been held and witnesses examined, and they had found that in proportion as the railway rates to Montreal had been decreased, the trade in fresh fish had increased; that the success at Canso was especially due to this fact, coupled with the establishment of steam communication with railway points; that the statistics of the aggregate volume of the fresh fish trade in the Province were unobtainable, but that wherever facilities were provided, the progress had been satisfactory; that the advantages to the fishermen, in price and in other respects, of the fresh fish trade to that of salted fish were very marked; that the waters of the Province contained a practically inexhaustible supply of fresh fish, second to none in the world; that with the exception of live lobsters and a few special varieties, the existing market for fresh fish was chiefly in western Canada, where there was, however, the competition of the fresh water fish and the sea water fish from more favourably situated points on the Maine coast.

The Committee pointed out in this latter connection that the Canadian duty on fish was one half cent per pound, and the American duty one cent per pound, or double that amount. This apparently induced Nova Scotians to frequently buy their schooners in the United States, register them in American waters and ship American fish to Canada. Under the American registration the rate of tonnage was less, and this meant that the American licences cost less than the Canadian. The value of the American fish imported into Canada in 1900 was stated at $661,805. The failure to hold the home market was due to the adverse duty and the lack of transportation facilities. The Committee recommended that the same regulations be applied to the railway transportation of fish as had been adopted by the Department of Agriculture in connection with the shipment of butter and cheese to Montreal. In this latter case small shippers were not discriminated against.

But the principal difficulty was, probably, the lack of facilities along the coast for collecting the fish at points where they could be shipped by rail. There were long stretches of coast with splendid fishing grounds entirely isolated. Steamboats fitted with cold storage should be established and maintained by the Government for a limited period, to make regular trips along the coast for the collection of fresh fish and their shipment to market. They recommended that subsidies be given for this purpose wherever practicable; that storage warehouses be built at the collecting points; that the time of the through freight trains from Mulgrave to Montreal be shortened, and close connections secured with points west of Montreal; that the Federal Department in charge of cold storage matters be asked to assist the transport of fresh fish as they did that of butter and cheese; that trial experiments be made in the shipment of fresh fish to Great Britain.

The Committee believed that there was an ever-increasing market for fresh fish if it could only be properly supplied, and that the whole matter depended on whether the people of Nova Scotia had sufficient enterprise to make the most of their great opportunities in this con

nection. Writing to the Committee on this subject, Mr. S. S. Dickenson went into some elaborate calculations, from which he concluded that on cod and haddock alone $2,502,160 more would have been made by the fishermen in 1897 had they been able to market their fish in a fresh condition. Along the coast of England and Wales, he added, steam fishing boats, used in this way, had increased between 1890 and 1899 from 388 to 1,116 in number.

The Fisheries of British Columbia

One of the questions brought to the attention of the Dominion Government by the Hon. Mr. Dunsmuir and the Hon. Mr. Eberts, during their visit to Ottawa in January, 1901, was the general position of the British Columbia Fisheries. They urged that the Province was not fairly treated in the matter of fishery expenditures by the Dominion; that between 1872 and 1900 its revenues had given to the Dominion $300,000, while only $175,000 had been expended in British Columbia; that in the same years the total fishery revenue of the Dominion had been $1,280,000 while $7,500,000 had been expended upon the Fisheries -nearly all in the other Provinces; that the revenues of the Province from this source, received by the Dominion, were steadily increasing; that they were willing to accept a shipbuilding bonus of $100,000 for ten years in compensation for the treatment hitherto meted out to them; that they would also be willing to recommend the vesting of complete control of their Fisheries in the hands of the Dominion Government in return for an annual payment to the Province of $50,000. These arguments were presented to Sir Louis Davies in a letter signed by the Provincial Premier and dated January 23rd.

