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V 
 
 ON 
 
 »^"n.ii.i 
 
 ♦ W4 
 
 THE FISHERIES, &c. &c, 
 
 5 
 
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- I I "P* 
 
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TO THE EDITOR OF THE '' TIMES. " 
 
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 Sir, 
 
 I have read the edito'nl of the Ex^ 
 press of to-day, in which the Editor submits to 
 his readers the following question — " llow will 
 this Colony be affected when the Reciprocity 
 Treaty with the United States comes to be adopted 
 by the Dominion of Canada, should we keep out of 
 the Confederacy ?" and he then goes on to. argue 
 and to answer the question himself, introducing 
 the subjects of Finance, the late bad Fisheries, 
 &c. &c , with his views upon which I cannot 
 agree. I will, therefore, with your permission, 
 through the medium of your columns, answer his 
 question in the first place, and then take up the 
 other matters mixed with it. 
 
 I deny that Newfoundland will be excluded 
 from the benefit of a tieaty with the United States 
 if she keeps out of the Confederation. If New- 
 foundland retain her present independence and 
 5f //'-Government, she will be enabled, with the 
 permission of Great Britain, or through her medium, 
 to enter into her own treaty, or join, as she did 
 before, other parties interested in the matter — 
 Prince Edward Island, for instance — possibly se- 
 curing a treaty more advantageous to her interests, 
 than were she a member of the Dominion and a 
 party to the terms of their treaty. 
 
 It is true that we have had partial failures of 
 our Fisheries on the Newfoundland coast, and on 
 the Southern part of the Labrador coast ; but has 
 not this failure been caused by the numerous seines 
 used at the headlands on the arrival of the schules 
 of fisli following the caplin towards and filling our 
 bays mid inlets, which thty at one time did do 
 
<liiring the wljole summer, but which of lato years 
 they uicnot pormitttul to «lu? The heads of these 
 sc'hules, (like the foremost of a flock of sheep,) 
 when stopped in their course, .are turned and 
 harried buck into deep water, or to the Banks 
 whence they came, and consequently the fish are 
 not to be found near the shore as in the olden 
 times when the hook and line only was used, and 
 when every industrious man could catch, during 
 the fishing season, from one to two hundred qtls. 
 for his- own hand. I myself have personally seen 
 these things. The same principle applies to Sal- 
 mon. There is ftot now one barrel taken to the 
 hundreds that were caught in the olden times, and 
 for the reason that the nets now stop the rivers and 
 brooks in such a manner that the Salmon are pre- 
 vented from going up them to deposit their spawn; 
 and should any leap the nets and enter those 
 rivers, they are pursued and taken from the holes 
 to which they resort for the purpose of spawning, 
 which does not take place before September. There- 
 fore, unless the Legislature deal with this impor- 
 tant subject, (which I have for many years past 
 been urging them to do,) by prohibiting the use of 
 seines and the improper fishing for Salmon, I ven- 
 ture to assert that we shall never again have f:ood 
 Cod or good Salmon fisheries upon the Newfound- 
 land coast. But it fortunately happens that, in 
 the Providence of nature, our fisheries are not 
 limited exclusively to Newfoundland. We have 
 had two successive ye.irs of good fishing on the 
 Labrador, and our aggregate catch is not less as a 
 whole, or barely less, (notwithstanding the partial 
 failure of the Newfoundland Cod and Salmon fish- 
 eries,) than in previous years. The Labrador Cod, 
 however, is not of the same value as that of New- 
 foundland. 
 
