"Our men are in terrible straits to know what to do under these circumstances, as their bait for the Grand Bank for our summer trip is almost wholly obtained on the south side of Newfoundland. The Grand Banks have been the summer resort of our fishermen for many years, and from various bays on the south coast of Newfoundland their supply of bait has been drawn, these being much less of distance and a greater certainty of bait than Canadian waters. We have hitherto enjoyed the privilege of obtaining bait in Newfoundland to the fullest extent, paying only such internal fees and taxes as were proper. The result of the action of the Newfoundland Government will be most disastrous, and one season alone will prove its dire effects on the fishing fleet of Nova Scotia and the ship-yards now also so busy and prosperous." This communication is important evidence as to the value of the position we occupy as mistress of the Northern Seas so far as the fisheries are concerned. Herein was evidence that it is within the power of the Legislature of this Colony to make or mar our competitors to the North Atlantic fisheries. Here was evidence that by refusing or restricting the necessary bait supply we can bring our foreign competitors to realize their dependence upon us. One of the objects of this legislation is to bring the fishing interests of Gloucester and New England to a realization of their dependence upon the bait supplies of this Colony. No measure could have been devised having more clearly for its object the conserving, safeguarding, and protecting of the interests of those concerned in the fisheries of the Colony. If this Bill goes into force, as I believe it will, it must be the means of keeping up the high price of fish, for if we curtail competition, we must obtain that result. I regret that there should be any difference of opinion in this House as regards the desirability, if not necessity, of this measure, the policy of which is the conservation of our fisheries, as well as the betterment of those engaged in them. I beg to move the House into Committee of the whole on the Bill. APPENDIX No. 9. Newfoundland Foreign Fishing Vessels Act, 1905. EDWARDI VII, REGIS. Cap. IV. An Act respecting Foreign Fishing-vessels. [Passed June 15, 1905.] BE it enacted by the Governor, the Legislative Council, and House of Assembly, in Legislative Session convened, as follows: 1. Any Justice of the Peace, sub-collector, preventive officer, fishery warden, or constable may go on board any foreign fishing-vessel being within any port on the coasts of this island or hovering in British waters within 3 marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours in this island, and may bring such foreign fishing-vessel into port, may search her cargo, and may examine the master upon oath touching the cargo and voyage; and the master or person in command shall answer truly such questions as shall be put to him under a penalty not exceeding 500 dollars; and if such foreign vessel has on board any herring, caplin, squid, or other bait fishes, ice, lines, seines, or other outfits or supplies for the fishery purchased within any port on the coasts of this island or within the distance of 3 marine miles from any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours of this island, or if the master of the said vessel shall have engaged, or attempted to engage, any person to form part of the crew of the said vessel in any port or on any part of the coasts of this island, or has entered such waters for any purpose not permitted by Treaty or Convention for the time being in force, such vessel and the tackle, rigging, apparel, furniture, stores, and cargo thereof shall be forfeited. 2. All goods and vessels and the tackle, rigging, apparel, furniture, stores, and cargo thereof liable to forfeiture under this Act may be seized and secured by any officer or person mentioned in the first section hereof, and every person opposing any such officer or person in the execution of his duty under this Act, or aiding or abetting any other person in such opposition, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and liable to a fine of 500 dollars. 3. In any prosecution under this Act the presence on board any foreign fishing-vessel in any port of this island or within British waters aforesaid of any caplin, squid, or other bait fishes, of ice, lines, seines, or other outfit or supplies for the fishery shall be prima facie evidence of the purchase of the said bait fishes and supplies and outfits within such port or waters. 4. All offenders against the provisions of this Act may be prosecuted and convicted, and all fines, forfeitures, penalties and other punishments imposed, recovered, and made in a summary manner before a Stipendiary Magistrate, and any vessel and the tackle, rigging, apparel, furniture, stores and cargo thereof liable to forfeiture under the provisions of this Act may be sued for, prosecuted, recovered and condemned in a summary manner before a Stipendiary Magistrate in a proceeding against the master or other person in charge of such vessel. For the purposes of this Act all Stipendiary Magistrates shall be deemed to be Stipendiary Magistrates for the Colony, and may exercise the jurisdiction given by this Act in any part of the Colony. 