4, .-+ •
THE FISHERY QUESTION:
ITS IMPERIAL IMPORTANCE.
BY
J. G. BOURINOT,
CCEBK OF THE CAJfADIAIT HOUSE OF COMMONS ; COBEESPONDIirG SECRETARY OF BOXAL
COLONIAL INSTIXCTB; HONOBABT SECRETART OF THE BOXAL SOCIETY
OF CANADA.
{Reprinted from The Westminstf^i Review for April 1886.)
OTTAWA:
J. DURIE k SON
r' A
IT
THE FISHERY QUESTlOxN
ITS IMPERIAL IMPORTANCE.
1. President ClevelancVs Message to Congress, December 9
l«8o. Congressional Record, Washington, U.S.
2. Pctjjers respecting the Fishery Question. Canada Sessional
Papers, No. 101. Ottawa. 1885.
3. Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Canada
Sessional Papers, No. 9. Ottawa. 1885.
4. Trade and Navigation Returns. Canada Sessional Papers
No. 2. Ottawa. 1885.
5. Report on the Fishery Articles of Treaties between Great
Britain and the United States. Bv W. F. Whitaker
Commissioner of Fisheries. Ottawa^ 1870. '
G. Record of the Proceedings of the Halifax Fisheries Com-
mission. English Commons Papers, 1877.
7. Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute, Vols. IV. and
IX. London.
rpHE fisheries of British North America have been the subject
X of international controversies ever since the commencement
of the eighteenth century. France was the first amoncr European
Powers to avail herself of the riches to be found in the waters
which wash the eastern shores of the noble domain which she
once possessed on the North American continent. From the
earliest days of which we have any accurate historical record
Basque and Breton fishermen have toiled on the prolific banks
of Newfoundland. It was in the days of Queen Anne thai the
B
4 Tlie Fialtery Question :
ambition of France received the first ^reat blow in America, and
England obtained control of the most valuable fisheries of the
New World. It has been often questioned whether Englnnd,
after all, received any snbstanti;d advantai,'es from the victories
which, during the war of the Spanish Succession, humbled the pride
of the Grand Kinij, and 2[ave to Alarlborouirh an eternal fame. In
Southey's well-known poem little Peterkin but voiced the puijlic
sentiment of the century when, after listening to old Kaspar^s
account of Blenheim, he sagely asked, '• but what good came of
it at last?" We all know that the issue was the Treaty of
Utrecht — that much-abused emanation of the diplomatic in-
trigues of Hailey and 8t. John. Professor Seeley, however, in
his very suggestive work on the "Expansion of England," does not
place himself among those historical writers who have nothing
but censure for the conditions of that famous instrument. In
his opinion this treaty marks one of the important epochs in
the history of England's greatness. He looks upon the war
as "in reality the most business-like of all the contests in which
England ever engaged/' Much is certainly to be said in support of
his argument, that the successful accomplishment of the designs
of Louis Quatorze on the crown of Spain would have closed
*' almost the whole New World to the English and Dutch, and
thrown it open to the countrymen of " Colbert, who were at
that moment exploring and settling the Mississippi." By the
signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, however, the ambitious plans
of the Fr(!nch King were foiled, and England entered on a new
career of colonial and maritime greatness.
Englishmen in these days will hardly care to dwell on that
part of the treaty wdiich induced England to enter, as a com-
petitor with Spain, on the infamous slave trade. All of us,
however, will recognize the value of the provisions which gave
England the undisputed possession of Newfoundland as well as of
Nova Scotia, then known by the historic name of Acadie. Here
was the commencement of that new Dominion which in later
times was to stretch across the northern half of the continent,
and in a measure compensate England for the loss of those
colonies which in the davs of Queen Anne were strucjcfling to
establish themselves on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to
the Carolinas. Here for the first time the fishery question makes
its appearance in history. J?y the Treaty of Utrecht France gave
up Newfoundland to Great Britain, but at the same time received,
certain privileges on the coast as essential to the prosecution of
the fisheries which she valued so highly. As a base of opera-
tions for this great industry, she retained possession of He
Royale, now known as Cape Breton, and of the islets of St.
Pierre and Me(|uclon, ofi" the southern coast of the Prima Vista
I fa Inipi't'hd Itnportnnce. 5
of the early navigators. Half a century passed, and the battle
between France and England for the supremacy in xVmerica was
continued on the sliores of tiie St. Lawrence and of Lake Cham-
plain. At last, Louisbourg, Quebec, Montreal, and less important
French posts fell before the victorious soldiers of England, and
when th'j Treaty of Paris was signed in 17G'3, of all the posses-
sions France once owned on the St. Lawrence and by the sea,
there remained to her only two rocky islets otf the coast of New-
foundland. To St. Pierre and Mequelon, insignificant as they
look on the map, she has always clung with great pertinacity
whenever it has been a question of a new treaty between herself
and Great Britain. The privileges she obtained by the Treaty
of Utrecht, of participating in the fisherins of Newfoundland, and
of frequenting a limited range of coast for purposes solely con-
nected with the prosecution of those fisheries, have remained in
force up to the present time, with a few modifications necessary
to preserve peace and order on the shores of the island, where a
small British population has grown up in the course of years.
St. Pierre is now a place possessing many of the characteristics
of a port on the Breton shores, and is the headquarters of a naval
squ£.dron for the protection of the large fleet of French fishing
vessels which frequent the waters of Newfoundland from spring
to autumn. This little island has all the essential features of a
French colony — a commandant, a staff of minor ollicials, and
several gens d'arnies. Its existence for nearly two centuries is
very clear evidence of the importance France still attaches to
the prosecution of the fisheries in North America.
Disputes have often arisen between British and French fisher-
men as the consequence of the concessions made originally by
this famous Treaty of Utrecht. The Government of Newfound-
land has deluged the Colonial Office with dispatches on the
subject, and several Com mi'-sions have been appointed to prevent
disputes. If Newfoundland were a portion of the Dominion of
Canada, or was able to otFer anv larijje inducements to immiora-
tion, we should probably hear more (;f the discontent that crops
'ip from time to time in the island, and the matter might assume
a more serious i.spect ; but as it is, the whole question has never
received any at;ent'<>n outside the Foreign and C(jl()nia.l Oltices,
and a new Convention is (juietly arranged, as was tiie case a few
weeks ago, for the purpose of tiding over difficulties as they arise.