In a Memorandum attached it was pointed out that in the fiscal year 1899, the revenue from this source in all Canada was $76,447, of which British Columbia contributed $45,801. The Dominion expenditure upon Fisheries in the same year was $408,754 of which British Columbia received $12,195. Out of $105,133 for protection and $164,493 for bounties, British Columbia received nothing. Yet the value of the Provincial Fisheries was one-fifth that of all Canada. Under date of March 30th a Memorial signed by twelve representatives of the salmon canners of the Province was presented to the Government and was promised careful attention. The document first pointed out the importance of this industry and that it was the second in the Province so far as the export trade was concerned-the products of the Mines in 1898 being $11,614,838, that of the Fisheries $3,846,951 and that of the Forest $426,300. It stated that where a miner could obtain a license for a year's work, the canner had to pay ten dollars for the privilege of doing two months' work. In the State of Washington the fishing license was only one dollar. Unlike that of mining, the fishing industry cost the Province nothing and returned much in revenues and general benefit. They now had buildings and machinery in connection with the canneries worth at least $2,000,000 and the capital required to handle a pack of 1,000,000 cases was not less than $4,000,000. The Memorial concluded with the request that the Provincial Government would

en

deavour to induce the Dominion authorities to act along the following lines:

"1. The establishment of a local Fishery Board, under Government supervision, composed of men of experience in the business, such Board to be strictly non-political and empowered to make all requisite by-laws and regulations in connection with the conservation of the fish supply. The majority of the Board to be elected by those providing the revenue from assessment, to be raised as suggested in clause 2, paragraph (b).

2. That the present method of raising a revenue by licenses only, be altered, in which connection the following suggestions are offered :

(a). That the license be reduced to say not more than $2.50.

(b). That the Fishery Board be empowered to levy an assessment on each case of salmon packed in British Columbia, the revenue so derived to be used exclusively for the conservation of the industry."

On April 10th a meeting of the British Columbia Canners' Association was held at Vancouver attended by the representatives of sixty out of the seventy-three canneries of the Province and a Resolution unanimously passed protesting against the frequent changes in the fishery regulations; against the alleged negligence of the Dominion Government to conserve the fish supply; against the recent granting of valuable and exclusive fishing privileges to persons who were not connected with the canners or fishermen; and reiterating the sentiments expressed and the demands made in the Memorial of March 30th. On April 30th a large deputation of cannery men waited upon the Government and asked the Provincial Government to take such steps as might be necessary to assume control of the Fishery interests in the Province. A Committee was afterwards appointed to act with the Attorney-General in preparing a bill along these lines for presentation to the Legislature. Meanwhile, under date of April 22nd., Mr. G. R. Maxwell, M.P., wrote to the Secretary of the Canners' Association defending the Dominion Government against the statements of the canners; alleging that many of the assertions were false and misleading; and declaring that the Association had proved itself "an excellent Tory organization."

In the Provincial Legislature on April 24th telegrams which had recently passed between the Provincial and Dominion Premiers regarding the Fisheries were read. Mr. Dunsmuir had wired as follows: "We have heard nothing from you on the Fishing question. Our Session is coming to an end and must legislate as to licenses. All of the canners, without exception, have approached the Government asking them to negotiate with you towards taking over the Fisheries by the Province. May I respectfully ask if you would consider a proposition on this line?" Sir Wilfrid Laurier sent the following reply to this despatch:

Council has not been able fully to consider question yet. Your proposal to surrender Provincial rights for limited number of years for fixed sum has not been recommended by Minister of Fisheries,

who thinks that further decision of Privy Council on respective rights of Dominion and Province on sea coast should be first obtained. Test case now being arranged with Quebec to define these rights. This Government could not entertain your alternative proposal to surrender Dominion Fishery rights to Province."