5. If any person convicted under this Act shall feel himself aggrieved by such conviction, he may appeal therefrom to the then next sitting of His Majesty's Supreme Court, holden in or nearest the place where such conviction shall have been had, or in St. John's: Provided notice of such appeal and of the cause and matter thereof be given to the convicting Magistrate in writing, within seven days next after such conviction, and the party desiring to appeal shall also, within fourteen days after such notice, give and enter into recognizance with two approved sureties before the convicting Magistrate conditioned for the appearance of the person convicted at such next sitting of the Supreme Court, on the first day of such sitting, for the prosecution of the appeal with effect and without delay, to abide the judgment of the Court thereon, and for the delivery and surrender of any vessel or other property ordered to be confiscated, and to pay such costs as the Court may. .award. 6. No proceeding or conviction by, nor order of, any Magistrate or other officer under this Act shall be quashed or set aside for any informality, provided the same shall be substantially in accordance with the intent and meaning of this Act. 7. Nothing in this Act shall affect the rights and privileges granted by Treaty to the subjects of any State in amity with His Majesty. 8. The Governor in Council may at any time by Proclamation suspend the operation of this Act for such period as may be expedient, and as shall be declared in such Proclamation. 9. In this Act the word "vessel" shall include any boat or ship registered or not registered, jack, skiff, punt, or launch, whether propelled by sails, oars, or steam. 10. The Act 56 Vict., cap. 6, entitled "An Act respecting Foreign Fishing Vessels" is hereby repealed. APPENDIX No. 10. Speech by Sir R. Bond on the Second Reading of a Bill respecting Foreign Fishing-vessels, 1906, delivered May 4, 1906. Right Honourable the Premier (Sir Robert Bond): When introducing the Foreign Fishing Vessels Bill in April of last year, I fully set forth the reasons that actuated the Government in moving the House to accept the measure, and it would therefore be a work of supererogation to again deal with that phase of the question. The Bill passed the Legislature and has been in force during the year. The object of the present amendment is to deal with the condition of things that has arisen consequent upon the operation of the Act. In the first place, as might have been anticipated, the enforcement of the Act occasioned some irritation to our United States' friends, and an effort has been made to show that the Legislature in the passing of the Act did not hesitate to attempt to interfere with their rights under the Treaty of 1818. I would observe that this conclusion was entirely erroneous, for there was no disposition whatever on the part of the Government or the Legislature to encroach in the slightest degree upon the rights of United States' fishermen under the Treaty. The sections of the Act of last year that have been quoted as giving colour to this contention are sections 1 and 3. They have been construed as constituting a warrant to the officers named therein to interfere with and violate such rights. Reference to section 7 of the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of 1905 will indicate at once how unwarranted was such a contention, for it preserves, in non-ambiguous language, the rights and privileges granted by Treaty to the subjects of any State in amity with His Majesty, and is in effect a prohibition of any vexatious interference with the exercise of the Treaty rights of either French or American fishermen. The provisions of the Act under reference, 1905 Act, vere in no sense new; they may be found in the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of 1893. The provisions of the 1893 Act and that of 1905 are in all essential respects identical. The only important difference being that the 1906 Act took away by omission the power previously granted by this Legislature authorizing the issue of licences to foreign fishing-vessels to purchase supplies and ship crews within our jurisdiction. As a matter of fact, the Bill of 1905 was not necessary, in order to give effect to the policy of the Government, for full power existed under the 1893 Act by the mere suspension of the issue of licences, and the only object which the Government had in introducing the Act last year was to obtain the formal approval of the Legislature for carrying out the policy that had been decided upon in relation to United States' fishermen. I now propose, with a view of establishing the bona fides of the Government and of the Legislature, and to remove all possible grounds for cavil, to amend the Act of last year by declaring that the first part of section 1 and the whole of section 3 do not apply to foreign fishing-vessels resorting to Newfoundland waters in the exercise of Treaty rights of fishing. Again, as an outcome of the enforcement of the Act of last year, certain vexatious circumstances arose, as was intimated at the opening of this Session, in the Speech from the Throne. They were (1) the conduct in connection with the visit of the United States' fisheries vessel "Grampus" to Bay of Islands; (2) the refusal of American vessels to enter and clear; (3) the refusal to pay light dues; (4) the attempt to erect scaffolds on shore for the freezing of hering; (5) the smuggling of goods into our harbours and the attempted sale of same; (6) the aiding and abetting by United States' fishermen of the subjects of His Majesty