It is not with the fishery difficulty between France and
Newfoundland that we purpose to deal in this paper,
but with a much larger Question affecting the interests
of the most important dependency of the empire, as well as
those of the great island itself which still stands sullenly apart
from the confetierated pritvinces. This cpiestion has arisen
B-2
6 The Fisher ij Question :
during the hundred years since the United States became inde-
pendent of Great Britain. As long as the old colonies remained
in the British Emjnre they had a right to participate in the
valuable fisheries found on the coasts of Nova Scotia and other
parts of the British North American dominions. Until the
War of Independence, and indeed for many years afterwards,
the fisheries off the Atlantic coast of the United States wore
valuable, and sufficiently engrossed the enterprise and industry of
American fishermen, and there was no occasion to go beyond
their own territorial limits ; but as the population of Nev/
England increased, and the American fisheries became less
prolific, it became necessary to seek fresh sea pastures in order
to supply the urgent demands of commerce. Then the people
of the American coast, especially of Maine and Massachusetts,
looked longingly to the rich fisheries owned by the countries
which remained faithful to the Empire, and have ever since ex-
ercised their ingenuity to obtain access to British American
waters.
The history of the efforts made by the United States to
obtain the liberty of fishing on the coasts and within the bays
over which Great Britain claims, as an incident of her sove-
reignty, full territorial jurisdiction, affords abundant evidence of
the value their people have heretofore attached to the fisheries
of Canada and Newfoundland. All that diplomatic or legal
ingenuity could devise in the shape of argument has been
brought forward to influence Great Britain to concede the use
of these fisheries to the fishermen of New England, as long and
on as easy terms as possible. As we shall see in the course of
this paper, Great Britain has in this, as in other negotiations
affecting the relations between herself and the United States,
acted in a spirit of compromise and conciliation which at times,
in the opinion of some Canadians, seemed likely to lessen the
value of the fisheries, and consequently jeopardize the interests
of the British people who own this great source of national
"Wealth and greatness. But the statesmen of Canada as well as
of Great Britain have invariably been ready to take into con-
sideratiou the importance of having the most amicable under-
standing on all disputed points with a people so nearly allied to
them by language and interest, and have made concessions to
the United States which perhaps some of their citizens have not
always fully appreciated at their full value.
When Great Britain formally acknowledged the independence
of the Thirteen Colonies, and it became necessary to consider
the question of the fisheries, the United States obtained " the
liberty " to take fish on the coasts of Newfoundland, but not to
dry or cure the same on that island. They were also allowed
Its Imperial Importance. 7
" the liberty" of taking and curing fish on the coasts and in the
bays and creeks of all British possessions in North America as
long as the same remained unsettled. Their right " to enjoy
unmolested the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland and at
all other places on the deep sea where the inhabitants of both
countries used at any time previously to fii^h," was explicitly
acknowledged in the third article of the same treat3% which was
signed at Paris on September 3, 1788. During the years which
elapsed between the signing of this treaty and the breaking
out of the war of 1S12, the British population increased along
the shores of the bays and creeks of Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, and their interest in the fisheries, enjoyed in com-
mon with the Americans, became very much greater. When
the war came to a close the question of the fisheries was revived,
and Great Britain at once, in accordance with the rules of inter-
national law, considered that any " liberty " formerly extended
to the United States had naturally terminated, and refused, in
obedience to the demands of the British population now largely
engaged in the fisheries, to grant to the Americans "gratui-
tously" the privileges they formerly enjoyed "of fishing within
the limits of British territory or of using the shores of the
British territories for purposes connected with the fisheries/'
At the same time they very properly refused to consider the
remarkable claim set tfp by the United States Government, of
"an immemorial and prescriptive right to the fisheries." It is
hardly necessary to observe that any rights enjoyed by the
people of the old colonies in common with other British subjects
ceased in those countries or waters which were still British pos-
sessions when the former became independent. When no under-
standinoj could be reached durino^ the negotiations which ended
with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, on account of the untenable
claims set up by the American Commissioner, Great Britain
instructed the officers of her fleet stationed in British American
waters not to interfere with American vessels on the Newfound-
land banks, or in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or on the high seas,
but to exclude them from the harbours, bays, and creeks of all
His Majesty's possessions. Several American vessels were sub-
sequently captured for trespassing in British waters, and the
Government of the United States was at last forced to come to
an amicable arrangement on a question which might at any
moment lead to a serious international difficulty. The issue was
the Convention signed by England and the United States on
October 20, 1818, in which the rights of these two nations were
clearly defined. By the first article of that treaty it was agreed
that the inhabitants of the United States should have for ever,
in common with British subjects, the liberty to take and euro
H The Fi.ilu'i >/ Qiit stion :
fish on certain parts of Newfoundland and Labiador, and on
the coasts of the Magdalen Islands, under a few restrictions, on
which it is not necessary to dvvel), since no serious differences
have arisen on the subject. In the same article the United
States " renounce for ever any liberty heretofore enjoyed or
claimed by the inhabitants thereof to take, dry, or cure tish on
or vntkin three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks,
or harbours " of the British dominions in America not included
within the limits just mentioned. At the same time American
fishermen were to be permitted " to enter sucli bays and harbours
for the purpose of shelter and of repairing damages therein, of
purchasing wood, of obtaining water, and for no other purpose
wlia^ever."
Now, the whole controversy in past years between Great
Britain (representing the Dominion of Canada and Newfound-
land) and the United States has tvtrned upon the true effect of
the renunciation on the part of the latter "of any liberty here-
tofore enjoyed to take, dry, and cure fish on or within three
marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours" of
British North America, In order to understand the importance
of this point — wliich is in effect the fishery question constantly
cropping up when all temporary arrangements like the Washing-
ton Treaty of 1^71 cease between Canada and her neighbours —
it is necessary to study the natural configuration of the eastern
or maritime provinces of British North America. Looking at
the map, we find first of all the large island of Newfoundland
standing like a sentinel at the approaches of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. The French and Americans have free access, as a
matter of right, to the Grand and other banks, and certain
privileges of catching and curing fish on the coasts. American
fishermen frequent the Grand Banks and come at times into the
bays and harbours for repairs and bait; and the only important
question that has arisen with respect to Newfoundland is the
value of these privileges within her territorial limits. Leaving
Newfoundland, we come to the fishing-grounds much frequented
by the Americans for the mackerel, herring, and other fisheries.
