THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES DISPUTE.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 2181, 8 July 1890, Page 4

THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES DISPUTE.

The '-Glasgow Herald ' has the following to say oa this subject, about /which so much has bepn telegraphed to tbe colonies : — Nova Scotia ami Newfoundland, two of our Colonial "little ones," may be ; regarded as twin sistera, for they are be* . lieved to have been ''discovered" for by the elder Cabot in ihe same ■ryear, perhaps on the very same day of ,;the year 1497. They are near neighibors, too, lyin* on opposite aides of the St.'li-iwience Gulf, and if nob both is- ; lands,'hase nearly the same right to be bo galled, the one being joined to the Cana.

dian mainland by a very narrow isthmus, and the other separated from it by a very narrow channel. It is quite natural, then, as well as becoming, that Nova Scotia should, as she has juwt done by the mouth of the Halifax Board of Trade, speak up and " take the part " of her twin sister in the quarrel in which the latter is at present engaged. It is not so much a quarrel, perhaps, as what the French — who are at the bottom of it — would call an imbroglio. The French have from time immemorial enjoyed a right of fishing in Newfoundland waters, and the Newfoundlanders think, not unresonably, that they should have themselves a right of fishing in their own waters. If the French had been tolerant and content with the right of fishing along with the colonists, matters might have remained there for some time longer as they were — thougli the mere presence of the foreigners was always an eyesore and a souico of trouble — but the French have gone on to assert not only a right but an exclusive right to fish iv certain grounds, the best on the whole coast, aud have kept armed vessels cruising about to expel intruders. Not only this, but tho French are asserting exclusive rights to a part of the shorefor curing purposes, and have goue the length of demolishing fishingstations erected by the colonists on their own coasts. This is going beyond the rights guaranteed to the French by treaty, for Newfoundland belongs whole and entire to Great Britain, and, under her, to the Constitutional Government of theisland. Moreover, the treaties, it is held, only give a right to fish for cod, whereas the French are catching lobsters ! — catching lobsters, " canning" them on the shore, rl living a long trade in them, and, being " bounded," are ousting the colonists from all markets. That is the gravamen of the present uproar — tho French are fishing for and catchiag lobsters, white they have only, at most, a right t,i fish for cod. It may not look a very large matter to make such a row about, and endanger the relations between the mother country and her powerful neighbor across the Channel, but it evident ly doos not bulk small in the eyes of the Newfoundlanders. It is, in fact, the " last straw," and the patient camel, though its back is too sturdy to break, is patient no longer, and threatens to "kick over the traces." The French must go ; the Colonists will hear of no modus vivendi ; there must be an end to the French claims, and the perpetual bickerings, wrongs and heartburnings. If there be treaties these treaties must be abrogated, and Newfoundland left to the Newfoundlanders. If the Imperial Government shilly-shally in the matter, the loyalty of our " oldest colony," it is hinted, will hardly stand the test. A great and enthusiastic meeting was recently held at St. John's, at which many earnest patriots spoke their minds. At the procession which pre* ceedd the meeting, we are told, the flag of the " Stars and Stripes " took a fore* most place, and " one of the loudest cheers that rent the air was when one of tho bands struck up the air of ' The Star spangled banner.' " " A keen observer," says the same account, " must have been struck with one thiDg at least during the proceedings, that a love for the United States and her free institutions is growing amongst our people. A few more attempts on tho part of the Colonial Office to move Newfoundland as a pawn on the Imperial chessboard, and the ' hooks of sympathetic steel ' which have bound us to Britain for so many centuries will be riven forever." Perhaps the Imperial Government ought really to take the advice of tho Nova Scotians and buy out the French with MrGoschen'snext surplus, or some other substantial quid pro quo, for seriously speaking the condition of things in the fishing grounds of Newfoundland, and on the " French shore," are not such as a free and independent people can be expecced long to put up with.