Oregon Republican. [volume] (Dallas, Or.) 1870-1872, 1871-05-13
FISHERIES AND THE COMMIs-
SION,
[From the New Jersey Mechanic.1

The press of England and also of
Canada has worked itself into a white
heat in anticipation that the United
States would propose to annex the Can.
adas, whether citizens of those pro-
vinces were disposed to be annexed or
not. The difficulty encountered by
the Commissioners has been a much
more practical one---how to reconcile
the high notions of the Canadians as to
their control over fishery and trade, with
the rights and interests of England aud
the United States. On the fishery
question for instance. all our treaties
are with England, for even the recipro-
city treaty was negotiated with the
mother country in 1851, but now, un>
der the Dominion Act, Canada sets up
claim to regulate the limit of shore
fisheries, aud impose tribute upon our
fishermen, in direct coutravention of
the treaties of 1888 aud 1877. The
Canadians are very touchy, too, about
any arrangement between England and
the United States which shall dispose
of the fishery question, except upon
their own terms.
When in 1870 Mr.. Fish suggested
to Mr.. Thornton that an arrangement
might be made by which lumber, coal,
salt aud fish should be admitted free
into the United States, or at least ut
low rate of duty, provided Canada gave
us the freedom of the canals, OF the ST
Lawrence and the inshore fisheries, the
Canadian Government informed Mr.
Thornton that they looked upon pro-
position of that kind as wholly INSULT
ent, aud subsequently Sir Francis
Hincks, the finance Minister, aud Mr.
Tupper, the President of The Council,
denounced in the Canadian Parliafnent,
the American proposition as degrading
aud insalting TO the Dominion
Sir John Macdonald is understood to
take the same view, aud also ID hold
position which has brought him into
collision with the Wing members of the
English Commission. In discussing
reciprocity, Sir John was willing to
grant US the freedom of the fisheries
and the free navigation Of the st. Laws
renee, if VIC will admit upon reciprocal
terms, free of duty, grain, lumber, cat>
tie, vegetables, dairy produce, salt and
fish, aud also throw open our coasting
trade to Canadian vessels. But he
would not consent to have manufactures
thus interchanged; for as The Lanadi
| ans now obtain their revenues from dn-
ties on imports, they would be COM
PEELED to tax English manufactures,
while American manufactures would be
free. On the contrary, Earl de Grey,
representing the view of the British
Board of trade, thought that any
arrangement made between Canada aud
the United States by which the Cana
dian tariff is lowered upon American
manufactures must equally affect the
admission of English productions into
Canada. A discussion has taken place
between the Canadian and English
Governments on this point, the Canadi-
ans endeavoring to show that, under
the reciprocity treaty Of 1854, England
set up no such pretensions, while the
English Government, on the contrary,
maintained that no such arrangement
can be made with the United States i'm
which England can not equally we'll
/ participate. 1t is even asserted, with
as much confidence as anything can be
asserted about the debates of the High
Commission, that the warmest discuss
sion thus far, was between Sir John
Macdonald and his English colleagues,
Sir Stafford Northcote rather siding
with Canada, while the other three, aud
of course the American Commissioners,
took the opposite view.