We see the fine island of Cape Breton, separated from the main-
land of Nova Scotia by a narrow strait known as the Gut of
C'vnseau, and noted for its wild, picturesque beauty. This pas-
sage, whose average breadth does not exceed two and a half
miles, takes us into the Straits of Northumberland, which lie
between Nova Scotia and the fertile Prince Edward Island. We
are now in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which receives the waters of
the noble artery of the commerce of the provinces of Quebec
and Ontario, and of the rich country which is known as the
Great West. In the middle of this gulf arc the Magdalen
hit 1 mptrud Impiniance. 9
Inlands, the home of venturesome Canadian fisliennen. The
coast of New Brunswick, which forms tlie western boundary of
the Ljulf, is indented l>y several hays, one of which — the liay
des Chaleurs, so named by the French navigators in the early
days of New France — is one of the most pictures(jue estuaries
and the most proliHc iishing-oroumis of the continent. In this
bay, and on the coasts of (Jape Breton and Prince Kdward
Island, the American fishermen during this century have
dragged up fish to an enormous value. But leaving the (iulf
of St, Lawrence and passiuL^ around the southern coast of Nova
Scotia, we come to the Bay of Fundy, which is a great arm of the
sea, bounded on the north by the province of New Brunswick,
and having a small portion of the United States teriitory o[)posite
to its southern headland. Tiiis bay is celebrated for its tides,
which rise to the height of seventy feet, and rush into the bays
and harbours that indent the coasts with remarkable velocity.
One of the headlands (Blomidou) has been immortalized oy the
poet Longfellow in his exquisite poem on a sad episode itj the
history of the province of N ova Scotia, which forms the southern
boundary of the bay. As in the days of the Acadian farmers of
Grand Pre,
Pleasantly gleams in the soft sweet air the
Basin of Minus. '^
All the valuable fish to be caught in North America frequent
this arm of the sea and the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
These are the great Hshing-grounds so long envied by the fisher-
men of New England.
Now, it is admitted that the hirgest quantities of fish are
found within three marine miles from the coasts and bays of the
maritime provinces. It is clearly shown by all authorities on
international law, judges who have interpreted that law, or
statesmen who have negotiated treaties, that every nation has
the right of exclusive dominion and jurisdiction over those
I3ortions of its adjacent waters which are included by " promon-
tories " or headlands within its territories. Accordingly, Gre-\t
Britain has always maintained that the three marine miles from
the coasts, bays, and creeks of her possessions must be measured
from the headlands or entrance of such classes of indents. But
this correct assertion of the territorial and maritime jurisdiction
of the Dominion of Canada, as a section of the British Empire,
is extremely unpalatable to the United States, since it shuts
them out practically from the fishing-grounds to which they
attach the most importance — from the Bay of Chaleurs, for
instance, and other parts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the
most important inshore fisheries exist. In their anxiety, then to
10 The Fishery Question :
get free access to these 'private fislieries of Canada, tliey have
heretofore raised the issue, that the line of demarcation between
exclusive and common water should not be measured from the
headlands of bays, but should follow the shores of those iiidents
as if they were sinuosities of the coast. If their contention were
founded on any sound principles of international law, or sustained
by any generally admitted authority, then it would be difficult
to exclude them from the most important ii>hing-grounds of
America. We do not propose to go at any length into this
question, inasmuch as it is only necessary to refer our readers to
all the recognized authorities on the subject to prove that the
issue raised by the Americans is entirely untenable. Their own
jurists and legal authorities have disposed of the question in a
sense favourable to the British interests involved in the matter.
That well-known authority Wheaton states the rule very clearly :
*'The maritime territory of every State extends to the ports,
harbours, bays, mouth of rivers, and adjacent parts of the sea, in-
closed by headlands belonging to the same State." Chancellor
Kent, an equally hii>h authority, admits that bays like Delaware
Bay, which may be compared in many respects to Bay des
Chaleurs, is wholly within the territoriid jurisdiction of the United
States, and that this jurisdiction extends for three miles seaward
from its headlands, Capes May and Henlopen. The same rule
applies to Chesapeake and Massachusetts Bays, which are also
inlets of large size. The eminent lawyer and statesman, Daniel
Webster, admitted, when the question came under his notice in
185:<i, that the claim of England to draw a line from headland
to headland, and to capture all American fishermen who might
follow their pursuits inside of that line, was well founded, and
that " it was undoubtedly an oversight in the Convention of
1818 to make so large a concession to England ! Indeed, if we
look at the first article of this Convention, we find that the
United States " hereby renounce for ever any liberty hereto^
fore enjoyed or claimed " by their people in British waters. In
these words they acknowledged the exclusive right of the British
to certain fisheries, and solemnly withdrew any pretensions they
had previously advanced to those fisheries. In the various
documents that have been published by the British and Canadian
Governments ever since the fishery question has been a matter
of controversy, the whole issue is clearly set forth, and the posi- ^
tion of Great Britain is shown to be incontrovertible. The word
" bay " has always received a positive definition in all text-
books, and is invariably spoken of " as a portion of sea enclosed
within indents of coasts," and it is also estalDlished beyond reason-
able doubt that the three marine miles from which Americans
are excluded must be measured from the outer edge or chord of
Its Imperial Tin porta nee. 11
the bay, or other indentation of the British coasts. In tlie
Franconian case,* which came before the British Courts in 1*^76,
the question involved was whether or not a foreigner command-
ing a foreign vessel could legally be convicted of manslaughter
committed whilst sailing by the external coast of England,
within three miles from the shore, in the prosecution of a voyage
from one foreign port to another. The Court, by a majority of
seven judges to six, held the conviction bad on the ground that
the jurisdiction of the Common Law Courts extended only to
offences committed within the realm, and that at Common Law
such realm did not extend on the external coasts beyond low-
water mark. None of the judges, however, doubted that Parlia-
ment had power to extend the laws of the realm to a zone of
three miles around the outer coast, if it saw fit to do so. The
Lord Chief Justice of England, by whose casting judgment the
conviction was quashed, not only guarded himself expressly
against being understood as throwing any doubt whatever upon
the jurisdiction of the Courts over inland or territorial waters, but
emphatically affirmed such jurisdiction. " If an offence was
committed/' he said, "in a bay, gulf, or estuary, i nter fauces
terrcv, the Common Law would deal with it because the parts of
the sea so circumstanced were held to be within the body of the
adjacent county or counties." In another case, which was
decided by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Councilt in 1877,
the question arose between two telegraph companies whether
Conception Bay in Newfoundland (which is rather more than
twenty miles wide at its mouth and runs inland between forty and
fifty miles) was within British waters or a part of the high seas.
