! 



330 



The following relates to herring : — 



Fox, Customs Officor ; Brit. Evid., p. 114. 600,000 b;irrels>ntcrcd outward since 

 1854; at least one-half of the vessels have failed to report. This is near 

 Magdalcns. 



Purcell, p. I!)''. ")0 vessels lisliiiig, and catcliing each 1,OOG barrels. 



McLean, p. 235. In Bay of Fundy, 100 to 125 American vessels fishing for herring in 

 winter, and catching 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 lierrhigs, wliich went to Eastport. 



Lord, p. 245. From 900,000 dollars to 1,000.000 dollars wortli of herring caught 

 annually, by Americans, from Point Lepreaux, including West Isles, Campo- 

 bello and Grand Manan, Bay of Fundy. 



McLaughlin, p. 254-255, estimates at 1,500,000 dollars tlie annual catch of herring 

 by Americans around the Island and tlie mainland of Bay of Fundy. 



Halibut, pollock, hake, haddock, were cauiiht by Americans all over Canadian 

 waters, but in smaller ciuantity, and their separate mention here would take more time 

 and space tlian thr. matter is worth. However, wo will see what is .said concerning these 

 difl'erent kinds in the summary of evidence conc(>rning the inshore fisheries. 



In the discharge of my duty to my Government, I havt- thou;;ht proper to go over 

 grounds which laid at thethresliold of the question at issue; fi.st, because the repre- 

 sentatives of the United States Government had selected tliem as a fair field for 

 surrounding that question witli artificial clouds of prejudice and fictitious coml)ination of 

 facts and fancy ; and, in the second place, becaust' 1 thought that tlie main question 

 would be better understood if the path leading to it was paved with a substantial and 

 truthful narration of th.e circumstances whicli liad brought this Commission together. 



The United States are bound to pay compensation, not for fishing generally in 

 waters surrounded by British territory, but for being allowed to fish witliiu a zone of 

 three miles, to be measured, at low-water mark, from the coast or shores of that territory, 

 and from the entrance of any of its bays, creeks, or liarbours, always remembering 

 that tliey had the right to fish all round Magdalen Islands and tlie coast of Labrador, 

 without restriction as to distance. The finictions of this Commission consist in deter- 

 mining the value of those inshore fisheries, as compared to a privilege of a similar character, 

 granted by tlie United States to the subjects of Her Majesty, on some parts of the 

 United States' coasts, and then to inquire \vhat api)reciable benefit may result to the 

 Canadians from the admission of the produce of their fisheries in the United States, free 

 of duty, in excess of a similar priviles^e granted to the United States' citizens in Canada ; 

 and if such excess should be ascertained, then to apply it as a set-off against the excess 

 of the grant made to the United States over that made to the subjects of Her Majesty. 



As the learned Agent and Counsel reprcsentinj; the United Slates have often 

 criticised the acts of the Colonists, when they constrained the Americans to execute the 

 Treaties and to obey the municipal laws, first of the separate Provinces, and then of 

 the Dominion, prol-ably wiih the objcel oi" contrasliui;' the liberality of tlieir Govern- 

 ment with tlie illiberality of our own; 1 would like to ask which of the two Govern- 

 ments went more open-handed in tlie framing of (lie fisliery clauses of the Treaty of 

 Washington ? Did wr restrict tlie operations of the Americans to any latitude or geo- 

 graphical point over any part of our waters ? Xol ai all. We admitted them every- 

 where ; while on their part they marked the 3!)tli parallel of north latitude on one of 

 their coasts, to wit, the eastern sea-coast or shores, as thelu'reulean column beyond which 

 we could not b;- admitted. The immeiliate and praclieal consequence was that we 

 granted the liberty to (ish over 1 1,000 miles of sea-eoasis, where the bulk of the fishing 

 is located ; and we wer(> granted the right to fish over 3,500 miles of sea-coasts, where no 

 fishing is done oC any e()nse((uence hy tlie American lliemselves, and where no British 

 subject has ever been seen. (As to area, see Professor Hind's Paper, page VII.) In 

 this instance the Amerieans cannot contrast the g(jod will of the Imperial Government 

 with the illiberality of the Colonists, because the latter were represented in the .Joint 

 High Commission by their first Minister, who assented to the Treaty, and the Dominicm 

 Parliament, aiul the Legislatures of Prince Edward Islaiul, ami of Newfoundland, e'qually 

 assented, through solemn Parliamentary Acts. 



In dealing with, the value ami extent of the N(n'lh British-Ame.icr.n coast fisheries, 

 I think I may with all safely say that in the waters surrounding the three-mile limits 

 there are no dee])-sea fisheries at all. The assertion may apjiear hazardous to our 

 American t'riends, but I am sure they will agrei; with me when I remind them of the 

 whole ijearing of their own (,'videnee. No doubt their witnesses have made use of the 

 words "deep-sea fisheries" in conlradislinction to the shore fisheries proper; but is there 

 one of their wiiiie.-ses who has ever pretended to have caught lish iu anyplace other 

 than banks when it was not inshore? 



