The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-04-13
The Fisheries Question.

The Fisheries Question.
From the World
Congress having cut off the American nose 70 |
spite the Canadian lace ana having refused to |
stitch it on again by new treaty of reciprocity,
bleeding is dreaded, and the political doctors
are getting out their styptics.
Mr.. Raymond spoke in the lower House on
Tuesday, for the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
on the fisheries near the British Provinces north
OF us, and the matter indeed demands speedy
adjustment. The fishermen from the United
States ard those from the Provinces are as likely
to come into collision as they ever were. Eng.
lands armed vessels and ours are IN the neigh
borhood, and may prevent or may increase the
seriousness of such a collision. Shippers are
more likely TO be intent on mackerel than inter-
national law, and officers like Wilkes are not
impossible in either navy.
The rights OF American fishermen in the
British waters may thus be stated
l. BY treaty none. All our treaties on the
subject are abrogated, and the rights and privi-
leges acquired by treaty perished with them.
They can be revived easily by paying some qead
pro quo otherwise not.
2. BY the law OF nations, these rights:-To
fish outside cannCn-shot from the liuc of the
Canadian shore-i. e., outside marine league
from the coast line. Inside that line and dis
tance none but Canadians have O right to fish.
For, says that highest authority, Lawrence's
Wheaton,
The right of fishing in the waters adjacent TO the
longs exc us vely to the SUBJECTS of the State The
maritime trritOry OF every ate extends TO the
ports, har ors bays mouths or rivers, and adjacent
parts of the SO lncosed by head anus belonging to
the same State. The general usages OF nations SUI
peradd to this extent Of territorial jurlsdct on DIS
tanoe OF marine league, or as lar as cannon shot
will reach nom the shore, along all the coasts of the
State. Within these limits Its rights of property and
territorial jurisdiction are absolute, and exclude
those of every other nation,
If King Alphonso had been present at the
creation, doubtless this subject would never
have pestered nations. He would assuredly
have made their coast lines as straight as the
bee.Ine of any OF Kllpatrck's retreats But the
Creator did not so JON sea to shore, and the
measuring OF TINS coast line is the problem of
publlcIsts tlil now. One of them, Hauteteuille
who Is quoted by Mr.. Lawrence, says:-
The sea coast docs not present one straight and
regular nne; 1t Is, on the contrary, almost always
iplersec'ed by bas capes, etc. If the maritime
domain must ALWAYS be measured from every one
of these points of the shore great 1nconvenIences
wou result from It, 1t has therefore, been agreed,
in Iacdce, TO draw imaginary line from one
pTomontofY 10 another, and 10 take this line the
point OF departure Tor the reach OF the cannon.
applicable TO small bay and not 10 guns OF great
extent the Gu1 OF GascOny the Gut of Lyo,s S,
which are in reality great parts the comp eely
ana OF which it is impossible to deny the
complete assImilaton with the great ocean.
Yel this is not de initon which would satisfy
a fisherman who was sharp alter mackerel,
bake, herring, anG alewives. Between "small
bays" and "gUll5 OF great extent there
numbelless larger "baysn and smaller ''gults,n
where mackerel will swim and where fishermen
will follow. Fogs and mirages may deceive
them as to distances, and, if they could read the
opinions OF law officers OF the Crown on the sub
iect the tog in their minds would be denser
than the fog on the waters. II certain "head-
lands" were known to be but six miles apart
an American skipper who knew bis duty would
not sail inside rieht line drawn between tue
two. But suppose the hea1lands were seven
miles apart; then cannon'shot from either shore
would leave him mile Of water in the middle,
where he might think he had right to fish.
And indeed it needs no arithmetic, but only
knowledge OF the human nature of Yankee
fishermen, TO see that disputes. quarrels, and
collisions are likely 10 occur with perfectly
hone st intentions on both sdes and certain to
occur when smuggling is so profitable at both
ends of the voyage, and where the best fisheries
are in.shoIe.
Our tishermen's rights are capable OF exact
definition; the rights OF the fishermen OF Canada,
Nova Scotia New Brunswick, and Prince Ed
wards Island are capable Of exact dehnitlon--
on paper. To write them on the water, so
that the fisherman may read, is not so easy.
| Senes, and not theodolites, are their tools.
| Yet every American fisherman along five thou
sand miles Of coast line must Judge for himself
| OF distances to keep the law, and to be quite
! sure that he keeps 1t, would have to be skilled
| in trigOnometry and fishing without bait, and
| in tOIeseeng storms. Why, in 1851, over 100
! American vessels were driven ashore on Prince
! EdW ards Island, and over 800 lives lost. For to
| have run TO port would have betrayed their in
fraction of the law OF nations. This, too, is
shores of the United States, and that fishery cam
not be successfully carried on except by going
within three miles OF the British shore.
What is the value OF the interest which has
been impenlled by the folly OF the radicals
and pIotectionists in abolishing instead OF
amending and lberalizing the Reciprocity
treaty OF 1854? The United States census
report gives very incomplete information on the
! subject.
The value of the mackerel, cod, ETC., caught
by our fishermen was as follows, for the year
ending June, 1867
Mane @1OOO lO1
Massacnusetls zll4 zUl
COnnecucuI zoli ilo5
IotaI. I..........'''' ''......'... Oo,l4e
The value of the fish caught by Provincial
fishermen in 1860 census tables OF the several
Provinces) was as lollOws:-
Observation-Disclosures excluded. ......... .S4 440 00C
Nova Scotia-cod, macKerel, and herring. 1850 00C
New BrunsN lek-cOd, macKerel, herring,
aleWives ana hake. 3SS 23i
Prince Edward lsand-cOd, mackerel and
Lower Canada, iesnmatel. ..,,..,,........,. 10000
IOJal. 20 10
Mr. Arthur Harvey Statistical Clerk of thu
| nov, amt hos 4ov