A measure was introduced dealing with the matter later on and eventually passed the Assembly. In moving its second reading on May 2nd, the Hon. Mr. Eberts declared that the Government had no desire to conflict with the Dominion authorities but simply to conserve Provincial interests. The industry was a most important one. In 1878 the pack of salmon was only 50,000 cases; in the past year it was 400,000 and there were now seventy-three canneries in British Columbia. He pointed out that in the past year the Dominion had issued the licenses altogether and had received $50,000 from the Province on that account, and claimed that according to the decision of the Judical Committee, a Provincial Legislature could now impose a license duty on fishing, for revenue purposes. By the present measure, a Board of Fishery Commissioners would be appointed by the Government to act in an advisory capacity to the Lieut.-Governorin-Council in carrying out and enforcing the terms and conditions of the Act. The Government were given power to appoint overseers and officials and to properly remunerate them while the Board of Commissioners were authorized, subject to the approval of the Government, to make regulations from time to time for the better management and conservation of "all fisheries in respect of which the Legislature of British Columbia has authority to legislate." They were also given power, under similar conditions, to issue fishery licenses and to impose a special tax on all fish caught in Provincial waters, for the purpose of providing a revenue with which to conserve the Fisheries of the Province.

Various other powers were alloted to the Board of Commissioners. Mr. Eberts pointed out that the canners were willing to tax themselves on each case of salmon packed in order that the proceeds might be applied to arresting the depletion of the Fisheries. The measure was not, he again asserted, antagonistic to the Dominion authorities and was enacted under Clause 92 of the British North America Act. In answer to a question he admitted that the Ontario Government had lost its claim for jurisdiction over the lake Fisheries; but he thought the ocean Fisheries of British Columbia were in a different position. Mr. Joseph Martin considered the Bill as one intended to eliminate Dominion control and he greatly doubted its constitutionality. He considered a Board of Fishery Commissioners as opposed to the principle of Government responsibility. In any case it should be composed of impartial outsiders and not of canners or fishermen.

Late in May an Order-in-Council was passed putting this measure into operation and the Government at Victoria practically undertook the control of the salmon fishery and cannery affairs of the Province. Opposition papers claimed that there certainly would be a clash with the Dominion authorities as to the question of jurisdiction. On May

28th a meeting of the Fishermen's Union was held in Vancouver and the following Resolution passed unanimously: "Whereas we, citizens of Vancouver here assembled, consider that the transfer of the control of the Fisheries in this Province from the Dominion Parliament to the Provincial Parliament will be injurious, not only to the fishermen, but also through them to all others engaged in trade or business, as such a step would practically give the canners the power to legislate for the fishing in such a manner that they, and they only, would derive benefit from this industry." In the speeches which followed stress was laid upon the probability of conflict with the Dominion Government; upon the alleged high-handed action of the canners in their dealings with the fishermen and in their employment of Oriental labour; upon the general condition of unrest and discontent prevailing amongst those interested in the industry. Mr. G. R. Maxwell declared that the Canners' Association were opposed to the Dominion Government; that they were being given too much power; and that they were the only important body in the country who refused to recognize Unions and organized labour.

Speaking to the Vancouver World on June 20th, the Hon. Mr. Turner, Minister of Finance, declared that the matter of the Fisheries would be amicably adjusted with the Dominion Government. He was not particularly favourable to complete Provincial control. "As the matter stands on the last telegrams we received from Ottawa the Dominion will this year take all the revenues. We could not take one tax and the Dominion another for that would lead to endless confusion. Then, at the end of the Session, the Dominion will give the Province its proportion of the revenues received." He still thought, however, that the Dominion authorities should do more to foster the Fisheries in the rivers and along the coasts. Upon the latter the cod and halibut fishing interests were now almost entirely in the hands of Americans. He favoured the setting of traps, but only where they would intercept the run of salmon from reaching the American shores and without interfering with the Fraser River run. The Vancouver News-Advertiser of August 18th, took the line that there was a very general opinion that the situation in this latter respect demanded drastic and immediate action which should take the form of "the installation of traps on the south-west coast of Vancouver Island for the double purpose of intercepting the run of fish before it reaches the Sound and of affording a supply for our canneries at as low a cost as that obtained by canners on the Sound."

On September 13th the Toronto Globe presented this question so clearly in an editorial that an extract may be given here. After stating that trap-fishing was forbidden in British Columbia waters, describing the method used by the Americans, and pointing out the Canadian claim that the British waters would soon be denuded by American action in this way, the article proceeded: "The situation is that trap-fishing is legal in the State of Washington, the result being that every rood of water over which the fish run in United States