One of the companies laid a cable and buoys within the bay at
a distance of more than three miles from the shore, and the rival
company contended that the former had infringed rights
granted to them by the Legislature of Newfoundland. The
Judicial Committee held that Conception Bay was within the
territorial dominion of Great Britain. All bodies of water or
inlets inter faiices temv, being then clearly within the terri-
torial jurisdiction of England and her dependencies, it follows
that when the Americans by the Convention of 1818 explicitly
renounced all liberty previously enjoyed to fish "on or within
three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or har-
bours of His Britannic Majesty's dominions," they gave U[)
any pretensions they muy previously have had, and confined
* The Queen v. Keyn, L. R. 2 Ex. Div. 63.
t The Direct United States Cable Co. (Limited), Appellants, i'. The Aiiijflo-
Aniericau Telcii^raph Co. (Limited) and other llespoiidents, L. R. App. Cases,
v(d. ii.:i'JJ.,
b3
12 The Fishery Question :
themselves to the waters a leafjue distant from those indents
measun^l from headland to headland. The British Govern-
ment, in their desire to afford every facility to the United
States consistent with their sovereii^n rights and the interests of
the people of British North America, have since 1815 thought
it expedient to relax, in the case of the Bay of Fundy, the appli-
cation of the rule to which they have generally adhered. They
have permitted American fishermen to pursue their calling it)
any part of the bay, provided they should not approach, except
in cases specified by the treaty of 1S18, within three miles of
the entrance of any bay on the coast of Nova Scotia or New
Brunswick. While maintaining, as a matter of strict construc-
tion, that this large bay is rightfully claimed by Great Britain as
a body of water within the meaning of the Convention of 1818,
they have considered that in one respect this inlet could be
treated exceptionally, inasmuch as there was some plausibility in
the reasonini]; of the United States, that the headlands were not
only sixty miles apart, but one of them was not British ; and
that, as pointed out by Mr. Everett to Lord Aberdeen in 1844,
" Owing to the peculiar configuration of the coasts of this arm of
the sea there is a succession of bays indenting the shores both of
ISiova Scotia and New Brunswick, within any distance not less
tha!i three miles, from which American fishermen were neces-
sarily excluded by holding the whole body of water to be in the
British territorial limits." The same argument could not bo
used in the case of the Bay of Chaleurs or other important
indents of the coasts, and under these circumstances, with a view
of preventing international disputes in waters so close to the
United States territory, the British Government have never
pressed their undoubted legal right to exclude American fisher-
men from the bay in question.
The Imperial authorities have on many occasions strictly
maintained the rights they possess under the law of nations.
From 1818 to 1854 the British cruisers detailed by the Imperial
and Colonial Governments for the protection of their fisheries
captured and confiscated several American vessels that were
found ranging at points varying from quite near the shore to a
distance of upwards of ten miles from land, on the ground that
they were within the headlands of bays. In 185 1<, after con-
siderable negotiation for years, the two Governments arranged a
Reciprocity Treaty which temporarily settled the increasitjg
difficulties on the question. By this treaty the United States
obtained free access to the fishing-grounds on tiie east coast of
British North America, and certain natural products of these
two countries, like fish, coal, fltnu^ meal, lumber, and salt, were
allowed to enter into Ctach, free of duty. This arrangement was
ItH Imperial Importance. 13
of undoubted advantage to the United States and the provinces.
from a purely commercial point of view. Not only did it settle
for the moment an ever-present cause of irritation, but it opened
a large and increasing market to the export trade of British
North America, while the Americans were able to prosecute one
of their great industries at a decided advantage, and at the same
time obtain additional biiyers for their flour, corn, meal, and
manufactured goods. It is necessary, however, to observe that
the maritime provinces never considered the commercial conces-
sions made to them by the United States as an adequate com-
pensation for the very valuable fisheries of British Xortli America.
In those days, indeed, the Americans, by their greater enterprise
and the superiority of their vessels, practically beat the British
American fisherman in their own waters, and derived advantages,
it was claimed, beyond any granted by the United States. From
an Imperial or national point of view, the Reciprocity Treaty had
its dangers as long as the provinces had no bonds of union. It
enticed thousands of the most enterprising youih of the country
into the lishing fleet o> New England — and many of the schooners
of Gloucester and Marblehead are even yet manned by Nova
Scotians — and made the commerce of the maritime provinces in
the course of years very largely dependent on the United States.
In those days the provinces were isolated from each other, and
a commercial or political union between them seemed still far
off. In the absence of such a union, the people were not ani-
mated by a national feeling, but some of them began to consider
whether a closer connection with the United States was not
among the probabilities of the future. Manufactures were
brought in large quantities from the United States in return
for the natural products sent them by the provinces, and there
was no prospect of the growth of a native manufacturing industry
to add to the wealth and give additional employment to the
people, large numbers of whom were annually leaving the country
for the manufacturinfj: districts of New Ensfland. Whilst the
treaty lasted the balance of trade with respect to manufactured
goods amounted to £18,0(10,000 sterling in favour of the United
States. The treaty came to an end iu 1865 by the action of
the Washington Government. Its repeal was notoriously hastened
by the desire that generally prevailed among a large number of
people in the United States to punish, if possible, the provinces
for the sympathy which the majority of them were believed to
have extended to the South durin<j^ the War of Seces.^ion. A few
public men, especially in New England, seem to have been led
away by the belief that the treaty was indispensable to the
commercial prosperity of the maritime provinces, and tliut they
could be starved int«j annexation, or into eventually giving up
14 Tlie Fhherij Question :
the fisheries on very advantageous terms to the Americans. The
results have not been as the Americans i:nticipated. Happily
for the national interests of British jS'orth America, its public
men agreed at this critical juncture in their affairs to a political
union, which has stimulated intercolonial trade, civen a new
direction to colonial commerce, and taught the people the neces-
sity of self-reliance, and of promoting a national policy in all
matters affecting their political and industrial interests.
]n the meantime, while the people of the provinces were
endeavouring to consolidate their Government, and establish a
lederatiou on a '30und basis, they found themselves threatened
with ti;e fishery question in its irritating form. The Convention
of 1818 was again in force, and the fishermen of New England
were once more ranging in their waters. All the efforts of the
Canadian Government to bring about a satisfactory commercial
arrangement with the United States were entirely unsuccessful.
