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felse and iiu'oirect iiiformafio!!. ami ho has coinmitdvl iho United States to a statomeiit 

 that is Mttcily and wluiliy ;{ variance witii the t',i-f». TIk- Answer >a_v.> : — 



"Till' I niii'il M;ii('s iii-.>l;iii.' i.-iidiics t'nr nnirkcnl in (|u;i'iii v, (iiniiility. aad v.iliu' arc uiisur|)iisRecl 

 by liny ii\ ilic wniid. Tlicy ai^ witliin rmir limirs' siil "f ilu' AiiuTiiati Miiirki'l. ami nmny cif ilui 

 ninckerol ai\' holil li'('<Ii ai a iai;,'i>r ]>iin'_ lliaii when .-jaltt'il ami iiai'k;-.!. Tlir vcsucls liiSnl witli 

 nuK'koivl si'inos can asc iln' sauu' au'aa:< niul laciliiics lor takoa nuMili.i.li a, si thai UM\ livliiaics can 

 bo pursaed togctlkn-. And ilioy fcaaMuc advaiitatros I'lMiiparcd with whii'h llic liniiiiiii"ii li-liirics arc 

 uncertain, jioor in qanlity, and vastly Ics-! in ([uantity." 



In Heaven's nnme if these Dominion fisheries nre " uncertain, poor in quality and 

 vastly less in quantity," iiow iiajiptMis it that sueh an i-Ncitenieiit htis been moused, and 

 such an incendiary address been made before ihis Commission, as was delivered by 

 Mr. Dana, and to wliiih I shall have to call the attention ot vour 1'vxcelli'ney and your 

 Honours. It' the fisheries are so " uncertain, poor in ipialitv, ;md vastly less in (|uanlity,'" 

 and miles and miles away from their own coast, what did they mean by riyiiliiij;' I'or 

 entrance into these waters, and by ebnlleni^ini: us with inaliinct inlio-ipitalile laws to keep 

 them out ? If the lips of tiieir witnesses told the; truth, tlu> laws are hospitaliL' laws; 

 tliey are laws jiassed l)y us for the purpose apparently of keepint; tlu'iu (uit ol the fishery, 

 hut their elleet was to keep Ameneau fisiivanu'ii from ruiiiinu; theinselves. They make 

 vovagie after voyage into the buv, each one resultin;:, tiiev sav, in a loss of .")()0 dollars 

 or '1,000 dollars. "^ 



I will show your Excellency and your Honours by-and-hye, the fii;;urcs put in I'or the 

 purjiose of showing the lushes made by tiicse men who sent their vessels to the Bay for 

 the fish " poor in quality, and vastly less in cpinntity," while there were thousands and 

 thousands of fish oir their own coasts. Just waiting to be caught, and deal with those 

 figures :?. Ihev deserve to be tlealt with. Did vou ever bear ai.vthiii'j; like it i:i the 

 world? 



The United States Answer lurther states : — 



"The Citiadiaa lislioriis are a !oii',r vnya'^c tiviu any of tiic nuukcts wiiatevta. und iiivnni' lar 

 more tvqKisurt' to loss ofxossels and lite Tiusc lisInTies nlonv lhi> '^liori'^ of the t'ailed Slali's are 

 now open to tlii> coiiiiictiliiiii of llic cheap bail! vrssfls, elieap li'U (.acw, and poufly paid laboiu- of the 

 Dominion tisliermi.':i who pay trilliat; laxe.s, and live liolli on board thi'ir vos-ids luid at lionio. at less 

 than hulf the expense of American iisliiTuien " 



I have not heard any evidence of thai yet. It is a pretty bold assertion to put 

 forward, and not . upi)ort with proot". Mut if it were true, what does it mean 'r We have 

 had the evidence if" American lisherinen to show that they live like litile ))iinees, aiul we 

 had one witness who absolutely told us that the cook was the chief man on board. The 

 men must make a Ibitime in the Hay to enable them to live like princes, at a rate at 

 which they would onl\ be justified in living if they had from lll.ODC ' ; '''.OOO dollars a-year. 

 If they choose to indulsfe in ex|)ensive dress and t'oiul, and return id ilie end of the year 

 and say tiny have lost money — are we to lose the compensation to which we are entitled 

 for our fisheiies? 1 never beard sueh an argtnnent u»etl belore, and I ho|)e never to hear 

 it again, it' mi n ihoose to eat, drink, and wear all their prt)lits, they must abide the 

 consequences ; they eamK)t both htive the'r cake and eat it. 



Let us see what else the '• Answer " says : — 



"It is only from lack of cuterpriso. cnjiital and aiiilay, that llie Poiaiaion lislicrnu'ii have failed to 

 use thorn: bat ri'ri>ntly handreds of Dominion lislicrmon liave leaiaod iliiir luisinoss at CUoaoistcr. 

 and other Anicrican lisliuc,' towns, and liy shitipiiit; in Ann'i'icaii vesscN. 'flioy i^llic Pomiaioa tislicr 

 men) have in tho United Slates waters, t<i-day. over thirty vessels eipiippud for seining, which, in 

 company with the Anien'.aii lii.'el, aie sweepim; the shoivsol New J'ji^Lud. 



* ! 



When we first read that extraordinary statement, we were beyond measure astonished. 

 We made en()uirics, hut no one had ever bciud of these ves^fcls ; and tifier eross-examiniiig 

 American witnesses, and exumiiiing our ov ii witnesses, we iotind id last trace of a pbantom 

 ship, one vessil alone that was ever betnd of on the liiiled Stati's coast, since the Treat v 

 was U'ade. The truth must have been known to the niati who gave the inlormation to 

 I\lr. Foster, for be must have been a praetteal man or he would not have b.en called up.m 

 to give information, and the iidbrmation is precise "over thirty vessels." The mini who 

 gave that infornuition to .N'r. Foster, who induced him to commit his (jovernment to such 

 an extraordinary and ImseUss statement, deliberately and wilfully, in my judgment, 

 deceived the Agent of the United States. 



1 call yotir Honours' attention to these facts, in order to show that the Agent and 

 Counsel of the United States hardly knew what sort ot a case thev b.ad when they came 