T) 
 
 I 
 
 Kow with regard to the Revenue : Previous to 
 the iDtroduction of the Local Legislature this 
 Colony w-asfree from taxation, with the exception, 
 80 far as my memory at present serves me, of an 
 Imperial duty on Spirits and Wines, and on Flour 
 from the United States. When the first Legislature 
 sat, (the best that wo ever had, notwithstanding 
 the hue and cry that was raised against them,) a 
 small Colonial duty was phiced on Wines and 
 Spirits. In 1835 a moderate tax was put upon 
 Provisions ; and manufactured goods, except those 
 for the use of the Fishery, were subject to a duty 
 of fifty shillings only on the hundred pounds. The 
 fifty shilling tax was subsequently raised to seven- 
 ty shillings : and later, when a larger outlay was 
 required for roads, and to meet the increased ex- 
 penses of the Legislature, and the loss of revenue 
 occasioned by the senseless conduct of the House 
 of Assembly in its refusal to pass a Revenue Bill, 
 the tax was farther increased to Five Pounds oa 
 the Hundred Pounds. 
 
 The next alteration was immediately after the 
 great fire of 184G, when an additional tax of one 
 per cent was imposed. Now, although this was a 
 year of the greatest calamity and distress the Colo- 
 ny had ever experienced, its debt, notwithstand- 
 ing, was not materially increased until the intro- 
 duction of Responsible Government, with its train 
 of jobbing and consequent gradually increased 
 expenses. At the time the Colony entered into 
 the American Treaty, in 1855, the duties upon all 
 l.jndsoffood and raw produce from the United 
 estates and elsewhere were removed, and in lieu 
 thereof an additional duty of five per cent was 
 imposed on manufactures from Great Britain and 
 other places, making in all eleven pounds on every 
 tiundred pounds. 
 
No very iiiaieiiul ohan<5e took place Iq our 
 taxation iroui that tiino until 1865, when the 
 American Treaty ceased, aflordin^the Government 
 a pretense for again taxing the food of the people 
 to the extent of upwards of forty thousand pounds, 
 AS I am credibly informed ; and this, too, was 
 done when the utmost distress, and in many cases 
 even destitution, existed ; and tliis year they have 
 imposed an additional duty on manufactured goods 
 of nearly fifty per cent upon what had been pre- 
 viously paid ! 
 
 Notwithstanding this monstrous increase of tax- 
 ation, the debt of the Colony still goes on expand- 
 ing, and the Government, in its rapacity, (it is 
 further publicly stated, and enunciated by the 
 Government Press,) contemplate imposing an ad- 
 ditional amount of taxation ! 
 
 How much longer docs the Government think 
 that the people will peaceably bear and submit to 
 their prodigal, reckless, and imbecile management 
 of the public affairs ? 
 
 There is a large quantity of senseless twadde 
 introduced by the Editor into the subject of his edi- 
 torial, which, I am quite sure, he would not ex- 
 pecc me to notice otherwise than T have done — ali 
 intended, no doubt, to bewilder the unreflecting 
 among his readers, and to make them believe that 
 there is no hope for them out of the present tem- 
 porary distress of the Colony unless they go into 
 Confederation. 
 
 I have, however, a few more words to say upon 
 this subject of *' Confederation," and which I will 
 give to the public all in good time. 
 
 C. F. BExXXETT. 
 
 St, John's, JSov. 14///, 1868. 
 
TO TFIE EDITOR OF THE *« TIMES. " 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The continued dropping of water will, 
 it is said, wear away the hardest stone. It would 
 seem as if the Confederates, in their straits after 
 the repeated defeats which they have suffered both 
 inside and outside the Legislature, have fallen 
 back on this moral as a forlorn hope for their 
 future course of action, imagining, no doubt, that 
 the frequent and continued repetition ot untruths 
 and senseless dogmas may, among the many 
 apathetic and unreflective, bo made to pass as 
 truths and valid reasons. It may bo (and I know 
 it is) contended by some that it is a waste of time 
 to answer such impotent trash — that the objections 
 rMsed by the opponents of Confederation are so 
 strong and unanswerable, the numerical strength 
 of the latter so great, (embracing nearly all of 
 every class, with the exception of the members of 
 the Executive Government, the lawyers, a few of 
 the other officials and the place-hunters,) that 
 there cannot be anything to fear from them. Now, 
 I confess that I am not of the number of those who 
 take this view of the situation. My experience 
 has taught me that the battle is not to be won by 
 mere strength. There is something more wanted. 
 All men of observation and experience know right 
 well that an unorganized mol), be it ever so great, 
 is sure to be beaten by a comparatively very small 
 force if well-disciplined and acting with one mind 
 and one purpose. Hence I argue unless the oppo- 
 nents of Confederation cease to despise the strength 
 of the Confederates, and in good earnest begin to 
 organise themselves, they may when too late find 
 r)ut to their sorrow the great mistake they have 
 made. 
 
