VALUE OF THE TRADE AT NEWFOUNDLAND.

505

&c. The value, together with that of the exports, according to a Colonial Office manuscript, has been for a series of

The total value of the trade of Newfoundland may in fact be estimated at 2,000,000 sterling per annum independent of its great importance in a maritime point of view-while it should be remembered that it is upheld by no bounties (as that of France) nor protected by any exclusive rights, so often yet so frequently erroneously considered injurious to other interests;—and yet it is with shame I confess, little or nothing is known regarding this important island in England; well, however, may the British nation be excused for their ignorance when their rulers superadd to that fault an apathy which in any other country (and even in former times in Albion) would be truly deemed culpable. The trade in fish and oil carried on by the Americans and French in the British seas is of immense extent and importance, to France it averages about 300,000 quintals of fish, for which bounties are given; the proportion for shipping so employed being about 20s. per ton, and for every green man (i. e. a man who was never before at sea) 75 francs ;-will not this fact open the slumbering eyes of Government to the importance of our own fishermen ?

It is not well ascertained what the amount of bounty paid also on the fish amounts to-if carried first to France and thence to other parts of Europe, six francs per quintal, and if to the West Indies on board French ships 12 francs per quintal are supposed to be the amounts as near as French

506

FRENCH AND AMERICAN TRADE IN FISH.

jealousy will allow us to ascertain. St. Pierre island, so improperly ceded to France, is a depôt for smuggling French manufactures, spirits, &c. into our colonies-and an armed French force is generally stationed there to protect the interests and advance the pursuits of their countrymen.

The exports of codfish alone from the United States, wholly caught in the BRITISH AMERICAN SEAS average about 500,000 quintals annually, and the yearly home consumption of the Americans is about 1,350,000 quintals-of the entire quantity 1,500,000 may be said to be taken on our own shores; 3200 tons of oil are produced from the livers of the cods, and 200 from pelts of seals caught on our very coasts.

The Americans take every advantage of the privileges granted them by us as regards the latitude fixed; during the day, if none of our armed cruisers be in sight, they anchor three miles from the shore, but as soon as night sets in they run under the lee of the land-set their nets, and fish till near daylight. Our own fishermen suffer also from the Americans being allowed to throw their offal overboard, as it drifts in-shore and drives the fish from the nearest banks: to these evils it may be added that our regular trade is seriously injured by the extensive smuggling commerce which the foreign fishermen carry on.

*

*On the subject of our North American Fisheries, no Briton properly appreciating the extent and value of this source of our national strength and wealth can seriously write with temper. When in 1814 Lord Castlereagh was remonstrated with against restoring to France the right of fishery on the coasts of Newfoundland, he spurned the deputation which was composed of the most respectable merchants engaged in the trade and fisheries and contemptuously observed, that he was not prepared to exclude the French from a participation in those fisheries, as that would be unworthy the magnanimity of Britain. This left little to be expected from our government, which might at that period, have secured the entire of the island to the British by a mere dash of the pen, and instead of affording facilities to the French to foster their commercial marine at our doors, and at our cost in some measure, have confined them to their proper limits until conquest should obtain for them a footing at Algiers, which, by the way is said to have been gained mainly by their naval force, to complete which, it is stated they drafted 2000 men from the Newfoundland fisheries, and it is believed the naval expedition could not have been made efficient without that resource. Every fisherman before he is allowed the bounty,

RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND THE PRESS.

I do sincerely hope that in the ensuing Session of Parliament less attention will be paid to petty party disputes, and that the great maritime interests of the empire will receive more consideration than has yet been bestowed on them; a ministry should recollect that if they want to sit firm, it must be by upholding the immense domestic and colonial industry of England, which seems now abandoned for fallacious doctrines of free trade with France and other countries, while maxims, that if carried into operation, would speedily ruin a private mercantile establishment are absurdly supposed to be the surest guides for promoting and securing the business and welfare of a commercial empire!

RELIGION, EDUCATION AND THE PRESS.-There has usually existed a very commendable harmony of religious feeling between the different persuasions, the Wesleyans, Roman Catholics, Congregationists, and Dissenters generally being more numerous than the Episcopalian Church, over which there is an archdeacon; the Romish Church has a bishop. Since the introduction of a local legislature the clergy have unhappily taken active part in the elections, by which course they have distracted the community, but it is to be hoped the excitement will gradually subside, and things will assume their former tone.

As regards the Press, there are no less than five newspapers published at St. John's weekly, namely, the "Royal Gazette," "Public Ledger," "Times," and "Patriot ;" their po(twice a week), "Newfoundlander,” litics are various, but the latter most distinguished by the peculiarity of its character, which is furiously radical, and at variance with the sentiments of a vast majority of the population, though edited with much industry and some talent. At Harbor Grace they publish the "Conception Bay Mercury," and at Carbonear the "Star" also weekly, both respectable journals. Of late years, the taste for literature has greatly increased, and it is but due to that enlightened and excellent judge, Chief-Justice Forbes, who presided over the Supreme Court for five years, from 1817 to 1822, to state, that he was mainly instrumental in promoting it.

with permission to embark in the fisheries of Newfoundland, is registered for the Royal Marine of France, and liable to serve at an hour's notice. Such has been the feeling and excitement among the inhabitants of Newfoundland of late years, that it is with considerable pains they have been prevented from taking summary satisfaction on what is termed the French shore, and unless more attention be paid to British interests in the fisheries, it will not be a matter of surprise, if the French find their position rendered more than uncomfortable upon the coast of that ancient colony of England, from which indeed they ought to have been swept off long ago.

SOCIAL STATE.-On this head there are not many remarks necessary, even did space permit; the inhabitants are principally divided into fishermen, traders and merchants; the population is of a shifting nature; but under the fostering care of a local legislature will probably become more stationary. Agriculture is extending annually, and in general it has rewarded the toil and labor of the careful and industrious husbandman. The land might be made extensively useful in grazing farms; and as potatoes can be raised with much facility, hogs may be fed with success after the country is more opened and cleared.-It has been suggested the new government house, erected at an enormous expense, and quite disproportioned to the salary of the governor, might readily be converted into apartments for the legislative council and assembly to hold their sessions. At St. John's they have a Commercial Society, out of which a Chamber of Commerce is chosen annually, to watch over and promote the trade and fisheries. The Capital has a Benevolent Irish Society, and two Benefit Societies, under the denomination of the "Association of Fishermen and Shoreinen," and a "Mechanics' Institution." There is also a Benevolent Irish Society in Conception Bay.

Nature and Value of Property, Moveable and Immoveable, in Newfoundland.