awarding of a special bonus or premium to the owners of ships constructed in Chilean shipyards and thereafter sailing under the Chilean flag. Bonus to be awarded in annual payments dating from the establishment of the necessary proofs and guaranties and to continue upon a descending scale for fixed term of years, at the expiration of which all payments will cease. 2. Subsidies or navigation bounties.-The Chilean Government at present pays subsidies for navigation as follows: To subsidize steamers on the Llanquihue River.. Subsidy to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, making the southern To subsidize the steam navigation between the port of Valparaiso, Punta To subsidize a company to navigate Rio Imperial.. Pesos. 4,800.00 146, 000.00 74, 666.66 20,000.00 7,000.00 In addition to the above a law has just passed the Chilean Congress authorizing a subsidy of 350,000 pesos to be paid to steamship company or companies navigating from Chilean ports to points on the Atlantic coast. The object of the law is to facilitate commercial intercourse between Chile and Argentina and Brazil. These figures show that the total amount of subsidies paid by the Chilean Government for navigation amount to 501,666.66 pesos. In addition to the subsidies already authorized by law, a bill is now under consideration the purpose of which is to award additional subsidies to Chilean steamers navigating as far north as the port of San Francisco, in the United States. The provisions of the law covering subsidies are very simple. They provide for a minimum tonnage, for a limited amount of cargo and passengers to be carried, for a fixed number of trips within the territory to be navigated, for the carrying of the Chilean flag while in Chilean waters, and responsibility to the Chilean navigation laws. 3. Compensation or contracts for ocean mail service.-All compensation or contracts for ocean mail service are included in subsidies or navigation bounties described in No. 2. There is therefore no obtainable data under this head. APPENDIX F. FISHERIES. Following are statements bearing on the deep-sea fisheries of the United States, Canada, Japan, and France. They comprise: 1. Statements and statistics furnished by the United States Fish Commissioner concerning American fisheries. 2. Statements and statistics of the Canadian minister of marine and fisheries concerning Dominion fisheries, with British bounty law. 3. Japanese law to encourage deep-sea fishing. Statistics are not available. 4. Statement concerning sea fisheries of France. 1. AMERICAN FISHERIES. The following statement of the number of fishermen in the United States for 1898 is furnished by the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries [the report of that officer for 1899, to appear in about two months, will contain much more recent statistics], prefaced by the remark: "No canvass of the Pacific coast fisheries has been made since 1895. The number of vessel fishermen given for that year, 2,058, should, however, be reduced to 1,406, as the fur-seal fishery, abolished by Congress in 1897, reduced the number of men in the deep-sea fishery by 717. The number of boat fishermen for the Pacific coast necessarily remains unchanged. The figures relating to fishermen on the Great Lakes remain unchanged, no complete canvass of the fisheries of the Lakes having been made since 1893. "For the Atlantic coast certain changes are necessary, as a new canvass of the fisheries of the South Atlantic and Gulf States has just been made. A canvass of the Middle and North Atlantic States is in progress, but the figures are not yet available. As to deep-sea fishermen of the North Atlantic, the distinction is somewhat arbitrary, as some very small vessels engaged in the lobster fishery frequently engage in the cod fishery. Coast and Great Lakes fishermen of the United States, 1898. Deep-sea fishermen (including whale, cod, mackerel, and halibut): Pacific coast Atlantic coast. 2. CANADIAN FISHING BOUNTIES. [Extracts from report of the Canadian minister of marine and fisheries for 1898.] The payments made for this service are under the authority of act 54-55 Vic., cap. 42, entitled, "An act to encourage the development of the sea fisheries and the building of fishing vessels," which provided for the payment of the sum of $160,000 annually, under regulations to be made from time to time by the Governor-General in council. REGULATIONS. The regulations governing the payment of fishing bounties, as established by order in council of the 24th August, 1894, were amended by order in council of the 10th of December, 1897, and are as follows: ORDER IN COUNCIL. AT THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE AT OTTAWA, Present: His excellency the Governor-General in council. His excellency, in virtue of the provisions of "The bounty act 1891," 54-55 Victoria, chapter 42, and by and with the advice of the Queen's privy council for Canada, is pleased to order that the regulations governing the payment of fishing bounties