The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-12-19
THE FISHERIES.

the fishery question that you are fully in
sympathy with all right and justihable meth
dds that may be employed to prevent the ex-
tinction of this New England industry,
have presumed to offer for publication, if
you shall deem them worthy. some consider
atoms entering into this important question.
Coming directly to the question at issue
we find that England has certain privileges
to grant which she regards as vital TO our
fishing interests, for which she asks as a
fair reciprocal exchange the free admission
to our markets of Provincial fish. What are
these valuable privileges?
| First, England claims to have control of
fishing grounds which we must necessarily
occupy to secure the success of the New
England fisheries.
Second, The supply of fresh bait to our
| fishermen at several of the Provincial posts,
| is or vital Importance to our bank trawl
| fishermen.
On these-yiz fishing grounds and bait
suppiy-England rests all her claim
In reply to her first claim, that she has
fishing grounds Of great importance TO us,
we protest emphatically that such Is not the
fact. and the united voice OF the New Eng
land fishing interest to our government is
pay nothing for privilege we do not want.
Statistics plainly show that during the past
ten years the catching of fish in so-called
English waters by the New England fisher
men has not proved paying business. The
| past season the Portland fleet have landed
| about eighty thousand barrels OF mackerel,
| and less than one thousand barrels of this
| amount were taken in English waters. 1t is
| true the proportion taken in English waters
| by the Gloucester fleet is larger, but even
| Gloucester, which sends more vessels TO Eng
| fish waters for fish than all other American
ports, finds these later, years that the busi-
! ness does not pay, and their voice'giyes no
uncertain sound when they say'to our gov
| eminent, buy no such privilege for us.
| But admitting England's claim of fishing
| grounds valuable to us are not we in return
| granting American fishing grounds to Pro-
| Vincial fishermen as valuable? Those con-
| versant With the movements of schools of
maekerel that visit our New England
| coast during the summer months, know
| that during the months of July, August and
| September, the best fishing months of the
| year, the schools OF mackerel are found large
! ly about the shoals and shores of our coast,
| all the way from Cape Cod to Mt. Desert, in
waters under control of the United States,
a coast line Of three hundred miles of valu-
able fishing grounds open to English as well
as to our own fishermen, and Affirm that 1t
can be demonstrated by indisputable testi-
mony and facts that these waters under con-
troll of the United States, if permitted to be
occupied by Provincial fishermen III com
| mon with our fishermen, is more than COM
| offer us in way of fishing grounds.
The second point is bait supply. Formerly
much more than at present our vessels de-
pended largely upon buying not catching
their bait in Provincial ports. The custom
has largely changed. Many of our trawl fish
ermen who formerly depended entirely upon
fresh bait, now use salt mackerel for bait as
they find that more time is consumed in run
ming after and waiting for fresh bait than is
required to catch fare of fish with salt bait.
But admitting all England claims as to
bait supply, what are the facts as to our bait
supply for their fishermen?
A large proportion of the Nova Scotia fish
ermen are hand line fishermen, and for this
kind of fishing only salt CLAIMS are used, and
the State of Maine furnishes about all the
bait for the Nova Scotia feet, this year about
ten thousand barrels of clans having been
furnished them from Portland and Harps-
well alone And in fact we hardly see how
the the Nova Scotia fishermen could contin-
ue their bank hand line fishing without the
supply of bait furnished by the State of
Maine. Does not this bait supply afforded
them more than Offset all their supply of
bait furnished us? We say that as to fishing
grounds and bait supply, what we grant to
England is a full, compensating, reciprocal
exchange for all that she has to offer us, and
that plainly all the claims England may
make to our government this winter, for
which they ask III return the free markets Of
the United States, are weak and would be
unayaiing were it not for the support that is
to accompany them in British gold. | affirm
that today we have more to fear from Brit
ish gold than from all claims of the charae-
ter of reciprocal exchange. Our government
has during the last twelve years paid Eng
land about eleven million dollars. five and
one-haf million a direct gift-and about as
much more in remission of duties on fish,
and all this for naught in return.
This vast sum has built up and fostered
large fishing industry in the Provinces and
now they well understand that during the
last twelve years they have had their hands
upon the throat of the New England fishery
and il they can regain that grasp a few
years more will give them the entire control
of the fisheries, and not only that but far
sighted England sees that not only supreme
control of the fisheries will be hers but the
strength OF the United States as to nava |
power will be br ,ken, for what is navy
without trained sealnen to man it, and
whence your trained seanen without tn
New England fishery?
We say then that the eleven million dol
lars paid by our government to England for
naught in return is now with all the force
represented by that vast sum to react against
the very industry it was intended to foster,
andthat in Washington this winter the lobby
power, now alas SO potent, is to be backed
by this almost overwhelming force of British
gold.
What have we to meet these powers
maSsed against us? An impoverished,
struggling industry without a surplus or
backing-with only the just and manly call
upon that government, to which it has
ever heartily responded in every hour of
the nations peril; these sons nf.the ocean
who have added such lustre and renown to
our navy In the past; these men now call
upon the nation for such protection as shall
place them in fair competition with their
Provincial neighbors. L. c. L.