8 
 
 For the past four years this small party of Con- 
 JTederates has ut intervals, by means of the Govern- 
 Vnent patronage, throu«:h the Press, the exertions 
 of a small fry of petty ofliciMls, an<l the han;;ers-on 
 for employment, been assiduously promulgating not 
 only in this community, but also in other parts of 
 the Colony, their darling measure Confederation — 
 (a measure universally hateful to the people) — 
 and this, too, by the repetition over and over 
 again, among the most ignorant of the population, 
 of their stale, thread -bare, ill-founded, but never- 
 theless plausible and subtle observations. This has 
 been more particularly noticeable within the past 
 few weeks, during which time these Confederates, 
 not at all dismayed by their second ignominious 
 defeat in their discreditable (to use the mildest 
 term) attempt to deceive the members of the 
 Legislature by false pretences, and thereby induce 
 them to adopt the principle of Confederatidn, and 
 thus to render the voice of the House on the mea- 
 sure thereafter unnecessary and impotent, leaving, 
 as it would do, the condi ions upon which it is to 
 be eifected wholly in their hands — that is, in the 
 hands of the Executive Government, of which 
 their prominent advocates are members, have in 
 their assumed strength thus come forth as brazen 
 and as undaunted as ever, and with a system of 
 organization and action never before witnessed 
 among them. 
 
 Now, what are the arguments which the Con- 
 federates use to persuade the people of Newfound- 
 lard to accept of their measure ? They are, firsts 
 that the people are at the present time in that 
 wretched state that any change would be for the 
 better. Second — That under Confederation, Ca- 
 nadians and their capital would come into the 
 Colony in the greatest abundance ; that our fish- 
 
 .vt»i 
 
ermon would no lonfjer be v.itliout gnpplies, that 
 our labourers wouM be employed, our us yet hidden 
 resources iu the minerals of the Colony developed,^ 
 and A«;riculture receive a now impulpo. Third — 
 That union is strenfrth, and that, by joining tho 
 Dominion, we shoulii form part of a great Empire, 
 whereas now wo are ** isolated." Kourtli —that 
 we shall then receive from Canada flour, broad, 
 pork, butter, manufactured goods, &c., duty free. 
 Fifty — The groat field that Cana<la oilers to the 
 rising and aspiring youth in which to attain to 
 eminence. And, lastly — That the Canadians will 
 build a railway throuirh the country, and at its 
 Western terminus will put on a line of Steamers 
 to bring passengers antl goods from Canada and 
 the United States to St John's, there to join ano- 
 ther line of Steamers for England ; and in like 
 manner from England to Canada. Thcso are the 
 reasons given by the Confederates, who no doubt 
 fancy that the people are such fools as to believe 
 them. 
 
 Let us now calmlv and reasonablv consider and 
 analyze these amusing but nevertheless treacherous 
 arguments. 1 will take them in their order. 
 
