Our people engaged in this industry are subject to many disadvantages in the pursuit of their occupation owing to their distance from the fishing grounds and the unreasonable restrictions and vexations which have been placed upon them by the Canadian Government. and yet they are not permitted to introduce fish into the Canadian ports without their being subject to half a cent a pound duty. while the Canadians. who engage side by side with our fishermen in the same business. under advantages which we do not possess. are permitted to land their fish free in our own market. Now it seems to me that that of itself ought to settle the question. It was not. however. for that purpose that I rose. but to make some reply to what seemed to me to have been a tone of disparagement of the Canadian immigrants all through this discussion. If I understood the Senator from Delaware . be replied to the argument that we need to maintain our fisheries in order that they may be a nursery for seamen who will man our ships in time of battle. with the statement that some Canadians are employed upon our fishing vessels. and he introduced statistics and seemed to dwell with a great deal of pertinacity upon these statistics. as showing that there are more Canadians employed by those of our citizens who are engaged in fishing enterprises than the statistics which are furnished by the Senator from Massachusetts would seem to show. as if it were any argument against the duty of this Government to do everything in reason to maintain our fishing industries in order that seamen may be trained up who shall help us in our time of need. to say that some portion of those seamen or those sailors now employed in the fishing industry are Canadian citizens. Well.
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immigrants