iOmmnliM 



293 



" Cheat Britain, to Ukited States. 

 " Debtor— Dols. c. 



" To savinn of duties on lish and lish-oil for twelve years, averaged 



iroiu tlu^ ruturm oflS?}, 1875, and ISTiil'idni Ai)pendix (())... 4,340,700 00 

 "Creditor— 



" Piv vulnn of mackerel caujilit within three miles of coast for 

 twulve years, at .'i dol. 70 c. per barrel, allowin,!;; one-third to 

 have been taken within three miles of the shore, and aasurainj; 

 the catch for each year as etjiial to that given in tiie Port 

 Muljjrave returns lor 1874 (G;!,U78i bbls.) ' 946,177 50 



" Balance due United States 3,394,522 50" 



Wo were oblifrcd to take Port Mulsj^ravo returns for the year 1874, because, as your 

 Honours will recollect, notJiin^ could cxlract tJK; returns for 1875 and 1876 from the 

 hands of iho Britisli counsel. No words of advice, no supplication, no bended knees, 

 nothint^ could get from them those returns, so fiivourablc to the United States, and we 

 took the returns of 1874. 



But, supposinpj it to be true tliat the exporter does not pay all the duties— of course 

 nobody believes that he pays nothing- ; but, give him the fairest possible chance, sup- 

 posing he pavs one t|uarter, and the consumer pays three-quarters, the residt then is, 

 that against the 94(5.177 dol. 50 c. credited to Great Britain, we put one-quarter of the 

 United States' duties remitted, 1,085,175 dollars, and it leaves a balance a 138,997 dol; 

 50 c, in favour of the United States, 



So that, bringing this matter as for as statistics can bring it, getting the value of 

 the fish in Prince Ktlward Island, irrespective; of the labour put upon it afterwards, 

 assuming one-third of the lish to be caught within the three miles, and to be of equal 

 value with those caught outside, which certaiidy is not true ; and, supposing that, of the 

 duty of 2 dollars a tiarrcl, onl\ one-(iuarter is paid by the exporter, still the balance 

 remains in favour of tlie United Slates. If, gentlemen of the Commission, such is to be 

 the mode of treating this subject, by taking values and balancing one against the other, 

 that is the result. 



I do not suppose, myself it is possible to arrive at any satisftictory result by any 

 such close; use of statistics, on th(> other sidi; or on ours. But a few general principles, a 

 few general rules tor our guidance, certainly are to be found in all tiiis testimony, and in 

 all this reasotiing. You have the United States able to put on what duties it pleased. 

 You have its actual duties at 2 dollars per barrel, substantially prohibitory, which every- 

 body said was proliibitory, except those deeply instructed political economists who came 

 here with tiie impression tiiat some good friend paid the duties for them, to enable them 

 to get into mark(!t on eejual terms with everyliody else. Tiiat you have with certainty. 

 Against that, you have tiie most speculative opinion in the world, and that is as to the 

 value to us of a franchise or a taculty, or a privileg^e, or a liberty, to pursue the free- 

 swimming lish of tiie ocean a little further than we ordinarily pursue him, with every vessel 

 of ours coming into competition with fislicrmeu from boats, wlu) have every advantage 

 over us, and to ascertain tlu' value of tlial francliise, privilege, faculty, or whatever 

 you may call it, irrespective of all the capital or industry tiiat must be employed in its 

 exercise. 



Will your Flonours, before 1 take my seat, allow ine to recapitulate, at the risk of 

 tediousness. so (hat tlien; may finally be no misappreiiension, the points upon which the 

 United Stales expects a favourable decision from this Tribunal? I mean, not merely a 

 decision in fivoiir of peace, wiiicli we ail liope for; but, technically, I mean a decision of 

 this sort : that, having before you a matter of clear money, and of the absolute right to 

 lay duties without restriction, and a duty always laid of 2 dollars a barrel, from which 

 the Dominion is now {jroticted, and free admission to a market, wliich is their only 

 market, you cannot liiid in the valu(> of tliis faculty or privilege — taken in its historic 

 view, taken wit!i all its ci'Tumstancrs. its inicerlainties, its expenses, the perils of exer- 

 cising it, and all — that yuu cannot lind in that an amount of money value which equals 

 the money value wliich the Dominion certainly does receive. 



Bringing ii down, tlien. to a very few points, our position is this: We had, from the 

 beginning down to IHIS, ti riglil lo lisli all over tiiis region, without any geographical 

 limiialioii ; uc iield it as a comnion heritage with all British subjects; we helped to 

 con(|uer it, lo bring it into the possession of Great Britain; we always regarded it as 

 common. WIhmi we had the uar of the llevolulion. we put that and everytliing else at 

 stake. 1 concede ii. ilie war did not destroy it. War never does. It is not the 

 declaralitm of war that transHis a city from \ou to your encm} ; it is the result of the 

 war. Kvery war puts at stake the wliole territory. Diuring the wars the boundaries of 



L280J a R 