 First, — I assert that there is no condition what- 
 ever, in which a man may be placed, however bad 
 it may be, that he cannot be placed in a worse 
 one ; and that great as is the present temporary 
 suffering of many of our poor fishermen and others 
 of the labouring population, caused by a reckless 
 and unfeeling government, and excessive as may 
 be theTmancial burdens of the Colony, yet if they 
 go into Confederation they will be in a very much 
 worse condition, — for the reason, that they and all 
 the inhabitants of the Colony will then be still more 
 heavily taxed ; — they will lose their self-govern- 
 ment, and with it every check against the extent 
 
10 
 
 of the taxation ^Yhich the Canadians will have the 
 power of imposing, and all control over the expen- 
 diture of the money arising from the taxes, — the 
 greater injury to arise from the transmission from 
 this Colony to Canada of the product of those taxes 
 over and above the paltry sum of eighty cents, or 
 four shillings per head of our .population, reserved 
 (and the only reservation) for the use and main- 
 tenance of our then local Government, to aid in 
 the payment of the interest of her many millions 
 of debt, in the payment of her Army and Navy, 
 in the building of her railroads, fortifications, 
 docks, canals and other public works, and in other 
 improvements, — compelling our merchants to pur- 
 chase the dearer goods of Canada instead of the 
 cheaper goods now imported from England and 
 elsewhere — and also the dearer articles of food 
 from Canada, instead of the cheaper food usually 
 and more conveniently imported from the United 
 States. 
 
 Now, Mr. Editor, it is a fact that I believe no- 
 body will deny, that notwithstanding there are 
 many persons in this Colony not engaged in the 
 catching and curing of fish, that the inhabitants of 
 Newfoundland arc essentially from circumstances u 
 fishing population, — that they are poor, and con-^ 
 sequently cannot afford to pay the same extent of 
 taxation as can the Canadians with their rich agri- 
 cultural country, their other resources of wealth, 
 and their known considerable accumulations of it, 
 both personal and national. How, then, I ask, 
 can this poor fishing population afford to pay, ia 
 addition to the increased and heavy taxes to be 
 submitted to by them under the Dominion, — afford 
 to pay the additional taxes that will necessarily 
 have to be raised by our local government to fee4 
 the poor (who will still be left with us), — to make 
 
11 
 
 our roads, and to meet our other requirements ? 
 These are serious questions, and ought to be satis- 
 factorily answered. 
 
 The wise and natural remedy for the evil of 
 ■which we have such undoubted cause to complain, 
 and the only one to which we can look for relief, 
 is clear enough, namely — the reduction of our pre- 
 sent enormous taxes ; the doing away with the 
 immense appropriation expended under the pre- 
 text of poor relief, employed (as is universally 
 reported) in electioneering-jobbing, in the limiting 
 that appropriation to the wants of those who are 
 really destitute, to the aged and infirm who are 
 unable to gain a living by their own labor ; and 
 not to be used in feeding the pigs of the well-to- 
 do, to be sold at half its original cost to purchase 
 grog, to add to the store of those who are in good 
 circumstances, and other discreditable purposes. I 
 have reason for believing, from all I hear from 
 every quarter, that not one-fourth of the money 
 voted by the Legislature for the poor ever has 
 reached those who were really in want of it. A 
 great many of these unfortunate and unhappy per- 
 sons have been left to pine and want, and are yet 
 in that condition ; and it is said that those who 
 have received some relief, so very inadequate has 
 it been that death from starvation stares them in 
 the face ; whilst the pampered and ** fat ofi&ciai** 
 paupers (like an imperial tyrant monster oi old) 
 are fiddling, laughing at, and disregarding their 
 miseries. To their second argument that under 
 Confederation, Canadians and their capital will 
 come in abundance into the Colony, I reply, that 
 if the Canadians are so disposed, what is the rea- 
 son they do not come here now ? There is nothing 
 more to prevent them than there is to prevent my- 
 self or any otiner British subject from doing so. 
 
