The trade of the colony of New Brunswick for the year 1851 is thus summed up: Ships inward and outward in New Brunswick in 1851. 490,015 Great Britain. British Colonies. United States. Foreign States. Total. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. Inward..... 273 113,665 1,275 87,965 1,453 274,594 57 12,926 3,058 489,150 Outward... 815 347,757 1,182 73,280 950 111,772 34 5,719 2,981 538,528 Ships and vessels owned in New Brunswick 31st December, 1851. Number of new vessels built in New Brunswick in 1851. An average of nearly 400 tons to each vessel. The value of imports into the port of St. John and its outbays from the United States in 1851 was $1,530,900, being an increase on the preceding year of $365,000. Fully one-third of all the imports into New Brunswick are drawn from the United States, and the amount would be greatly increased under more liberal arrangements. Fisheries of New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy. The following statement of the extent and value of the New Brunswick fisheries in the Bay of Fundy is from an official document, compiled with great care, in 1850, by a gentleman who, in that year, was appointed to visit and inspect the various fishing stations and establishments in the bay: Grand Manan.-At this island there are twenty-four fishing vessels, with two hundred and ninety-one men; and ninety-four boats, with two hundred and eighty-two men. The precise quantities of cod, pollack, hake, haddock, and herrings are not stated, but the total catch is estimated at $37,500. Campo Bello.-At this island there are eleven fishing vessels, with fiftytwo men; fifty boats, with one hundred men; and twenty-one weirs, attended by one hundred men. The catch of all these in 1850 is thus stated: 5,340 quintals of pollock, 1,750 quintals of cod, 5,100 barrels of herrings, 480 barrels of mackerel, 150 barrels of pickled haddock and cod, 120 barrels of oil, and 40,000 boxes of smoked herrings. Total value, $40,940. The West Isles. At this group of islands (in the immediate vicinity of the boundary, near Eastport) there are twenty-seven fishing vessels, with one hundred and fifty-six men; two hundred boats, with five hundred men; and seven weirs, attended by thirty-five men. catch of these in 1850 is thus stated: 20,800 quintals of pollock and hake, 3,750 quintals of cod, 3,500 barrels of herrings, 800 barrels of pickled cod and haddock, 450 barrels of oil, and 5,000 boxes of smoked herrings. Total value, $51,060. Harbor of St. John.-In this harbor there are about two hundred boats and five hundred men employed in the fisheries. The catch of 1850 is thus stated: 40,000 salmon, (exported to Boston, &c., fresh, in ice,) 14,000 barrels of alewives, and 1,200 barrels of shad. Total value, $100,000. Cumberland bay.-In the northeastern arm of the Bay of Fundy, known as Cumberland bay, there are two hundred and thirteen fishing boats, with five hundred and twenty men. The catch of 1850 is thus stated: 4,100 barrels of shad. Value, $24,000. At various smaller stations on the bay shore the fisheries for shad, salmon, herrings, cod, pollock, hake, and haddock, were, in 1850, estimated at the value of $10,000. Total value of New Brunswick fisheries within the Bay of The free navigation of the river St. John. $263,500 The extent and navigable character of the river St. John have been already noticed. From its mouth, at the harbor of St. John, in the Bay of Fundy, to its source, at the Metjarmette portage, in the highlands which separate Maine and Canada, its length, as already stated, is four hundred and fifty miles. From the sea to the Grand Falls, the distance, as before mentioned, is about two hundred and twenty-five miles: up to that point, the river runs exclusively within British territory. About three miles above the falls, the due north line from the monument at the source of the St. Croix strikes the river St. John; from thence the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick is found in the middle channel or deepest water of the river, up to the St. Francis, a distance of seventy-five miles. In this distance the right bank of the St. John is within the State of Maine, and the left bank in the province of New Brunswick. From the mouth of the St. Francis to a point on the southwest branch of the St. John, where the line run under the treaty of Washington intersects that branch, the distance is one hundred and twelve miles; and for that entire distance the river St. John is wholly within the State of Maine. From the point just mentioned, to the monument at the source of the river on the Metjarmette portage, the distance is about thirty-eight miles. The right bank of the river only is in Maine, the left bank being within the province of Canada. It is therefore apparent that nearly one-half of the extensive river St. John is within the United States, whose citizens thus become greatly interested in its navigation. Besides the main stream of the St. John, there are also large tributaries, some of them wholly, and others partially, within the State of Maine; and it has been estimated that there are one thousand three hundred miles of navigable water in the St. John and its tributaries, to be used in common by British subjects and American citizens. The territory watered by the St. John and its tributaries comprises nine millions of acres in New Brunswick, about two millions in Canada, and six millions in the United States. The portion within the United States is covered with timber of the most useful and valuable descriptions. After the settlement of the boundary, by the treaty of Washington, in 1842, it was divided in nearly equal proportions between the States of Maine and Massachusetts, each of which has since sold a number of townships for lumbering purposes, and granted permits for the like object to a large extent. The whole of the timber and lumber cut within