established by order of the governor in council dated the 24th August, 1894, shall be, and the same are hereby, rescinded, and the following regulations substituted therefor: 1. Resident Canadian fishermen, who have been engaged in deep-sea fishing for fish other than shellfish, salmon, and shad, or fish taken in rivers or mouths of rivers, for at least three months, and have caught not less than 2,500 pounds of sea fish, shall be entitled to a bounty; provided always, that no bounty shall be paid to men fishing in boats measuring less than 13 feet keel, and not more than three men (the owner included) will be allowed as claimants in boats under 20 feet. 2. No bounty shall be paid upon fish caught in trap nets, pound nets, and weirs, nor upon the fish caught in gill nets fished by persons who are pursuing other occupations than fishing, and who devote merely an hour or two daily to fishing these nets, but are not, as fishermen, steadily engaged in fishing. 3. Only one claim will be allowed in each season, even though the claimant may have fished in two vessels or in a vessel and a boat or in two boats. 4. The owners of boats measuring not less than 13 feet keel which have been engaged during a period of not less than three months in deep-sea fishing for fish other than shellfish, salmon, or shad, or fish taken in rivers or mouths of rivers, shall be entitled to a bounty on each such boat. 5. Canadian registered vessels, owned and fitted out in Canada, of 10 tons and upward (up to 80 tons), which have been exclusively engaged during a period of not less than three months in the catch of sea fish other than shellfish, salmon, or shad, or fish taken in rivers, or in mouths of rivers, shall be entitled to a bounty, to be calculated on the registered tonnage which shall be paid to the owner or owners. 6. The three months during which a vessel must have been engaged in fishing, to be entitled to bounty, shall commence on the day the vessel sails from port on her fishing voyage, and end the day she returns to port from said voyage. 7. Owners or masters of vessels intending to fish and claim bounty on their vessels must, before proceeding on a fishing voyage, procure a license from the nearest collector of customs or fishery overseer, said license to be attached to the claim when sent in for payment. 8. Dates and localities of fishing must be stated in the claim, as well as the quantity and kinds of sea fish caught. 9. Ages of men must be given. Boys under 14 years of age are not eligible as claimants. 10. Claims must be sworn to as true and correct in all their particulars. 11. Claims must be filed on or before the 30th of November in each year. 12. Officers authorized to receive claims will supply the requisite blanks free of charge, and after certifying the same will transmit them to the department of marine and fisheries. 13. No claim in which an error has been made by the claimant or claimants shall be amended after it has been signed and sworn to as correct. 14. Any person or persons detected making returns that are false or fraudulent in any particular will be debarred from any further participation in the bounty, and be prosecuted according to the utmost rigor of the law. 15. The amount of the bounty to be paid to fishermen and owners of boats and vessels will be fixed from time to time by the governor in council. 16. All vessels fishing under bounty license are required to carry a distinguishing flag, which must be shown at all times during the fishing voyage at the main topmast head. The flag must be 4 feet square in equal parts of red and white, joined diagonally from corner to corner. Any case of neglect to carry out this regulation reported to the department of marine and fisheries will entail the loss of the bounty, unless satisfactory reasons are given for its noncompliance. JOHN J. MCGEE, Clerk of the Privy Council. There were received for the year 1897, 14,847 claims, a decrease of 364, compared with the year 1896. The number of claims paid during the year was 14,729, being a decrease of 246, as compared with the previous year. There was $60,939 in bounties paid to vessels and their crews, and $96,565 to boats and boat fishermen, making the total bounty paid during the year 1897-98, $157,504. The number of vessels which received bounty during the year was 790, the total tonnage being 25,725 tons, showing a decrease of 72 vessels and 2,826 tons, as compared with the previous year. Bounty was paid on 13,939 boats and to 23,612 boat fishermen during the year, being a decrease of 167 boats and 209 fishermen, as compared with 1896-97. 2. GENERAL STATISTICS. The fishing bounty was first paid in 1882. The payments were made each year on the following basis: 1882. Vessels, $2 per ton, one-half to the owners and the other half to the crew. Boats at the rate of $5 per man, one-fifth to the owners and four-fifths to the men. 1883. Vessels, $2 per ton, and boats $2.50 per man, distributed as in 1882. 