289 
— $e 
forty miles, embracing the celebrated Thousand Islands, is naturally one of 
the most attractive regions in the country for the tourist and sportsman. Its ex- 
quisite river scenery, its banks and islands and its delightful air, leave nothing 
to be desired —if the fishing is good. 
There were in 1889 about six hundred persons employed as oarsmen on the 
river; in 1883 there were perhaps a hundred. In 1886 there were about two 
hundred and fifty employed in connection with steam and other boats: in 1883 
there may have been thirty. There were last summer thirty-six hotels capable 
of accommodating four thousand peopie. Six years ago the hotels could accom- 
modate scarcely a thousand people. Besides these there are now thirty board- 
ing-houses, with a capacity of tive hundred guests; there are between six hun- 
dred and seven hundred cottages used exclusively by summer residents. From 
one million to one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was spent on 
the river last summer by tourists, exclusive of railroad fares. A large and in- 
creasing business has also grown up in building steam yachts and the celebrated 
St. Lawrence skiffs. 
Here, then, is a veritable gold mine lying at the feet of Jefferson County, by 
which every resident of the county is benefited either by a reduction in his 
taxes, by being given employment, or in his business. The population of Jeffer- 
son County is 66,000, every one of whom is constantly being benefited by the 
Anglers’ Association. That is one side of the question, the other is this: There 
were during the netting scason of 1888 about sixty or seventy persons engaged 
in illegal net fishing within the limits of the county, and of this number more 
than one-half were non-residents. When it is borne in mind that these net 
fishers do not make nearly as much if allowed to carry on their netting as ordi- 
nary farm workers, it will at once be apparent that Jefferson County could, as a 
business speculation, afford to hire and pay them a fair salary to remain perfectly 
idle, and to pension them in their old age. 
The total tax assessed against the town of Alexandria (the central point on 
the river) was $10,906.97, of which $2,351.28 was paid by summer property 
holders. In other words, nearly 22 per cent. of the taxes of the town of Alexan- 
dria was paid by summer property owners. The assessed vaiue of summer hotels 
and island property in the town of Alexandria in 1888 was $256,000, the basis 
of assessment being one-third of the actual value, while the total amount assessed 
was $1,218,029. 
The organization of fish protection associations accomplishes three distinct 
things : it protects the fish, furnishes the people with cheap fish food, and last, but 
not least, is of enormous material benetit to the surrounding country. 
In regard to non-jurisdiction I may say that one of the first difficulties we 
encountered, was when the question was raised in regard to the jurisdiction of 
the State on the international waters of the St. Lawrence. We engaged counsel 
to look up this question, who made an exhaustive search of the laws in regard 
to it. He told us the law on the question was based on the old English law, and 
the question was decided to this effect: That the State had jurisdiction over 
international waters, just as much as she had property or islands on which she 
could collect taxes. 
Mr. WHITAKER: To the boundary line ? 
Mr. SKINNER: Yes, to the boundary line. You Canadians, I suppose, have 
_ the same law, and I do not see why you have not jurisdiction over the inland 
waters, just the same as other waters. 
19 /c.) 
