New-York tribune., 1890-06-29
,,,ov STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRBrSE''

fore petty. IL would lehu 'oo III,
the divisions into which the popula'o" "a' -
politically 10 call them parties I"'s ..,,,,.r "
factions They have no names. Iheir hcwep"pe.
..Io acsnerate efforts 10 fasten nickha'neS
49, .hon, but these last only for season
Iroa cir Pohert Thorburn, the Premier ol 1ic
cs,.ornmont what was the difference between
49, ,oo,ions Sir Robert Is Scotsman lie Is
.;o,s conservative merchant lie has neluler
49, arobitons nor the tastes Of professional
,;,io;an well" he said. as nearly as L
c.n make it out the only difference is that one
marty has the Offices and the other wants the'h
b,vc not been able TO see wherein Slr kopcr'
ao6ri,ion could he improved upon. ii Vhere 10
any other difference it is OF method' anu h'U VI
nurnose The administration which went ou' lasV
Deccmber was made up largely OF the merchants
H. seems to have been an effective ana pa'iio'''
administration. The one that Succeeoeu IL was
chosen as the popular party. the represent ''''
- ,ho fsber,nen rather than of the wealthy people.
I,s premier is Sir William Whitcway. an adr"i'
o,a oxner;enced noltican. Sir Williams tactics
IN making his appcal to the people were such as
orc alwavs nossihle where large portion of the
elaborate is moor. ignorant and of certain class
How to employ the people during the winter
time is always the great problem oi sta'esmahsrip
here 1t has been variously answered, geheraiiS'
however, by downright charities Na'uralS
the poorer people, in whose mlnds "ai' n''
often erased such nice distinctions as NATURE n"s
have mt there. are now persuaded that the
Government owes them living NH "i"'''
r,aved unon this idea. His rallying-cry was,
Railway extension and a dollar ana a qnar''l "
dov,n II swept everything before 1t. ana Sir
William s in Office with twenty eight ou' f thirty
six members behind him. II is said, however
ILL n md backward
yeloping.
The Government and the Opposition are whip
ming each other numerically about this french
shore affair. The late Government declares that
the present Government is responsible for the
odious modus vivendi, and the present Govern
nent rctorts that the late Government attempted
70 carry an arrangement which would have been
worse than Esau's bargain with Jacob. Sir Will
Jams newspaper organ says every evening IN moSo
excited variations that Sir Robert is traitor
and a scurvy politician, and Sir Roberts organ
rejons in phrases just as frantic that Sir William
is q scurvy politician and traitor. AS nearly as
l can get at the facts. II appears that 'heN are
bath estimable and patriotic gentlemen, VINO did
md are doing the best they could and can 10 2e'
their country ont of bad situation In once
Sir Robert was slow and cautious; ont OF once
bc is proli6c of suggestion and eager to act
Out of Office Sir William was similarly fertlie ana
restless: in office he is similarly conservative.
This is because the Government here must dance
attendance upon Lord Kuutsford and Lord Sails
bury. and the policy in London is 10 claim In
theory ana " coucea In pFaetiee. ~ is diaicaie
10 account for British diplomacy in all these
Newfoundland negotiations. The British Goyerdi-
ment has either failed to grasp the situation, or
has been Indifferent to it. Either has been
bot,o French
expense of the NewfounG landers, or the facts as
70 the colonys hardships are not known IN Eng
land Many conventions have been made Ill
which the French have relinqushcd substantial
advantages but always for the same prce-frec
access TO the colonial bait market. England has
never seemed to understand that when the bait
is left open France, the mastery of the isheries
is necessarily transferred 10 that nation. win
free bait and bounty equal TO about the cost OF
catching the fish, the French fishermen can have
no difficulty in controlling every market III is
of small profit TO Newfoundland if she secures
few harbors on the French shore as the price OF
the industry from which her people live. The
treaty of rss5 was a brilliant example Of French
cleverness and British dulness The French
negotiators were aided in their work by naval
and consular officers, who knew every inch Of the
French shore The English negOtiatOrs were
coupe of clerks in the Foreign Office, neither
of whom had ever seen Newfoundland and they
were unattended by the local authorities here
or by any .erson who knew the geography Of the
island the feelings of its people. The French
gave up considerably more than half of their
shore, and when you looked at their concessions
as they appeared upon the map it seemed if
they had been exceedingly generous. AS
matter of fact, however what they relinquished
xUaS fIa oun of
and rocky coast upon which not row-boa,
could have landed. All the valuable harbors,
with one TWO exceptions, were retained, and for
the little they got the English gave free bait.
Had the Newfoundlanders consented to that con
venton they would have bargained to commit
suicide. And yet the British Commissioners who
brought the treaty out here thought they had
done great things and were amazed beyond eX-
preston at the conemptuous way in which the
Newfoundlanders rejected it,
The colonists make denial of the fact that
their bait acts are meant 10 hurt the French and
them only. These laws have been the subject
not only Of much international irritation, but Of
grave colonial dissensons as well. II is unde-
niable that the French must depend in the main
upon the colonial bait supplies. The very first
bait can he brought from France, but it is salt
and tie fish soon tire of it, The second and
third bats are caplin and squid, and these abound
only in British waters. A set of colonial fish
ermen have existed in the past solely upon the
profits of bait fishing, disposng of the fruits of
their industry 10 the French and Americans
They are the poorest and lowlicst of the fishing
population, and the original bait act fell heavily
upon them. They had been earning about
S3OOOOO year from their sales TO the French
and with this income suddenly cut OF, their lot
yA
70 smugsle careoes Of bait into ST. Pierre and in
some cases detection and IMPRISONMENT ensucd
Their anmosiy against the Government up0I,
this account was not so,thed bv the circum
stance that the Americans and Canadians. TO
whom the act did not apply. were often abusing
their privileges by selling at st. Pierre what they
had bought in Fortune Bay or at ST. Johns So
that they saw themselves first impoverished and
then imprisoned under a law which after all