in this Colony to violate the statute laws of the Colony by shipping them as part crews outside the 3-mile limit; (7) the circulating of misleading and false reports respecting the action of the Government of the Colony and the people of the Colony. I shall only deal briefly with one or two of these matters: First, the matter of the refusal to enter and clear at the Customs and pay light dues. When it was reported by the sub-collector at Bay of Islands that certain American vessels refused to enter and clear, the Government at first contented themselves by entering a formal and respectful protest with the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies. This was done in order to avoid every possible cause for friction with the United States' Government, but finding that United States' fishermen persisted in violating our laws in that respect, there was no alternative left to the Government of the Colony but to instruct its officers to enforce the law in future. I submit that it can hardly be seriously contended that the obligation to enter and clear and pay light dues is inconsistent with the Treaty of 1818, or that it in any way interferes with the exercise of the rights of American fishermen under the Treaty. I further submit that when the Sovereign Power granted privileges to the United States under the Convention of 1818, it retained its inherent rights of supremacy, such as the right to execute the Treaty within its own dominion, and to make and enforce all laws not inconsistent with the Treaty; that one of the inherent rights of sovereignty is to prevent smuggling and crimes of all kinds; that this Government, by virtue of the Constitution granted to them by His Majesty, is the paramount power within the 3-mile limit of the coasts of the Colony, and that it is their inherent right to decide what measures shall be adopted to protect the revenues of the Colony from smuggling. One of the measures which have been adopted is the obligation on all vessels to enter and clear at the custom-house. When United States' vessels do not come within the territorial waters of the Colony they, of course, are not required to enter, but immediately they come within our territorial jurisdiction I hold that they are subject to our Customs and other laws. In voicing this opinion I voice the opinion of the Government of this Colony. The correctness of this position was never questioned by United States' citizens until the masters of the United States' schooners "H. M. Stanley," "Senator Gardner," "Tattler," and "Maxine" refused to make a formal report to the sub-collector at Bay of Islands a few months ago. Between January 1900 and June 1902 four United States' schooners were fined for nonreporting, and with these exceptions United States' vessels have always entered and cleared. Under the Customs Act, 1898, particularly section 22, 61 Vict., cap. 13, it is provided that, "the master of every vessel coming from any port or place within this Colony, or coastwise, on entering any port in this Colony, whether laden or in ballast, shall go without delay when such vessel is anchored or moored, to the custom-house for the port or place of entry where he arrives, and shall make a report in writing to the collector or other proper officer of the arrival and voyage of such vessel," &c. United States' vessels are not exempt, either by the Treaty of 1818 or any other Convention or Arrangement. It will be observed that there is nothing contained in the Bill now before the House to deal with this matter, for it would be entirely unnecessary and superfluous, inasmuch as provision is made in the statutes of the Colony to which I have referred. Again, the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of 1905 stipulated that any attempt "to engage any person to form part of the crew of said vessel in any outport or on any part of the coasts of this island" would subject the vessel to forfeiture. The said Act further provided that no foreign fishing-vessel should enter the waters of this Colony "for any purpose not permitted by Treaty or Convention for the time being in force." The employing, shipping, or hiring of the fishermen of this Colony by United States' fishing-vessels last season was unquestionably aiding and abetting the subjects of His Majesty in this Colony to violate those fishery laws to which they were amenable. The privileges granted under the Treaty of 1818 were to the subjects of the United States alone. The people of this Colony who proceeded outside the 3-mile limit and engaged or hired themselves to American vessels to catch herring, were not subjects of the United States, and the mere entering into the service of American citizens did not and could not give them rights which were alone granted by Treaty to the subjects of the United States. The United States' Government have not disputed, so far as I am aware, the correctness of this position, but nevertheless the agerts of the United States' schooners at Bay of Islands unquestionably entered into an agreement with a large number of British residents of that place and induced them to proceed outside the 3-mile limit and engage themselves on board American vessels in violation of the spirit if not the letter of the Foreign Fishing Vessels Act and the Bait Act, which has been in force in this Colony for a number of years. With a view to dealing with this condition of affairs, provision is made in the Bill now before the