this district (with the exception of a small quantity which is floated down the Penobscott) finds its way to the seaport of St. John. On being shipped from thence, it has been subject to an export duty, since the 1st May, 1844, at the following rates: on every forty cubic feet of white pine timber, twenty cents; on every forty cubic feet of spruce timber, fifteen cents; and the same on every forty cubic feet of hackmatac, hard-wood timber, masts, or spars; and the sum of twenty cents on every thousand superficial feet of saw-logs, sawed lumber, or scantling. This export duty is paid by all timber and lumber alike in New Brunswick, and in every part of the province. It was imposed in consequence of the difficulty and expense of collecting stumpage in New Brunswick; and in the local act which first passed in that colony all timber and lumber cut by American citizens, within the limits of the United States, and floated down the river St. John, was expressly excepted from its operation. But, upon the opinion of the law officers of the Crown in England, this act did not receive the royal assent, because it was held that such an exception was contrary to the letter and the spirit of the treaty of Washington, which expressly provides by its 3d article "that all the produce of the forest, in logs, lumber, timber, boards, staves, or shingles, or of agriculture not being manufactured, grown on any of those parts of the State of Maine watered by the river St. John, or by its tributaries-of which fact reasonable evidence shall, if required, be produced-shall have free access into and through the said river, and its said tributaries having their source within the State of Maine, to and from the seaport at the mouth of the said river St. John, and to and round the falls of said river, either by boats, rafts, or other conveyance;" "that when within the province of New Brunswick, the said produce shall be dealt with as if it were the produce of said province." The refusal of the Crown to assent to the colonial act was based upon the principle that neither the legislature of New Brunswick nor the imperial government had either the right or the power to make any distinction between the produce of the United States floated down the river St. John and the produce of New Brunswick. If it were once conceded that a distinction could be drawn, such distinction could be carried out so as to operate very disadvantageously upon American produce. The British government in such case might maintain that such timber and other articles of the United States floated down the St. John were subject to foreign duty on importation into England, while similar articles from New Brunswick were admitted at a nominal duty only. After this construction of the principle of the treaty, the legislature of New Brunswick passed a second act rendering all timber and lumber exported from the province alike subject to the export duty; and this act has been in operation since May 1, 1844. The following is a statement of the quantities of timber and lumber being floated down the river St. John during the present season of 1852: 100,000 tons white-pine timber, at $6 per ton 10,000 tons hackmatac timber, at $7 per ton 50,000,000 white-pine logs, at $6 per thousand. 20,000,000 spruce logs, at $5 per thousand 5,000,000 pine boards, at $15 per thousand $600,000 70,000 300,000 100,000 750,000 15,000,000 cedar and pine shingles, at $3 per thousand 5,000,000 pieces ciapboard, at $16 per thousand 45,000 80,000 1,945,000 Total As prices are advancing, the value of the produce of the forest above given may be safely stated at two million of dollars. In any agreement for the free navigation of the St. John by citizens of the United States, it should be stipulated that their lumber cut within American territory, and floated down the St. John, should not be subject to export duty if shipped from thence to the United States. Such a stipulation would only be just and fair, and would relieve our citizens from the payment into the treasury of New Brunswick of the large sums they now contribute annually toward the support of the government of that colony. All the timber which floats down the St. John is collected in one boom. Each piece is clearly and distinctly marked, and can be immediately recognised by its owner: if not so marked, it is forfeited to the Boom Company. Crown officers are appointed to examine the whole of the timber which comes down the St. John, and that which is cut within the limits of the United States is readily recognised by them. There could, therefore, be no difficulty in identifying such timber and lumber when shipped, and in relieving it from export duty, if an agreement to that effect should be entered into between the respective gov ernments. The St. John is navigable by large steamers and by sea-going vessels, of 120 tons, up to Fredericton, which is eighty miles from the Bay of Fundy. In 1848 Fredericton was created a port of entry, and in 1851 two vessels entered there from Boston. It is stated that not less than fifty thousand passengers were transported between St. John and Fredericton by steamers in 1851. Above Fredericton the river is navigable for small steamers to Woodstock, a distance of sixty-five miles, and from thence to Grand Falls, about seventy-five miles farther up. The river is also occasionally navigated by small steamers during the season. In 1849 the legislature of New Brunswick granted the sum of $40,000 towards improving the navigation of the St. John between Fredericton and the Grand Falls; this amount to be expended at the rate of $8,000 per annum for five years. The expenditure commenced in 1850. The navigation is already greatly improved; and, in a few years, it is believed the river below the Grand Falls will be quite freed from obstructions, and rendered navigable from thence to the sea for light-draught steamers. |