The question then constantly pressed itself upon them, how best
to meet the difficulty of maintaining their rights without bringing
about any serious international complication. The correspond-
ence between England and Canada, as it appears in the Canadian
Blue-books from lb 67 to 1871, is not very flattering to the
national vanity of those Englishmen who believe there are times
when a little firmness is necessary in the maintenance of un-
doubted Imperial rights. All the despatches of the British
Government are in the direction of conciliatinsf the United States
in every way possible, until at last it was pointed out in one
Canadian Minute of Council that "the course suggested (the
freedom of the fisheries for another year) would certainly be
regarded by the American people as an evidence of weakness on
the part of Great Britain, and of an indisposition to maintain the
rights of the colonists." The answers of the Canadian Govern-
ment to the despatches from the Imperial authorities are dis-
tinguished throughout by a firm assertion of the rights and
interests of Canada, and in yielding as they did on several
occasions to the suggestions of the Colonial Secretary they proved
the anxiety of Canadians not in any way to emharrass England
at a time when the Alabama question had caused u feeling of
deep irritation against her in the Northern States. Concession
after concession was made to the United States, until at one
time it did look, as Mr. Mitchell, the able Minister of Marine ,
and Fisheries, pointed out to his colleagues, there was every
danger that " the hesitation on the part of England to assert an
undoubted national right would be misconstrued, and be made
the ground for other and more serious exactions, until such a
point la reached that neither country can recede from with
honour.'' However, the Canadian Government reluctantly
Its Imperial Iinpoitance. 15
acquiesced in the sug:gestion of her Majesty's Ministers at tlie
very outset, and adopted the temporary expedient of issuing
season licenses to American fishing vessels at a nominal tonnage
/ate, " so as formally to preserve the right of sovereignty without
occasioning any dangerous comphcations such as were appre-
hended by the Imperial authorities.'^ American fishermen were
restrained at first to bays under ten geographical miles, and sub-
sequently to those only under six miles in width — a concession
entirely in accord with the demands of the United States before
and since 1854. They required that three warnings should l)e
given to American fishermen, and consequently rendered the
licensing system eventually a nullity. During the four years
this system remained in force it was systematically evaded, and
at last became practically worthless, according as the Americans
began to uuderstand that the British authorities were very lax in
executing it. In the first year of its existence, -'354 licenses w-ere
taken out, but they dropped to 25 in 18G9, though every one
knew that the Canadian waters were largely frequented by
American fishermen. The impression prevailed among the latter
that her Majesty's Government, in their great anxiety to avoid
anything of an irritating tendency in the existing temper of the
American people towards Great Uritain, arising out of the
Alabama grievance, would not make any seizures ; and, as a
matter of fact, notwithstanding repeated violations, no captures
were ever heard of. Vice- A.dmiral Wellesley, then in command
of the Noith American fleet, considered it his duty to point out
to the Secretary of the Admiralty that " as a consequence of the
continued indulgence towards the Americans, very few colonial
fishermen are engaged in fishing, owing to the almost prohibitory
tariff imposed by the United States on fish imported in colonial
vessels, and colonial fishermen therefore in considerable num-
bers man American vessels." The (government of Canada, led
then as now by Sir John Macdonald, known the world over
as a statesman of broad national views, felt called upon to state
that they viewed
with very serious concern the effect upon our maritime population
of such dependence upon American einjiloyers. It creates sympathy
with foreign sentiments and institutions, and aifords o[)portunities lor
instilling into the minds of our peoplf ideas and expectations altogether
inimical to British connection. There is actually presenter^ to tlieni the
example of subjects of a republican power and citizens of a foreign
JState prosecuting their calling at the very doors and in the exclusive
limits of British subjects in Canada, who are themselves shut out of
the markets of that country by a prohibitive tariff adopted in the
interest of their own fishermen, while ours cannot even enjoy their
own exclu&ive privileges. The influence of these considerations cannot
16 The Fishery Question :
be otlierwise than seductive of the loyal attachment and pcrsonjil
enterprise of our seaboard population. It discourages the independent
employment of Canadian fibbing craft and provincial fishermen. It
tempts our fishermen to catch and sell their fish clandestinely to owners
of Air.erican vessels, who can afterwards market them in the United
States, free of duty, as American-caught fish. This practice demoralizes
our population, and accustoms them to violations of our own laws.
Finally, owing to the urgent representations of the Canadian
Government, the Imperial authorities arranged with the Admmis-
tration at Washington the appointment of a joint British and
American Commission " to treat of and discuss the mode of
settling the different questions which have arisv .1 out of the
lisheries, as well as those which affect the relations of the United
States towards Her Majesty's possessions in North America."
Though the chief object of this Commission, when first discussed,
was to consider the fishery question, the Government of the
United States succeeded in having its scope subsequently enlarged
so as to include the Alabama controversy. Consequently the
fishery question soon took an altogether secondary place, and the
strong claims which the Canadians had against the Washingt()n
Government for the expenses and losses incurred by them
through the Fenian invasions of 18G6 and 1^70 were entirely
ignored by the High Commission. The history of this Commis-
sion is well known, and all that is necessary to say here is, that
it looked very much for a while as if the fisheries of Canada
were to be given up to the United States without adequate com-
pensation. The American Commissioners, in accordance with
the policy which the United States had steadily pursued towards
Canada since 1805, refused to consider a new Reciprocity Treaty,
and it was at last decided to admit the United States to the
inshore sea fisheries of British North America, on condition that
Canadian fish and fish-oil were atlmitted free of duty into the
American market, and that commissioners be appointed to deter-
mine the amount of any compensation which in their opinion
ought to be paid by the Government of the United States in
return for the privileges accorded to their citizens under the
treaty. It will be seen that the claim which the people of
Canada had been making for years to have coasting privileges on
the American shores were not yielded, if indeed they were ever
seriously considered. But strong as were their doubts of the,
justice of the Treaty, regretful though they were that the
whole question of the fisheries, especially as respects the three
miles' limit, had not been for once and ever settled on a
fair and equitable basis, the Canadians acknowledged' the diflfi-
culties of the situation from an Imperial point of view, and
determined to yield to the force of circumstances, with the hope
Its Imiierial Importance. 17
that their interests would be eventually guarded by the new
Commission that was to consider the question of compensation.
Their hopes were not disappointed by the decision of the Com-
mission, which met at Halifax in the summer of 1S77. Tlie
three Commissioners — M. Maurice Delfosse, Belgian Minister at
Washington ; Mr. E. li. Kellogg, and Sir A. T. Gait — gave a
most patient hearing to the claims of the parties to the issue, and
after v.onsidering all the evidencj submitted to them, a majority
decided to award the sum of 5,500,000 dols. in gold, to be paid
by the Government of the United States to the Government of
Great Ikitain, in accordance with the provisions of the Washing-
ton Treaty. Mr. Kellogg, however, on the part of the United
States, dissented i'rom the award, though it is impossible to read
the Blue-book containing^ the evidence and arofuments of counsel
on both sides without coming to the honest conclusion that the
Dominion made out a clear case, and that the sum in question
was only fair compensation over and above the relatively small
commercial advantages conceded to Canada by the terms of the
Treaty of Washington, In all probability the Americans were
surprised that for once in the history of treaties between them-
selves and Great Britain they were obliged to concede more than
they intended when they proposed a Commission for the settle-
ment of the question. The history of the JVIaine, Oregon, and
San Juan boundaries, had taught them probably to believe that
a little diplomatic ingenuity on their part would enable them to
get the better of England and her great dependency in this
matter. Iliac illw lachryinco.