I : 
 
 ! i 
 
 12 
 
 They can, if they have any capital to spare, bring 
 it here now and take the places of those who, by 
 the incompetent and reckless administration of the 
 Government, have been either ruined or driven 
 with their capital from the country ; and also of 
 those who, for the same cause, are preparing to 
 quit it as soon as they can, as also of the numerous 
 fishermen, mechanics and other able-bodied men, 
 on whose class the revenue of this Colony depends 
 for its prosperity. But how, I would again ask, 
 are the Canadians to find money to work our mines, 
 when they go to England and the United States 
 for capital to work their own ? — That they do so is 
 beyond question. 
 
 The third argument is that ** Union is strength." 
 Now I deny that union is always strength — it is as 
 frequently a rope of sand. I contend that there 
 would be no natural bond of union between this 
 Colony and Canada, inasmuch as our commerce 
 with that country, in comparison with our commerce 
 with Great Britain, with the other European 
 markets, with the United States of America, the 
 West Indies and Brazil, is a mere nonentity ; and 
 the Confederates may just as well and with equal 
 force say, that the tacking this Colony to China 
 with its three hundred millions of souls, its immense 
 and splendid territory and vast natural resources, 
 would be a source of strength ! It should not be 
 forgotten, for it is a material and very important 
 argument in this question, that at the present 
 moment this Colony forms part of the great Empire 
 of Great Britain — the strongest power on the face 
 of the globe — of whose flag, of whose political 
 Constitution, of whose many admirable philanthro- 
 pic institutions, and of whose direct alliance with 
 us, we have felt and have still just cause to fe«l 
 
 ^v, 
 
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 na 
 
 ise 
 
 s, 
 be 
 nt 
 nt 
 re 
 ce 
 al 
 
 0- 
 
 th 
 
 IB 
 
 proud — and with them arc our strongest social 
 ties. 
 
 And yet the Confederates would, if they could, 
 persuade the over and truly loyal people of this 
 Colony to commit such a treason as to sever that 
 glorious tie, our greatest strength and hope of 
 security froL^ the foreign foe, and join the embryo 
 and ill-constituted new nation, *' the Dominion of 
 Canada" ! ! ! Was there ever so gross, so wicked 
 and so insane a scheme beford practised on any 
 community that had the slightest pretensions to 
 civilization, or regard for their own security, as 
 that one now urged on the people of this Colony ? 
 Surely the people are not so insane and insensible 
 to their own interests as to afford this project the 
 slightest countenance. The fact is, that although 
 this Dominion has been in existence over a year, 
 there is no more sign of cohesion amongst its 
 several elements than there was at the time of its 
 coerced union ; and if there has been any change, 
 it has been one tending to greater chaos. For 
 instance. Nova Scotia is now more resolved for the 
 repeal of that ill advised, unrighteous, unnecessary 
 and forced union than ever. There are now sitting 
 in her local Legislature no less than thirty-seven 
 opponents to the Confederacy, out of thirty-eight 
 members returned by the people, leaving only one 
 member to support the measure ; and this one will, 
 I have reason to believe, have no chance of re-elec- 
 tion at any ensuing appeal that may be made to 
 the country. Again, the people of New Bruns- 
 wick, who, under the same false pretences as have 
 and are now being put forth by the Confederates 
 in Newfoundland, were duped into the belief that 
 Confederation was to be a good thing for them> 
 have since discovered the great mistake they made 
 in returning a majority of Confederates to their 
 
