BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 187 
levied it ought to be reduced so as to be in fair proportion to the value 
of the fish. Others claim that it would make little difference, aside from 
the influence of the cheaper fish put up farther west, and as, in their 
judgment, the quantity of fish there is not sufficient to supply the 
demand for sardines, the Eastport canneries could still continue at a 
fair profit. The result of a duty of half a cent per pound would be that 
the canneries could never get fish at less than $8, while the average 
cost would probably fall little, if any, short of $10, for the fish are 
worth $2 or $3 at least per hogshead for smoking or for the manufacture 
of oil and pomace, and the fishermen would not seine their weirs unless the 
fish should net them as much as that. Some of the canners who are 
interested in other fisheries claim that they would much prefer to pay 
a duty on herring to be used for canning purposes than to throw open 
our markets free to Canadian fish. 
The effect of a duty would unquestionably prove disastrous to the 
New Brunswick fishermen, as it would have a tendency to cause our 
own fishermen about Eastport to build a larger number of weirs, and 
would further develop the fisheries to the westward, where to all appear- 
ances there is a much larger quantity of herring than is generally sup- 
posed. This would lead to the building of factories there, and would in 
time probably cause the factories at Eastport to suspend operations, 
thus resulting in serious loss to the town, and of the greater part of the 
fixed capital now employed in the industry. 
There is a natural limit beyond which the price of American sardines 
can not advance, for the English canneries have an abundant supply of 
sprat, and with the cheaper labor and the absence of duty on tin and 
on olive oil they are enabled to put up fish and import them into the 
United States, paying the duty of $2.50 a case, at $7.75 to $8.25 a case, 
and these, being equal if not superior to the American sardines, would 
naturally drive our goods out of the market if for any reason the price 
of same should advance beyond that figure. During the last three 
years at least 10,000 cases of these goods have been imported ; but the 
unusually low price of American sardines during the present season has 
checked this importation, and no sprats have been imported for some 
months. 
The price of the lowest grade of French sardines is seldom below 
$10.75 to $11, including the duty of $2.50 per case on the quarter oils 
and $4.50 to $5 per case on the larger sizes. Were it not for the 
English sprat we would still be enabled to manufacture and sell at a 
considerable advance on present prices. 
Another argument used by canners in favor of the admitting of her- 
ring for canning purposes free of duty is that these fish are practically 
raw material, and that about one-third of their value when canned rep- 
resents the labor required in putting them up. 
They further argue that if the fish were subject to duty it would be 
impossible, owing to the nearness of the factories to the Canadian bor- 