However disappointed the Americans may have felt at the
award, they had no other alternative open to them than to pay
the money and carry out the provisions of the Washington
Treaty. The arrangement was advantageous to both countries,
since it set at rest a vexatious question and stimulated com-
mercial intercourse between them. The Canadians were not
surprised, however, to find that the American Government, in
accordance with their ])ast policy with respect to the fisheries,
gave due notice of the repeal of the treaty after it had been in
existence for twelve years. Consequently it expired in July
1SS5, and the Convention of 1818 should have once more
immediately governed the relations of the two nations. It was
not thought advisable, however, by either the Canadian or
the Imperial Government to exclude American fishermen at
once from the fisheries, as many of them were already in Cana-
dian waters when the treaty came to an end, and had they
l)een seized without full notice having been previously given
them, a serious feeling might have arisen between the countries
immediately interested. After considerable correspondence
18 The Fialurij Question ••
between the respective Governments of London, Ottawa, and
Washington, it was agreed that steps should be tak^n at the
earhest date possible for the appointment of a joint Commission
"charged with the consideration and settlement, upon a just,
equitable, and honourable basis, of the enJre question of the
fishing rights of the two Governr nts and their respective
citizens on the coasts of the United States and of iiritish North
America." Accordingly, during the past season, American
fishermen freely frequented the waters of the Dominion, while
Canadian fishermen had not only to suffer this foreign com-
petition at their own doors, but found the market heretofore
open to them in the United States crippled by high import
duties at a time when the price of this staple article of com-
merce was exceedingly low, and the demand in the West Indies
had fallen off on account of the depression existing in the sugar
industry of those islands. However, Canada had no other course
open to her in this perplexing dilemma, involving such im-
portant international considerations, than to agree to the tem-
porary arrangement in question, with the hope that the difficulty
would be satisfactorily settled in the way proposed. It is pleasant
to find that President Cleveland is evidently desirous of arriving
at a just and honourable solution of the question as soon as
possible. In his message to Congress in December last he
expresses his opinion that, " in the interest of good neighbour-
hood and of the commercial intercourse of adjacent communi-
ties, the question of the North American fisheries is one of large
importance/'' After recommending that Congress provide for
the appointment of a Commission, he proceeds to say: "The
fishing interests being intimately related to other general
questions dependent upon contiguity, consideration thereof, in
all their equities, might also properly come within the province
of such a Commission, and the fullest latitude of ex[)res:jion on
both sides should be permitted."
We have now given an historical review of this question
since it became a matter of controversy between Great Britain
and the United States. It will be seen that throughout all the
negotiations on the fisheries the public men of Canada have
shown a fair and conciliatory disposition, which ought to be fully
appreciated by their neighbours, now that happily there exists a
far better understar.ding on all questions than was the case up
to 1871, when the people of the United States were not so -
favourably disposed towards Canadians and Englishmen
generally. It is obviously inconvenient on all sides that these
international issues should be of constant occurrence when it
has always been possible to settle them for a long term of years,
if not for all time. The Canadians have always felt — and Presi-
Its Imperial Importance.
19
dent Cleveland evidently feels the same way — that the fishery
question is intimately connected with the commercial relations
oH the two countries, and that it ohould be arranged in the shape
of a new Reciprocity Treaty like that of 1854. When their
efforts to brino; about such a business arranofemGnt failed in
1865, and a^T^ain in 1871 when the Washington Treatv was con-
eluded, they felt compelled to assume a dignified attitude and
make no more approaches to the United States on th6 subject,
though they placed a clause in their Customs Act which permits
the Canadian Government at any time to modify or remove the
duties on certain American products whenever their neighbours
pursue a similar policy towards the Dominion, They have been
always ready to meet the people of the United States ** in the
interest of good neighbourhood ; " and it is now for Congress to
show how far it is prepared to go in the direction indicated in
the friendly language of Mr. Cleveland. Canada is curious to
see whether there is to be at last a new policy with respect to
herself — a policy of liberality and justice worthy of a great
people.
Canadians cannot well exaggerate the importance of their
fisheries from a national as well as commercial point of view.
Whilst the fisheries of the United States on the New England
coasts have become relatively unimportant, those of British
North America still give employment to a large number of
people, and are the foundations of the wealth and prosperity of
the maritime provinces. They are not a declining, but an in-
creasing branch of industry and commerce. In 18(37, when the
provinces were confederated, the value of the total product of the
lake, river, and sea fisheries of Canada amounted to only a little
over £2,000,0(H) sterling in round numbers, but in 1884- it reached
roiiowmg ngures : —
Nova Scotia . . . . .
. £1,800,000
New Brunswick ....
800,000
Quebec .....
350,000
British Columbia ....
300,000
Ontario .....
250,000
P. E. Island ....
210,000
Total for the Dominion
. £3,710,000
Add estimated product of Newfoun
dland 2,000,000
Total for British North America
. £5,710,000
Newfoundland, however, does not stand in the same position
as the Dominion with respect to the Americans. Her fisheries
are chiefly of cod, pursued in the Grand and other banks on
20 The Fmhery Question :
which English, French, and Arnericaus have equal rights of
fishing. When the question of compensation to all the provinces
came before the Commission in LS77, it was shown that the
Americans derived decided advantages from the privileges con-
ceded to them on the coasts of the island, of procuring bait and
supplies, refitting, drying, and transhipping their cargoes, while
their vessels contrive to prosecute the fisheries the whole season.
It is, however, as we have already shown, within three miles of
the bays and coasts of the maritime provinces of the Dominion
that the Americans prosecute the mackerel, herring, and other
fisheries, to which they attach so much value. The annual value
of the Canadian catch of mackerel is now about £i.j(),()00 a year,
and of the herring, £000,000, It is impossible, from American
statistical returns, to obtain the exact value of the tish caught
in Canadian waters by American tishermen, but if any one has
the patience to go through the evidence adduced before the Com-
mission of 1877, he will see that there has been for half a
century a large number of American vessels annually distributed
off the coasts of the Dominion. Between 400 and 500 vessels
annually pass through the Gut of Canseau on their way to the
mackerel fishery of the gulf, and it may be estimated that
altogether from 700 to 800 vessels now yearly compete with the
Canadians for their fisheries. Every schooner engaged in the
mackerel fishery takes on an average 300 barrels of that fish
alone, worth about £2 5s. each. The facilities enjoyed by the
Americans of landing and transhipping their fish to the United
States, as it may suit their convenience, under the treaties here-
tofore in force, have enabled them to compete with the Canadians
on the most favourable terms. Not only are the Canadians
forced to meet this formidable competition, but they find their
fisheries injuriously affected by the appliances used by the
Americans in prosecuting their vocation. One of the Canadian
inspectors, in charge of one of the most important maritime
districts, reports that " the practice of seine fishing is monopolized
almost entirely by the fishermen of the United States, and is
strongly protested against by the resident fishermen on the coast.^'
By this method the fish are culled, and all those too small to
furnish the required grade are thrown dead into the sea ; and
consequently there is an enormous waste of young fish every
year, and the fishing-grounds are seriously polluted. The same
officer also bears testimony to the vigorous prosecution of th6
Canadian fisheries by the Americans, and lets us into the secret
of the difficulty of obtaining accurate statistics of the American
catch in the waters cf the Dominion :
The seining by the fishermen of the United States, which proved
to them so prolific of rich fares, was prosecuted almost entirely
Its Imperial Iinpoitance. 21
inside of the headlands and within the bays of the coast — i.e., the
three miles' limits ; yet it is a fact capable of proof that tliey had
private instructions to report, on their arrival in their own ports,
thao their cargoes were entirely taken outside of the three miles' limit.
