389 



Saturday, November 17, 1877. 

 Tlic ronforcncc met. 



Mr. Doiitre continued his argument in support of the case of Her Majesty's Govern- 

 iiKMit as follows : — 



May it please your Kxcollency and your Honours — 



Wli(;n wi; separated yesterday, 1 demanded and obtained an adjonrnnicnt until 

 Monday, as 1 considered I reiiui.'cd that time; to lay before tlie Commission the matter in 

 issue in lis diilerent aspects; and I am still of opinion that 1 would have fulfilled my 

 duty in a more eomplet(> manner, if the arrangement of yesterday had been adhered to. 

 i lowevcr, a very pressin;; diMnaiul w as made upon me to meet this afternoon, in order to 

 close my [lart of the ar^iinient, and hnive tlie way free and clear for my successor on 

 Monday. With a stronj; desire to comply with the demand from gentlemen with whom 

 J li;n'' 1)1 en acting so cordially so far, and with whom I hope to act cordially wy to the 

 time of our sr|i;iraiioii, I luadi; an edbrt to i)i.' abli; to j)re.s(.'nl myself bctore the Connnis- 

 sion at tliis Jionr. However, I shall have to deal, I fear, in a very inedeetnal manner 

 uilh the matters tlial remain to be considered. 1 have taken particular care in 

 arranging I lie evidence and argument, not entirely for the reason tiiat yom* Honoiu-s 

 recpiired any information from nie to form your opinion. I think, after this long inves- 

 tigation, t hi' minds of I'yoiu' iloiiours nuist be pretty well made up, and conld not he 

 much altered and inlluenced by any remarks I could od'er. I'ut we must not forget that 

 this 'rreiity is a ((unporavy arrangement, wliicli will be tin; oliject of fresh niJgoliations 

 within 11 ))n'tly short period, and 1 considered lliat tliosu who will have to deal witii the 

 (jiiestion live, six, or eiglii years hence, will be unable readily to discover, in this mass of 

 evidenci;, what pari has a bi aring upon one branch of iIil; case, and what part upon 

 another branch ; and I thonglil it woidd be useful, if not for the present moment, for the 

 future, to make a com|)lete investigation of the evidence, and to place it in such a shape 

 that those wjio .shall sneeeeu your Honours in dealing with tliis question may be guided 

 in some way through (hese tields of testimony. When we adjourned yesterday, I was 

 showing at wiiat distance from (he i hore tlie cod fisliery in the estuary of the St. Lawrence 

 is prosecuted. Uetore proceeding to another part of the evidence, 1 desire to draw the 

 attention of your Honours to what lias fallen from the learneil counsel on behalf of the 

 United States, Mr. Foster and Mr. Trescot. 



Air. Ticscol admits thai the Uritish case e.m be supported by proof of " the habit of 

 United Stnten' Jinherrneti." 



" If fifty tlsliernieu of a tishin;; iloet swove tli.it it w.i? rlio iialjit nl' tlm tlcol totitili inshore, and til'ty 

 ,'wori' tliiil it Wiis tlir liiibit novcr I'l lisli insliovc, vdii iniu'lit not kiinw %v1iioh to liolicvo ; Ijut supposing, 

 wlml in tlii-! rn-:e will not he itis|iiiiiil, i.luit tlic witiiossi'- w^if' nf iMpial vemoity. yon would certainly 

 know iIkU Vdu iiail mil proved lln^ iiiiliit. 



■ Yon will .SIC, llicivlbiv, iluii tin' linrdun ol' pmiif is nn .jur u'iiii.U. Tlioy must piovo thoir catch 

 i'i|niil in viiluc to the mwumI ilicy claim. If they liiiinnt dti that and undertake to |irove habit, then 

 tlicy Muist do — what, tlii'v luivc udt ilonu— prove it by an overwLclniiii;.,' majority of wituosses. With 

 ci[U;d (c.-iliniony tliiii' proof fails." 



There is an enormous (juantity of testimnny produced, on the part of Her Majesty's 

 Government, to show that the United States" fishing Jiert constantly, throughout the 

 season, fished within three niili?s of almost all the shores oi" I lie Gulf of St. Lawrence— 

 on the .shores of Xova Scotia (including all the shores of Cape Breton), the shores of 

 Prince Kdward Island, the west shore of the GiiH' tlie shores of Bay de Chaleur and 

 Gasii(>, both shores of the River St. Lawrence, tind the whoh> north shore to Labrador, 

 the shores of .Anticosti, as well as the shores of the Bay of Fundy. The varioiiS fleets of 

 Unitid Slatis' vessels were very seldom, if ever, during the fishing season, out of sight of 

 very largi; numbi'rs of respectable and intelligent witnesses residing on various parts of 

 the eoiisl, whose sworn evidence has been received by the Commission. Besides, witnesses 

 too numerous to mention have given evidence sufficient literally to fill a volume, of having 

 fished ill American bottoms, and they testify that the common custom of the various 

 fleets w.is to fish within tliree miles of all the shores thrown open by the Treaty of 

 Wasliiimton. 



Ill addition to this, a very large number of witnesses liave corroborated the views of 

 almost all United States' writers and statesmen wlio have oflered the opinion that, 

 without the "three-mile belt," the Gulf fisliery is useless; and these latter witnesses, 

 who have been interrogated on the subject, hav(>, without perhaps a single exception, 

 stated that tlie American skippers and fishermen liavi- invariably admitted that, without 

 the free use and enjoyment of the three-mile inshore fisheries, they considered it useless 