House that no British subject shall fish from or for foreign fishing-vessels in the waters of this Colony, and imposing a penalty upon the masters of such vessels that permit such fishing. It is further provided that no inhabitant of this Colony shall leave the Colony for the purpose of engaging on a foreign fishing-vessel intending to fish in the waters of the Colony, and that no inhabitant of the Colony shall sell, let, or lend, or remove from the Colony for the purpose of selling, letting, or lending, to the masters of any foreign fishing-vessels, boats, nets, and gear, and prohibiting the purchase or borrowing by a foreign fishing-vessel within the territorial waters of the Colony, such boats, nets, or gear from the inhabitants of the Colony. The Foreign Fishing Vessels Act of last year was passed in the interests of the people of the Colony, and especially in the interests of the people of the West Coast, and it is to be regretted that it was deliberately violated last year in order to render assistance to American fishermen in thwarting the operation. of a policy that has beon forced upon the Government of the Colony by the action of the fishing interests of Gloucester, Mass. In view of the attempt that was made last year to render void our laws, which the Legislature, in its wisdom, has found it necessary to pass, in the inferests of the fisheries and trade and commerce of the Colony, I feel confident that the House will recognize the justification for taking this further legislative power to deal with the transgressors. It will be observed that the 15th and 18th sections of the Act now before the House provide that it shall come into operation on a day appointed for the purpose by proclamation of His Excellency the Governor. This has been inserted in order that reasonable public notice may be given to all parties who are interested in this measure, and that the Governor in Council may at any time by proclamation suspend or limit the operation of this Act, or any part thereof, to the whole Colony or any portion of it, as may be deemed expedient. It is to be hoped that the adoption of this measure will prevent a repetition of the vexatious circumstances to which 'I have but casually referred, and that the people, especially those of the West Coast, recognizing that this Act is framed with due regard to their material interests, will aid and assist the Government by a ready acquiescence in its provisions. I beg to move the second reading of the Bill. Enacting clause. Power of officers to board and search foreign vessels. Penalties for offences. Respecting seizure BE it enacted by the Governor, the Legislative Council, and House of Assembly, in Legislative Session convened, as follows: 1. Any Justice of the Peace, sub-collector, preventive officer, fishery warden, or constable may go on board any foreign fishing-vessel, being within any port on the coasts of this Colony, or hovering in British waters within 3 marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours in this Colony, and may bring such foreign fishing-vessel into port, may search her cargo, and may examine the master upon oath touching the cargo and voyage, and the master or person in command shall answer truly such questions as shall be put to him, under a penalty not exceeding 500 dollars. 2. If any foreign fishing-vessel be found within any port on the coasts of this Colony, or hovering in British waters within 3 marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours in this Colony, and having on board any herring, caplin, squid, or other bait fishes, ice, lines, seines, or other outfits or supplies for the fishery, purchased within any port on the coasts of this Colony, or within the distance of 3 marine miles from any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or harbours of this Colony; or if the master, owner, or agent of the said vessel shall have engaged, or attempted to engage, any person to form part of the crew of the said vessel in any port, or on any part of the coasts, of this Colony, or has entered such waters for any purpose not permitted by Treaty or Convention for the time being in force, the master, owner, or agent shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 100 dollars, or such vessel and the tackle, rigging, apparel, furniture, stores, and cargo thereof shall be forfeited, as the Magistrate before whom the proceeding is taken shall determine. 3. All goods and vessels, and the tackle, rigging, apparel, furniture, stores, and cargo thereof, liable to forfeiture under this Act, may be seized and secured by any officer or person mentioned in the 1st section hereof, and every person opposing any such officer or person in the execution of his duty under this Act, or aiding or abetting any other person in such opposition, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to a fine of 500 dollars. 4. In any prosecution under this Act, the presence on board any foreign fishing-vessel in Evidence of offenc any port of this Colony, or within British waters aforesaid, of any caplin, squid, or other bait committed. fishes, of ice, lines, seines, or other outfit or supplies for the fishery, shall be primâ facie evidence of the purchase of the said bait fishes and supplies and outfits within such port or waters. 