'*.SSS"!^ 



350 



Tlieso American fislicvnicn admit tlieir disliTsscil condition at home, and tlic great 

 advantages lliey enjoy h\ access to onr coasts. 'JMiese iislieries of onrs, with tliost; on 

 ♦lie New Brunswick' sliore, inehidins' tlie Grand iManan, are a <;reat _ blessing- to our 

 nei|;]il.ours. This is no fancy picture llert; is a list of tlu^ alil(hivils filed to istaMisIi 

 the facts. Here are the facts from foiu'teen men, whose stalcnii'Mts coidd have been 

 fnlly sifted. 



" The statements of Holland ('. Pa;, son and ^Ir. Ku-i;ies as to the value and extent 

 of the lisheri(>s in the Bay of Kundy and the southern coast of Nnva Seolia, are eorrolio- 

 ratcd by the affidavits of — 



l5o. Joseph D. Payson, Westport, Oigby County. 



207. Livingston Collins, Westporl, Oigby County. 



218. Wallace Trask, Little Jliv( r/Ditiby County. 



218. Cieorge E. Mosely, Tiverton, l)ii;by County. 



220. Gilbert Mer'-H, Sandy Cov(>, l)ii;by County. 



221. Joseph E. D^wtcm, Little River. iVii^by C(ninly. . 



221. John jNIcKav, Tiverton, Disby Comitv. 



222. Whitfield Outhouse, Tiverton', Digbv'Countv. 



222. .lolm W. Snow, l)i-by, IJi^by County. 



223. .James I'attcrson Foster, Port Williams, Annapolis, 

 223. liyron P. Ladd, Varnioulh, Yarmouth. 



225. Samuel M. Ilycrson, Yarmouth, Yarmoutli. 

 210, Thomas Milncr, Parker's Cove, Annapolis. 

 240. James W. Cousins, l)i!:;by Town, l)ii;by. 



More than seven weeks before the United States" Agent closed his case, wc produced 

 two of the most intelligent and respectable men in the district. While Mr. Dana .as 

 cross-examining them, his countrymen were on the shores of Digby fishing with their 

 vessels. A messenger in a few hours could have detected any exaggeration in their 

 stateuients. From that hour to the end of their case, not one word of all that evidence 

 has been contradicted or shaken. 'J'liese New Kngland fishermen continue, under the 

 Treaty of Washington, to pursue their .ancient calling, and their number is increasing 

 on the western and southern shores of Nova Scotia and at Grand Manan, and all around 

 the Bay of Fundy. 



Mr. Dana calls this practical pursuit of the fisheries in British waters a franchise, an 

 incorporeal faculty. Call it what you will, is it not a great advantage to his country- 

 men •(" Is it not the salvation of the Slate of Maine ? Is it not allording an increasing 

 number of Americans safe and steady employment ? These fislieries do not fail. I 

 invite the careful attention of the Commission to pages ^99 and 412 of the British 

 evidence. Are these fisheries not supplying cheap and wholesome food to citizens of the 

 United States? Is it not making hardy sailors of her stalwart sons? Mr. Dana can 

 appreciate that. Mr. Foster says lu; fails to find any evidence, except as to the bend of 

 Pnr.ce Edward Island and Margaree, Can you, " pencil in Inuui," measure by arijli- 

 metic the benefit of the right of fishing to the people of a whole coast, who have been 

 trained to no other pursuit, and whose families are dependent on tiie return of the boats 

 from Brier Island and the other coast of Nova Scotia? 



What goes on here at one extremity of these wonderfully varied and prolific Cana- 

 dian fisheries, is going on at the otlu;r extreme at tlaspe and "the moutli of the St, Law- 

 n.'nce, and at all other points varied by the circumstances of place. 



I wish to call your attention to an error — shall I say a geographical (M-ror — of our 

 learned friends. The learned Agent for the United Statessayshe can ligiire tliis(|uestion 

 up pencil in hand. He admits, with all the assistance of Mr. Babson and his figures 

 (which are not evidence at all) — he admits one link in the chain of his argument is 

 wanting — the Port Mulgrave returns of 1875. Does the learned Agent know that the 

 Port Mulgrave returns are entirely incomplete? Mr. Foster .seems to be labouring 

 under the delusion that over) Ani(>rican fisherman reports himself as he passes througli 

 the Strait of Canso. This is not really the case. Look at tin; map and r,-?ad the 

 evidence, and then see if it is possible to say ho\v many fishermen lu \vv sail in the direc 

 tion of the Strait. All round the eastern and northern side of tlu; Island of Cape Breton 

 there are the finest mackerel grounds in the dlulf of Ht. Lawrence en* the world. No 

 United States' witnesses could be i)roiluced to call this a dangerous coast. There are a 

 number of fine harbours — the ancient port of Loui.-biiin- among the number, open all 

 winter. This latter port is now connected by forty miles o\' railroad with the magnifi- 

 cent harbour of Sydney. 



James McKay, of Port Mulgrave, Inspector of Fish, was called and examined as a 