14 
 
 Local and Dominion Parliament. They have, • 
 however, in every instance where a new election, 
 has since occurred, sent to their Legislature per- 
 sons who are strongly opposed to that measure ; • 
 and it is well known by all who are acquainted 
 with what is passing in that Province that the 
 great mass of the people are now resolved to sup- 
 port iNova Scotia in its elForts for repeal. Even 
 the French population of Lower Canada are dissa- 
 tisfied with the Confederacy, and are beginning to 
 agitate the question for themselves, with a view to 
 repeal also. When the people of Newfoundland 
 consider that the population of these several Pro- 
 vinces must necessarily receive material benefit 
 from the union, in their participation in the great 
 public works that are contemplated by the Domi- 
 nion Government, (such as its railroads, canals, 
 fortifications, ships of war, and general public im- 
 provements, and requirements,) all opening up 
 employment for their respective laboring classes, 
 scattering many millions of money amongst them, 
 and which cannot fail to foster for a time a con- 
 siderable amount of prosperity, besides giving them 
 even permanent advantages in their railroads and 
 canals, which must greatly increase commercial 
 and passenger accommodation — yet if, with all 
 these benefits, thetj feel that the serious disadvan- 
 tages (such as the heavy taxation imposed on them 
 by the Dominion Government, and the debasing 
 servility into which they are brought, under the 
 influence and power of the Canadians) overbalance 
 the good to accrue, how much greater, and far 
 greater, are the disadvantages which the people of 
 Newfoundland would have to suffer, and how much 
 more strong should be their objections against 
 going into that abomination, knowing as they must 
 know, that they would not and could not by any 
 
 1 
 
I 
 
 15 
 
 possibility be benefitted by the expenditure of that 
 increased and excessive taxation, and that the sur- 
 plus revenue raised in this Colony would not, as I 
 have hereinbefore stated, be expended in it ; but 
 that all above the paltry sum of eighty cents a head 
 on our population, would have to pass out of the 
 Colony to be expended in the Dominion of Canada ! 
 How would the Newfoundlanders like this ? and 
 what would be the state and condition of our labour- 
 ing population, of our poor, and of our present 
 remaining commercial capitalists, under such 
 circumstances ? These are subjects for those among 
 us who possess the powers of reflection, and more 
 particularly of those who have money to lose, 
 well to consider. For my part, could I believe that 
 such a sad catastrophe could by any possibility 
 fall on the Colony, I should view its approach with 
 pangs something akin to horror. 
 
 The fourth argument is that we shall receive the 
 flour, bread, pork, butter, &c., of Canada, and its 
 manufactured goods, duty free. If the Govern- 
 ment are so anxious to receive into the Colony 
 these articles duty free, why do they impose taxes 
 on them now^? The Government put on those 
 taxes, and it is in their power to remove them if 
 they choose to do so. In 1865, they avail them- 
 selves of the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty 
 to tax the food that previously came from Canada 
 and other places /ree of duty. For many years to 
 come, as must be well known to those who are 
 competent to govern the Colony, the United States 
 will be our cheapest market for flour and other 
 articles of food, and they must also know, or ought 
 to know, that freights from the United States are 
 usually barely more than half what is paid from 
 Canada. Moreover, it is more convenient to bring 
 our food thence, inasmuch as the ships of our mcr- 
 
16 
 
 to4iints, when so required, call into American pbrts 
 on their return voyages from the West Indies and 
 Brazil to bring such produce as may be requisite. 
 Under a Reciprocity Treaty our trade with the 
 States would be far greater than with Canada. In 
 fact it is so now without that Treaty ; whereas, 
 as I have stated before, with Canada, it is com- 
 paratively trifling, and almost wholly out of the 
 route of our commerce. 
 
 The fifth argument is a subject that interests 
 seriously the youth of this Colony, and all those in 
 it who aspire to any public office, or to enter into 
 political life, whether here or in Canada. The 
 Confederates hold out as a bait to them the pros- 
 pect which Canada offers to the ** rising and 
 aspiring youth of this Colony." Now, as I assume 
 that these young men have some brains wherewith 
 to aid them in their aspirations, I would put the 
 following pertinent questions to them : First — 
 "What is to prevent their going to Canada and in- 
 dulging in their aspirations at the pre. ent time ? 
 Second — What chance under Confederation would 
 any young man in Newfoundland possess of filling 
 an office even in his own native country, when 
 opposed to the political aspirations of the natives 
 and residents of Canada ? And, third— Who 
 would be enabled to commend most effectually that 
 political influence which would be indispensable to 
 secure such appointments? Would it be those 
 living in Canada, backed by their 147 representa- 
 tives, or those of Newfoundland, backed by their 
 eight representatives only ? If the replies to these 
 questions do not satisfy them as to their fate, let 
 them take warning from the treatment the inhabi- 
 tants of Nova Scotia have received at the hands of 
 the Dominion, in whose Commons House there are 
 1 J). Nova Scotiaus, and 15 members from New 
 