There is every reason to believe that the fisheries of Canada
are at the present time just as valuable to the United States as
they were in 1877, when it was decided to grant over a million
pounds sterling to Canada as C()mpens;iti()n due to her beyond
any advantages derived from the removal of the duty on the
products of her sea fisheries. The Canadian fish annually im-
ported into Boston and othi r ports of the United States is indis-
pensable as an article of food and commerce, and must be pur-
chased by the Americans as long as they cannot supply their
wants from their own waters. It is quite safe to say that
Canada is fully justified in demanding the free admission into
the markets of the United States of her coal, salt, lumber, lish,
and agricultural products, in return for giving the Americans free
access to her lisheries and reciprocity of trade in the articles just
mentioned. Indeed, it is well known that the lumber trade with
the United States has not dmiinished in consequence of the
heavy import duty to which it is subject, but must increase in
importance whilst the forests of the West become less valuable
and unable to supply the demands made upon them from year
to year as the country increases in population and wealth. In
the case of coal the removal of the present duty will be an
advantage to the maritime provinces, but looking at the bulk
of exports of Canada to the United States, it is clear that they
are of prime necessity to the people of the latter country, and
a new Keciprocity Treaty under existing circumstances will
lessen prices and conduce largely to the benefit of American
consumers. But Canadians have always recognized the fact
that a treaty based on equitable principles will be commercially
advantageous to both countries, and clearly "in the interest of
good neighbourhood." Canada, it must be also remembered,
occupies a position very different from the one she held from
l!S5t to 1865, when the provinces were politically and com-
mercially isolated from each other, and were annually flooded
by American manufactures. Now a large interprovincial trade
lias grown up since 1867, manufactures have been established, a
national spirit of self-reliance has been created, and the
Dominion can enter into a new Reciprocity Treaty without
any fear of the ulterior consequences upon the people in any
section. Canadians are now prosecuting the fisheries with great
vigour, and with the swift vessels and better appliances they are
now employing they need not so much fear competition in their
own waters as in old times. Animated by the new spirit of
2E l^he Fishery Question :
national unity that is the natural outcome of confederation, and
fully conscious that their existence or prosperity does not depend
ou tlie commercial caprice of any country, they can survey the
whole situation with confidence and equanimity. They feel
at the same time that, with the friendly feeling that now
exists between England, the United States, and Canada, the
prospects of a newtreatyandof the settlement of the whole Fishery
question ought to be favourable. It is true there are signs of opposi-
tion to a Fishery Commission shown in New England ; but they
are of a purely selfish nature, and not based on broad national
considerations, and they should not prevail in the face of the
statesmanlike action already taken by President Cleveland and
Secretary Bayard.
Of the national importance of the fisheries there is abundant
evidence. It may be said of the maritime provinces of the
Dominion, as of the wealthy city of Amsterdam, that the origin
of their prosperity must be sought in the fisheries. They form
the basis of a great commerce, and of a large and increasing
marine, only exceeded in aggregate tonnage by three nations of
the world. At the present time Canada exports fish to the
annual value of £1,800,000 sterling, of which the United States
take £800,000, and the West Indies and South American
countries about £750,000. Newfoundland has an export trade
to about the same amount, but her commerce is chiefly with
Spain, Portugal, and South America. The prosecution of the
fisheries and their carriage to foreign countries have served to
create a hardy and industrious class of men, who possess all the
qualities of first-rate sailors. The following tabular statement
will show the importance that this industry has attained in each
of those provinces of Canada largely engaged in maritime
pursuits : —
Decked vessels. Boats. Men.
Nova Scotia . . 796 ... 7,528 ... 30,000
New Brunswick . . 2U ... 4,440 ... 9,000
Prince Edward Island . 25 ... 2,704 ... 5,500
Quebec . . .146 ... 6,761 ... 11,000
Total . . 1,181 21,433 55,500 *
The figures for Newfoundland are not available, but we may
add 36,000 as probably the number of men engaged in all th.e
fisheries in that island. The carriage of the products of the sea
gives employment to a large proportion of the shipping of British
North America. In 1857 the iJominion of Canada owned 5,882
vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 800,000 tons, and valued
at £5,000,000 sterling. The construction of steam and iron vessels
of recent years has necessarily lessened the demand for wooden
Its Imperial Importance. 2S
craft, but nevertheless the marine of Canada shows an increase
during the past eighteen years. In ISSl tiie total number of
sailing vessels, steamers, and barges registered in the Dominion
was 7,254-, measuring 1,253,747 tons, and valued at over
£7,500,000. Even in that dull year Canada built 3S7 vessels, of
an aggregate tonnage of 72, HI tons, and of the value of £71)0,000.
The number of steamers is steadilv on the increase — the acrtjre-
gate tonnage of this class having been 207,0()*J tons in li^Si.
Canada consequently owns a commercial marine of which the
whole tonnage is exceeded only by that of Great Britain, the
United States, and Norway. It may be estimated that Cana<la
has now at least 75,000 men regularly employed in her fisheries
and carrying trade. In every port of the world, at some time
or other in the course of the year, we can see Canadian sailors
and Canadian ships.*
The foregoing figures show the importance of the fisheries as an
element of national wealth and strength. In the 'lefences of the
Dominion the seventy-five thousand men who sail the vessels and
till the deep-sea pastures of Canada must perform an active part.
Here exists a Naval Reserve from which the Empire could draw
at need in a great Imperial crisis. In an able essay, published
by Captain Colorab, R.N., some years ago, he referred at length
to this very subject, and showed how the resources of all parts of
the Empire can be efficiently combined and organized so as to
render each and all almost impregnable. He has shown that
the main object of the naval organization of the Empire should
consist in the maintenance of its communications by sea, and
that the coaling stations of Great Britain abroad are the principal
strategical positions which it is essential to guard. He argued
that this object will be best attained by the maintenance of an
adequate sea-going fleet, charged with two great defensive func-
tions — one to keep the enemy in his own ports, and the other to
keep open the great sea routes to and from the heart of the
Empire. No doubt the time must come when the whole
question of the defence of the Empire will require the earnest
consideration of Imperial and Colonial statesmen. If the grand
* I see to every wind unfurled
The flag that bears the maple wreath ;
Th)' swift keels furrow round the world,
Its blood- red folds beneath.
