The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-03-03
The Fisheries.

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In addition to the report on the trade Of tn
British provinces and the internal commerce o
the United States, noticed on Tuesday, Mr.
CoRwIN transmitted to Congress a report OF
the American fisheries, prepared at his reques
BY Mr.. SABINE, representative of the fourth
Congressional district of Massachusetts.
Mr.. SABINE's report, which will be ready
tor distribution in few days, is complete
history Of the fisheries of the British provinces
and the New England States, with an exp osi
ton of their extent and varied characteristics
at the present moment; and, apart from the
more controversial chapters, is calculated tt
throw much useful light on the question now
pending between this country and Great Bri.
tain pk
The earlier portion of the report is devoted
to the cod fisheries of France, Spain, and Por
tugal; and shows, SO far as France is concern.
ed, the importance always and still attached
by her government to the encouragement of the
flshing interests, not less because of their COM
mercial importance, than in order to foster a
calling from which her navy must be recruited
IN the event OF war.
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton
Prince Edward Island, the Magdalen Islands.
Bay of Chaleurs, Labrador, and New Bruins
wick form the subjects of the second part.
which affords lncontestlble evidence of the va
lue Of the points involved in the existing dis.
pute, and the necessity of prompt yet concila-
tory action on the part of our Government. A
narration OF the circumstances of the Nova SEQ
tia mackerel fishery leads Mr.. SABINE to com
ment on the pernlclous operation of the tariff of
1916, in its bearings on this branch of national
industry. Under system of ad valorem du-
ties, he remarks, the fishermen of Nova Scotia
and the other colonies will ere long supplant
American fishermen in their own markets. A
return to specific duties is the only course that
can avert the evil. The geographical advan-
tages of the colonists, the greater cheapness of
materials employed, and the sufficiency of
less amount of labor, give to them advantages
which only wise legislation can restrain.
Competition without protection, with such re-
wards as these" Mr.. SABINE observes.
''await the colonial fishermen and landowners,
who expend nothing whatever for vessels.
and whose whole outlay involves little be-
yond the cost and wear of seines and the loss
of time for short periods in season is,
think, impossible" The inhabitants of Prince
Edward Island, it appears, are not averse to
the admission of Americans to the inshore fish
cries; for the House of Assembly, in its last
session, unanimously passed resolution for an
address to the Queen, praying that the restric-
tons of 1918 may be removed. In New Bruns-
wick, again, the hostility to that removal pro-
ceeds from politicians, not from the people.
Speaking Of the New Brunswickers, Mr.. SA
BINE says:
"Indeed, the observations of quite twenty five
years authorize me to say that the colonists al
ways agree far better with the Americans than
with each other. Our countrymen are not often
considered interlopers, when they leave the fish
ing grounds nearest home and visit those of
Grand Menan. But the fishermen of Campo
Bello and the other islands on the British side Of
the Passamaquoddy sometimes roughly ac-
costed and twitted when they venture to take the
same liberty
Part the third of the report treats of the
New England fisheries from early in the sew
enteenth century to the revolutionary contro-
versy, and from that period again to the de-
claration Of independence. In the former era
there is ample evidence that the fisheries of
the northeast furnished its first articles of
trade, and laid the foundation of it's navigation
and commerce; while it is not less manifest
that during the period which elapsed between
the commencement Of the controversy and the
of our independence, our fish
cries were marked by steady growth, in spite
of all the restraining efforts of Britain. Mr..
SABINE has collated a multitude of facts in this
connexion, showing the relationship of the fish
cries to the questions which caused the dis
memberment of the British empire.
The subsequent history of the fisheries en-.
braces full narratives Of the circumstances at
tending the negotiation of the treaties of 1888
and 1918. Of the main article of the latter
treaty the report speaks thus:
''The distinguishing features of this article, as
compared with the stipulations of the treaty of
1888, are obviously two: first, that gave up the
catching along certain shores; and secondly, that
our fac lities of drying and curing were increased
+h0 ptdCtlCdl COu6tTuCllOu VI OOW SoVctuilloA1
has been, until very recent period, that our
vessels could fish everywhere as under the treaty
of 1783 except ,oithin three iies Of certain coasts
In other words, that our rights were not impaired
on the southern shore of Newfoundland betwe en- |
Cane Raw and the Rameau Islands; on the WESTERN
and northern shores of Newfoundland from said
Cape Ray to the Quirpen Islands; at the Magdaien
Islands, between Mount Jolly and the straits of
BsllisIe and through these straits to indefinite
extent along the shores of Labrador; tuhile else
,ohere in British america retained TIE fisheries
but surrendered the inner shore fisheries
In subsequent chapter Mr.. SABINE enters
INTO an elaborate argument to show the un-
,oundness of the new construction which the
British government attach to the treaty Of
1918. fit be persisted in and enforced, he OBJ
erves, we shall lose quite one third of our
cd and mackerel fisheries"
Besides dwelling upon the mischievous eff
ects that have followed the substitution of ad
'atorcna for specific duties, in the case of colo
nal fish, Mr.. SABINE adverts to the need that
Exists for adherence to the system of bounties.
Admitting that under such system frauds
nay take place, he yet contends that they are