17 
 
 Brunswick, and yet, notwithstanding, their public 
 offices are for the most part filled by a pack of 
 needy Canadians. 
 
 The sixth huge humbug, but plausible bait to 
 attract the attention of our labouring population, 
 who form so large a portion of the Electors of this 
 Colony, is the project of building a railroad through 
 the country from St John's to its Westernmost limits, 
 there to meet a line of Steamers to and from the 
 Dominion of Canada, and another line of Steamers 
 between St John's and England, for the purpose of 
 a passenger and traffic communication with these 
 respective countries. Could anything in our age 
 and in this Colony be more utopian ? It is well 
 known that passene^ers will travel and that goods 
 will be carried by the cheapest, least inconvenient, 
 safest and most certain route. Now, there is nobody 
 in his senses will say that such a route can exist 
 through the Island of Newfoundland. That tram- 
 roads may be established for mining purposes, in 
 like manner as the Proprietors of the Tilt Cove 
 Mine have a short line of this description from 
 their Copper Mine to the place of shipment, is a 
 very practicable and even probable thing — the 
 expenses of such a road being comparatively tri- 
 fling when compared with the immense cost of a 
 proper railroad, with its rolling stock and necessary 
 engineering establishment. What traffic for cen- 
 turies to come is likely to pay the interest of the 
 cost, or even the annual expense of such an under- 
 taking ? 
 
 There is another bait, I am told, to be offered to 
 the non-Confederates which, the authors of it say, 
 is sure to be swallowed by them, namely — *' that 
 all articles Jit and necessary for the fisheries are, 
 under the Dominion Government, to be admitted 
 duty free V Is this tne basis on which the pro- 
 
•18 
 
 minent leader of the Confederate party founded bis 
 calculations when he publicly asserted in the Com- 
 mercial Room that the Government had a measure 
 to propose to the Legislature that the country 
 would be sure to approve of, which would remove 
 their objections to Confederation, and which it is 
 also reported one or more of the members of the 
 Legislature, previously opposed to the measure 
 have said they are willing to accept ? If it be, I 
 should myself be glad to know, — and those who 
 hav'e a still deeper stake in the result of the ques- 
 tion than I have, namely, the Electors generally, 
 would also like to know more clearly than they do 
 at present, — what the meaning of this great boon 
 is ? Is it that all our imports are to come into the 
 country duty free ? or is it that they are to be 
 limited to the exemptions only that existed in the 
 Colony some years past, when salt, nets, lines, 
 twines, and it may be some other articles, were not 
 chargeable with duty ? If so, how inadequate and 
 paltry would be the consideration ! And if these 
 exemptions are to be extended to such articles, 
 when is the extent of such exemptions to be made 
 known? Is it after the resolution has passed the 
 Legislature, with the simple explanation ** all 
 things fit and necessary, and used in the fisheries ?" 
 Or, is it another snare to perpetuate their scheming? 
 or when and by whom is it to be decided what are 
 *' ^^ and necessary V I maintain that it is the 
 produce of the fisheries that pays all the taxes, the 
 public servants, the mechanics, and that supports 
 every person, who resides in the Colony ! and that 
 it is impossible to separate any class from those 
 who actually catch the fish. The expenses of the 
 Government, all our public ofi&cers, the wages of 
 the artisan and the laborer, the food they eat, the 
 Qlpthiog they wear, the freights of our ^ak to mar- 
 