Thy swift keels cleave the farthest seas;
Thy white sails swell with alien gales ;
To stream on each remotest breeze,
The black smoke of thy pipes exhales.^
1 "Canada: A Poem." By T. G. Roberts. The Century Magazine,
January 1886.
24 The Fishery Question :
scheme of Imperial Federation which is now the dream of
poHtical enthusiasts should ever reach the arena of practical
discussion, the question of defence will be one of the first subjects
of deliberation, but if that scheme in its entirety should prove
impractical)le, it ought at least to be the patriotic aim of the
])ublic men of England and her semi-independent colonies to
unite for common commercial and defensive purposes. It is
quite clear that the old times, when England took part in
aggressive wars, as in the days of Louis Quatorze and Napo-
leon I,, are over, and that her policy will be henceforth to confine
herself to the protection of her widely extended dominions. A
I)oIicy of defence that will combine all the resources of her
dependencies is one calculated to maintain her prestige and
prevent the disintegration of her vast Empire. The triumphs
of steam and electricity are effectually surmounting the difficulties
of distance, and should render more practicable what some
persons persist in believing to be mere visions of a united
Empire. In any plan of Imperial defence Canada must hence-
forth perform an important part. On her Atlantic and Pacific
coasts are the finest harbours of the world, and enormous
deposits of bituminous coal available for steam purposes.
Halifax is a strongly fortified port, with a large dock3?ard ; and
at Louisbourg — now desolate, but once a famous fortress of the
French — could well be established another important station for
a naval squadron. Both at these places and in British Columbia
can be formed those coaling stations which, as Captain Colomb
has pointed out, are essential as strategical positions. The
present Governor-General of Canada in a recent speech referred
to the important works tl«at are now in course of construction
on the Pacific coast for purposes of defence.
You have here at Esquirnalt (he said) a naval station likely to
become one of the greatest and most important strongholds ot" the
Empire. You have a coal supply sulHcient for all the navies of the
world. You have a line of railway which is ready to bring that coal
up to the harbour of Esquinialt. You will shortly have a graving-
dock capable of accommodating all but one or two of her Majesty's
largest ships. You have, in short, all the conditions re<iuisite for what
1 beheve is spoken of as a j)lace (Valines; but until now that j)la':e
d'armes lias been inaccessible except by sea. We shall henceforth be
able to bring supplies, stores, and material of war, by an alternative
route, direct, expeditious, and lying for more than half its way over
British territory."
An astute statesman, the Marquis of Lansdowne, fully
appreciates the Imperial importance of the Canadian Pacilic
Railway as a meaus of keeping open the communications between
Its Imjjeiial Importance. '^^
England and her dependencies ia the East, and of strengthening
the defences of the Empire at large. Possessing as she does the
great steam fleet of the world, and the power of increasing it to
still larger proportions, she can always maintain a steady and
secure communication with China, Japan, Australia, and even
with India, and all other countries in which she has important
interests at stake. From her depots at Halifax, or other places
on the Atlantic coast of the Dominion, she can in four days
reach the shores of the Pacific, and supply a fleet ordered to
protect her interests in the East, should they ever be threatened
by Russia or any other Power. It is well known that Russia is
creeping down the coast of Mancl. uria to the borders of the
Corea, and has already taken possession of the island of
Saghalien. Mr. Laurence Oiiphant, in a recent issue of Blcck-
wood's Magazine, has shown that she has had her eyes for years
on Tsusima, which occupies a commanding position in the
straits separating Corea from Japan. Whilst preserving
Bladivostock, at the extreme southern corner of the Russian
Asiatic coast, as the base of all serious operations, she is likely
sooner or later to seize Tsusima, or other available spot in those
Eastern waters, and '• fortify it as a marine station, well armed
and provisioned, whence her fleets can issue at all seasons, and
prey upon our commerce and bombard our colonies."" Should
ever a great struggle for the supremacy in the East occur
between England and Russia — and there are many keen students
of Russian policy and history who believe it is inevitable in the
course of time — the ports of Canada and her trans-continental
line of railway must be found invaluable auxiliaries in supporting
the honour and dignity of England, The fishermen and sailors
of the Dominion must prove an element of great strength in the
maintenance of the line of communications with England and
those countries with which she is politically or commercially
identified. They can man the vessels necessary to protect our
ports, and otherwise assist in the naval defences of the Empire.
A thousand stalwart fishermen from Nova Scotia would aid
materially in the defence of British Columbia or any other
section of Canada.
Looking then at the maritime industries of Canada from an
Imperial as well as a purely commercial standpoint, we cannot
fail to see how intimately connected they are with the security
of the Empire. AVe all know that no country can be truly great
that has not a seaboard and does not follow maritime pursuits.
Spain sank low in the scale of nations as her maritime power
declined with the loss of her great colonies. The prosperity of
Italy has increased with the growth of her commerce and ship-
ping, and she need no longer lament the palmy days of Genoa
26 The Fishery Question.
and Venice. We all know why St. Petersburg was built on a
marsh ; and the history of this century is replete with the evidence
of the desire of Russia to establish herself within the (iolden
Horn. France has fed her navy from the hardy Bretons and
Normans who have served a rude api)renticeship on the Banks
of Newfoundland. Canada, as yet with a population of about
five million souls, already possesses a marine greater than that
of Russia, Germany, Italy, or France. Prosperous as may be
hereafter her commerce in manufactures or in agricultural pro-
ducts, it is on her rich fisheries must always rest in a large
measure her maritime greatness. These fisheries must in the
nature of things continue to be the most prolific in the world.
The icy currents that come from the North bring with them a
vast collection of minute organisms, which form the food of the
myriads of fish that annually frequent the waters of British
North America. The industries that depend on the products
of these waters are expanding with the increase of capital and
enterprise, and there is no limit apparently, to their influence on
the prosperity of the provinces by the sea, and indeed of the whole
Dominion. As long as the fisheries of Canada are prosecuted
with vigour, they must form no inconsiderable element of the
wealth of the country, and at the same time continue to give
employment to a large class of hardy men, whose courage
and endurance will be found invaluable in the defence of the
Empire, with which the people of Canada hope always to remain
connected.
BALLANTYNH PRESS, CHANDOS STREET, W.C.