profitable trade has been thrown almost ' 

 entirely into the hands of the American 

 people. And yet the Minister of Justice 

 could have the assurance to set up in this 

 House and state that our fisheries in Lake 

 Erie have been depleted from overfishing. 

 He declared that no member from the 

 Lake Erie district would rise in his place 

 in this House and state that the Lake Erie 

 fislieries on both sides have withstood suc- 

 cessfully the onslauj;ht ma<le year by year 

 upon them. There have been no onslaujrht.?. 

 there has been no overfishing, on the Cana- 

 dian side of Lake Erie. Tlie very fact that \ 

 the Americans have caught this great quan- 

 tity in excess of the Cr.nadian catch, and 

 are continuing to the present day to catcb 

 yearly from 40,000,000 to 50,000.000 pounds ; 

 in excess of the Canadian catch, amply 

 proves the statement I have made. Now, Sir, 

 if the Americans did not take a single fish ; 

 out of Lake Erie, they are ahead of us \ 

 one hundred years in the catch of the last 

 twenty years ; that is, it would take the 

 Canadian fishermen 100 years to make good . 

 the excess ol the fish caught on the Ameri- 

 can side in the last 20 years. And 

 yet the Minister of Justice tells the 

 House and the country that there has ; 

 been overfishing on our side. Our fish- ' 

 eries are as good as theirs ; they are said 

 to be better. In the great waters that di- ; 

 vide the two countries we have an equal 

 interest ; but if we examine the statistics 

 bearing on the subject— and it is necessary 

 to do so in order to obtain an intelligent 

 view of the whole matter— the figures will 

 show that in the production of the fisheries, 

 Canada has had a very unequal share. 

 This is very apparent from an examination 

 of the figures in relation to the different 

 lakes. Take Lake Erie. The catch on both 

 sides of Lake Erie in the years 1880, 1885, 

 and 1889, which are years for which we 

 can compare our figures with those furnish- 

 ed by the United States census, are as fol- 

 lows :— 



Canada. U.S. 



Lbs. Lbs. 



18S0 2,008,600 29,087,300 



188r. 7,654,727 51,456,517 



1889 9.625,754 63,557.332 



Totals 19.289,081 144.101,149 



The average catch in these three years was- 

 In Canada, 6,429,694 pounds ; and in the 

 I'nited States, 48.033,716 pounds ; or nearly 

 eight times greater than the average catcH 

 in Canada. Taking the average catch for 

 these three years as a basis, the total eaten 

 for the ten' years from 1880 to 1889, in- 

 clusive, was as follows :— 



Lbs. 



Canada 64.296.940 



United States 480,033.716 



Excess in favour of the United States 

 for the ten years 415.736,776 



The excess in value, according to the values 



used by the Department of Marine and 

 Fisheries, would be about $20,000,000. The 

 Americans caught more fish in Lake Erie 

 in ten years than Canada will catch in 

 seventy years under this one-sided policy 

 of the Government. And, Sir, in the pre- 

 sence of such figures as these, which are 

 taken from the blue-books, we have the 

 hon. Minister of Justice making this state- 

 ment in the House last year : 



All tL'is talk about the fishery sta tics of 

 United Spates ports on Lake Erie is noti-ing but 

 talk, because 1 have given evidence to show that 

 fisheries in Lake Erie, where people have been 

 allowed to fish ab libitum, unrestricted by Gov- 

 ernment interference, are already a thing of the 

 past ; and when the hon. gentleman reads these 

 statistics, I will tell him how they are made, and 

 I will give him good authority. These statistics 

 are made up of Canadian fish. These fisheries 

 have assumed enormous importance since the 

 passage of the McKinley Bill, and with what re- 

 sult ? The hon. gentleman has told us in part. 

 He has told us that our fisheries are largely in 

 the hands of the United States fish-dealers in 

 Buffalo and elsewhere, owing largely to circum- 

 stances over which we have had practically no 

 control. 



Now, this is a remarkable statement The 

 actual figures show that the excess in ten 

 years is over 400,000,000 pounds, and the 

 figures I gave the House on that occasion 

 were figures existing before the passage 

 and operation of the McKinley Bill ; and if 

 we allowed every pound of fish to be enter- 

 ed, as the hon. gentleman said some 

 tons of fish were shipped to the United 

 States and entered, it would have very 

 slight effect upon the figures I Iiavc 

 given. Our catch is only 7,000,000 cr 

 8,000,000 pounds ; their catch is ')0.- 

 000,000 pounds, and the hon. gentleman 

 gets up in this House and coolly tells the 

 I'arliiiment and people of Can-ida that the 

 ! statistics relating to the exports of fish 

 are made up now by our fish entered under 

 J the McKinley Bill. Why, the extravagance 

 I of the statement of the hon. gentleman is 

 I really surprising. It is difficult to under- 

 stand how a Minister of the Crown can 

 get up and mal^e such statements. 



But there is a more serious aspect still 

 i in the statements of the blue-books of 

 the country. Year after year we have 

 found similar statements made with 

 ! reference to our fisheries, and made, no 

 ! doubt, under the authority of the Minister 

 of ^larine and Fisheries. In the blue-books 

 of this country, in the face of these figures 

 which are actual, figures, an attempt is 

 !i*ade to show that the contention that the 

 ! Americans are getting an advantage in re- 

 I spect of the lake fisheries is simply a con- 

 tention without basis. I notice in the blue- 

 i books of 1890, 1891 and 1893 tlicse false 

 : comparisons are made. I would like to ask 

 ! the hon. Minister how he can justify state- 

 \ ments made up by comparisons such as the 

 I fo^'owiug. He will put down American her- 

 I rings at about 1 cent a pound and herringb 



