew, page 49(5, 

 for the last seven years, from 1870 to 187G, inclusive, show that the total, for tiiat time, 

 of bay maekerel tiiat their own vessels cauj^it, amounted to 77,9115 dol. 22 c, and the 

 shore ma''kerel for the same period was :^71,-'i3.'i dol. r)4 c. Votir Honours will recollect 

 the statistics put in, wliich it is not necessary for us to transfer to otir l^riefs, showing 

 di'" exaei state of tiie market on the subject of the proportion of American llsli caught 

 on till' shores, ami the proportion caught in the bay. 



We have iiitroihkcd a large luimher of witnesses from Gloucester, and I think I 

 take niitiiing to myself in saving that the greater part of them — tho.se who profi'ss to be 

 ent;a>;-ed in tiie trade or business at all — 'vvere men of omineut respectability, a\id com- 

 niemled themselves to the respect of the irilnuial belbre wliicii tiiey lestilled. You 

 were struck, no douht, vxitli the carefulness of tlieir book-keeping and the iihilosophicul 

 .system whieii they devised, b\ means of uhieh each man coidd ascertain whether he was 

 makim;- or iosini; in diU'ereiit branciies of his bnsine.ss, and as the skipper was ot'len [lart- 

 owner. and usually many dealers managed for other jiersons, it became their duty to 

 ascertain what was tlie gain or loss of each branch of their business. They brought 

 forward and laid hefore vou their statistics. They surjirised a good many, and I know 

 that tlie counsel on the other side manifested their surprise vvitli some directness ; but, 

 ma\ il jilease the Court, when tile matter came to he examined into, it assumed a 

 dillerent aspect. We made the counsel on the other side this oiler: We said to them, 

 " there is lime eiioiigli. there are weeks if yon wish it, befiu'e yon are obliged to put in 

 your rebiilial ; we will give you all the time you wish ; send anybody to Gloucester 

 ■Noii please to examine the hooks of any iiH-rchaiits in Ciloneester engaged in thi' lisliing 

 laisiness, and ascertain tor yoursel es the state ot' the hay and shore lisliing as it ajipears 

 there.'' You say that bav fishing is as |ir'iliiiihle as the sliorc^ lishinu:; that it has made 

 a great and wi-alliiy eit_\ of (iloucester, and yon assume that il is owing to tlieir JKniiig 

 had, for the ;.n-"aier part of the time, a right to fish inshore. It wonhl .^eeiii to follow 

 from this reasoning;-, that whenever we lost tlie right to lish inshore, lilmieesler must 

 have receded in its imporlanee, and come up ai;ain with the renewal of the |irivileg<' of 

 inshore fishing. Nothing of that sort appears in the slightest degree. " Ihit," they 



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