5. No alien, not so entitled by Treaty or Convention for the time being in force, shall fish in Certain aliens not the waters of this Colony; and the master, owner, or agent of any fishing-vessel who permits any entitled to fish. alien not so entitled to fish in, from, or for such vessel, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 100 dollars, or to the forfeiture of such vessel, as the Magistrate shall determine. 6. No person, being a British subject, shall fish in, from, or for a foreign fishing-vessel in the British subject waters of this Colony, and the master, owner, or agent of any foreign fishing-vessel who permits not to fish in any such British subject to fish in, for, or from such vessel shall be liable to a penalty not foreign vessel. exceeding 100 dollars, or to the forfeiture of such vessel, as the Magistrate shall determine. 7. No person, being a resident of this Colony, shall leave this Colony for the purpose of Residents not to engaging in foreign fishing-vessels which are fishing or intending to fish in the waters of this leave Colony to fis in foreign vessels. Colony, under a penalty not exceeding 100 dollars. 8. No person, being a resident of this Colony, shall sell, let, hire, lend, or remove from Residents not to this Colony, for the purpose of selling, letting, hiring, or lending to a master, owner, or agent of sell or hire fishery any foreign fishing-vessel any boats, nets, or gear, under a penalty not exceeding 100 dollars; gear. nor shall the master, owner, or agent of any foreign fishing-vessel buy, hire, or borrow, in any port or place in this Colony, or in the waters of this Colony, any boats, nets, or fishing gear, from any person resident in this Colony, under a penalty for each offence not exceeding 100 dollars. 9. The master of any vessel who conveys any person resident in the Colony outside the Penalty. waters of this Colony, for the purpose of enabling such person to be engaged on board any foreign fishing-vessel, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding 100 dollars. 10. All offenders against the provisions of this Act may be prosecuted and convicted, and all fines, forfeitures, penalties, and other punishments imposed, recovered, and made in a summary manner before a Stipendiary Magistrate; and any vessel, and the tackle, rigging, apparel, furniture, stores, and cargo thereof, liable to forfeiture under the provisions of this Act, may be sued for, prosecuted, recovered, and condemned in a summary manner before a Stipendiary Magistrate in a proceeding against the master or other person in charge of such vessel. For the purposes of this Act all Stipendiary Magistrates shall be deemed to be Stipendiary Magistrates for the Colony, and may exercise the jurisdiction given by this Act in any part of the Colony. Procedure. 11. If any person convicted under this Act shall feel himself aggrieved by such conviction, Appeal. he may appeal therefrom to the then next sitting of His Majesty's Supreme Court, holden in or nearest the place where such conviction shall have been had, or in St. John's: Provided notice of such appeal, and of the cause and matter thereof, be given to the convicting Magistrate in writing within seven days next after such conviction, and the party desiring to appeal shall also, within fourteen days after such notice, give and enter into recognizance, with two approved sureties, before the convicting Magistrate, conditioned for the appearance of the person convicted at such next sitting of the Supreme Court, on the first day of such sitting, for the prosecution of the appeal with effect and without delay, to abide the judgment of the Court thereon, and for the delivery and surrender of any vessel or other property ordered to be confiscated, and to pay such costs as the Court may award. 12. No proceeding or conviction by, nor order of, any Magistrate or other officer under this Act shall be quashed or set aside for any informality, provided the saine shall be substantially in accordance with the intent and meaning of this Act. 13. All foreign fishing-vessels exercising rights under any Treaty or Convention shall be amenable to all the laws of the Colony not inconsistent with any such rights under Treaty or Convention. Informality no ground for setting aside proceedings. Foreign vessels exercising Treaty rights amenabie to local laws. 14. Nothing in this Act shall affect the rights and privileges granted by Treaty to the Saving of all subjects of any State in amity with His Majesty; and sections 1 and 4 hereof shall not be held to Treaty rights. apply to any foreign fishing-vessels resorting to the waters of this Colony for the exercise of Treaty rights. 15. The Governor in Council may at any time by proclamation suspend or limit the operation Governor in of this Act, as to the whole Act or any part thereof, and in relation to the whole Colony, or any Council may limit district or parts thereof, and as to all or any classes of persons, and for any period as shall be or suspend Act. expedient, and as may be declared in such proclamation. 16. In this Act the word "vessel" shall include any boat or ship, registered or not registered, Interpretation. jack, skiff, punt, or launch, whether propelled by sails, oars, or steam. 17. The Act 5 Ed. VII, cap. 4, entitled "An Act respecting Foreign Fishing-Vessels," 18 Repealing section hereby repealed. 18. This Act shall come into operation upon a day to be appointed for that purpose, by Suspending proclamation of the Governor to the effect that the same has been approved and confirmed by section. His Majesty in Council. |