"kot, aiui every appliuin.-e iiicideiiLai to tlie lislieri<is 
 — all are paitl for liy Lho fiih that the fishermau 
 takes out of the water ; and the salaries and \va;:jes 
 of those not actually eHi;a<;od iu the ti.sheries are 
 more or less regulated by tho uJiount of taxation 
 that is imposed on the country. Consequently, it 
 13 those who are enr-iged iu the fisheries who havo 
 to bear the burthen of taxation in the end — and 
 this fact cannot be controverted. Such being tho 
 case, why sliould not everi/t'iuv/ be exempt from 
 duty, jind why should not our necessary taxation 
 be limited to the uses of this Coluny solely, to be 
 expended under the ctuUrcd of our local Govern- 
 ment, instead of being sent to the New Dominion, 
 for the boncfit of others ? If th*; catching and curing 
 of the (ish be more cosily in th*? uL-gregate than tho 
 net price obtained for it at market, those immedi- 
 ately engaged in catching it must necessarily have 
 uuthiug loft to support themselves. Such liaviDg 
 been the case of late years is the cause of their 
 present poverty and destitution. Now, if the fisiie- 
 liescaiuiot be sustained under tho pro-r-nt taxation, 
 how are they to be sustained when the increased 
 taxation is imposed by the Dominion Clovernment. 
 
 It is evident from our experience that the only 
 object Canada has in view is to wring all the reve- 
 nues she possibly can out of us —else what is her 
 motive for her strong desire that we should join 
 the Dominion ? If such be not her intention, lej 
 it be understood that none of the money raised by 
 taxation be sent out of the country, but that tho 
 whole be expended in Newfoundland. This would 
 be a proper test that they are disinterested, — but 
 none other would. 
 
 Before I conclude there is one more subject to 
 ^Yhich I wish to call public attention, and more 
 particularly that of the working classes, who do 
 not possess the means of relieving themselves from 
 the annoyances, the difficulties, and the fstill more 
 serious inconveniences to which they will be sub- 
 jected under its operation. I refer to the recent 
 militia law of the Now Dominion, which makejj 
 
every maii^of a given a^<' liable to servo in their 
 army or navy as militia men, or in the regular 
 Dominion army. IfdrafLcJ they jnust serve, unless 
 they have the means wherewith to purchase their 
 exemption; and any militia raised in this country 
 under that hiw, wuuhl, at the dictum of the Domi- 
 nion War office, be compelled to go to any part 
 of that immense territory, should the Dominion 
 Government embark in any war with their neigh- 
 bours, while those who might be drafted into the 
 regular army could bo sent to any part of tho 
 world. So that, after all the sneers that have 
 been attempted to be put upon the ** bleaching 
 bones," it is more than possible that Newfound- 
 landers may yet have to leave their bones to bleach 
 in a foreign land. The people of Newfoundland 
 do not and would not object to give their services 
 to that military organization requisito in every 
 country for the defence of their own homes and 
 shores ; but they do object to the military law of 
 Canada, which will take them from their own 
 country to be treated little better ihun slaves. 
 
 In conclusion, I will ask you, Mr. Editor, and I 
 will ask your readers, wholher there be any one 
 among you who has ever seen a vulid answer to 
 the question that T, in the first letters I wrote on 
 the subject of Conroder;ition, put to the advocates 
 of that measure, namely — " What one single sub- 
 stantial benefit is Newfoundland to receive from 
 entering into Confederation," to balance all the 
 grievous ills she will have to suffer, and all the 
 sacrifices she will have to make, on entering that 
 Confederacy ? 
 
 If any one has a knowledge of such answer, or 
 can name that one substantial benefit, I shall feel 
 obliged if he will impart it for my own information 
 and for the information of the public. As yet I 
 have seen no such answer. 
 
 your obedient Servant, 
 • ' ^ C. F. BENNETT. 
 
 St. John's, Nov. 23, 1868.