1884. Vessels, $2 per ton, as in 1882 and 1883. Boats from 14 to 18 feet keel, $1; 18 to 25 feet keel, $1.50; 25 feet keel upward, $2, and boat fishermen, $3 each. 1885, 1886, and 1887. Vessels, $2 per ton, as in previous years. Boats measuring 13 feet keel, having been admitted in 1885, the rates were: Boats from 13 to 18 feet keel, $1; from 18 to 25 feet keel, $1.50; from 25 feet keel upward, $2, and fishermen, $3 each. Boats the same as 1888. Vessels, $1.50 per ton, one-half each to owners and crew. in 1885, 1886, and 1887. 1889, 1890, and 1891. Vessels, $1.50 per ton, as in 1888. Boats, $1 each. Boat fishermen, $3. 42- -12 1892. Vessels, $3 per ton, one-half each to owner and crew. Boats, $1 each. Boat fishermen, $3. 1893. Vessels, $2.90 per ton, paid as formerly. Boats, $1 each. Boat fishermen, $3. 1894. Vessels, $2.70 per ton, distributed as in previous years. Boats, $1 each. Boat fishermen, $3. 1895. Vessels, $2.60 per ton, half each to owner and crew. Boats, $1 each. Boat fishermen, $3. 1896. Vessels, $1 per ton, which was paid to the owners, and vessel fishermen, $5 each, clause 5 of the regulations having been amended accordingly. Boats, $1 each, and boat fishermen, $3.50 per man. 1897. Vessels, $1 per ton, and vessel fishermen, $6 each. Boats, $1 each, and boat fishermen, $3.50 per man. Since 1882, 13,070 vessels, totaling a tonnage of 477,741 tons, have received the bounty. The total number of vessel fishermen which received bounty is 99,602, being an average of 8 men per vessel. The total number of boats to which bounty was paid since 1882 is 224,817 and the number of fishermen 423,714. Average number of men per boat, 2. The highest bounty paid per head to vessel fishermen was $21.75 in 1893, the lowest 83 cents, while the highest to boat fishermen was $4, the lowest $2. The genera! average paid per head is $4.82. CANADIAN FISHERIES. [Statistics compiled from report Department Marine and Fisheries, 1898.] Following is the text of the Japanese law for encouraging deep-sea fishing which went into effect April, 1898: ARTICLE 1. A sum of not more than 150,000 yen ($75,000) annually shall be disbursed by the treasury for the purpose of encouraging deep-sea fishing. ART. 2. Only vessels registered as Japanese vessels and actually owned by Japanese subjects, or by commercial companies of which the members and shareholders are all Japanese subjects, and only vessels engaged in fishing operations in accordance with provisions of imperial ordinance shall be entitled to receive bounties under this law. ART. 3. The vessels entitled to receive bounties according to the preceding article may be either of wood or of iron, and their registered tonnage must be, in the case of steamers, at least 100 tons, and in the case of sailing vessels at least 60 tons; they must comply with the equipment regulations to be issued by the minister of state for agriculture and commerce, and at least four-fifths of their crews must consist of Japanese subjects. ART. 4. Persons who desire to receive for their vessels a bounty for deep-sea fishing must obtain the preliminary approval of the minister of state for agriculture and commerce. ART. 5. The minister of state for agriculture and commerce may, when he deems that persons applying for bounty under the provisions of the second article are fully qualified, determine the kind of fishing to be engaged in and the places for carrying it on, and may grant a bounty for a period of not more than five years, according to the following scale: (a) Steamers.-Five yen per ton annually: Provided, That when the registered tonnage exceeds 350 tons the rate of bounty shall not be increased accordingly. (b) Sailing vessels.-Five yen per ton annually: Provided, That when the registered tonnage exceeds 200 tons the rate of bounty shall not be increased accordingly. (c) Crew.-Ten yen annually per man: Provided, That this shall not apply to crews exceeding the number fixed by imperial ordinance and younger than 16 years. ART. 6. Should a vessel to which bounty has been granted fail to engage in deepsea fishing for five months or more in a year during the bounty period the bounty shall be withheld for that year. ART. 7. The following vessels shall not be entitled for bounty: (a) Foreign-built vessels older than 5 years at the time of registry after the enforcement of this law. (b) Vessels 15 years old or upwards. ART. 8. The minister of state for agriculture and commerce may cause persons who are in receipt of bounty to make investigations on deep-sea fishing, or place on their vessels students for training in deep-sea fishing. ART. 9. Persons who shall have obtained bounty according to the provisions of article 5, or their successors, shall not be allowed to sell, exchange, donate, or mortgage their vessels during the bounty period or during the period of three years after the conclusion of their deep-sea fishing: Provided, however, That this article shall not apply to vessels on account of which the bounty has been returned, or to vessels rendered unfit for navigation by natural calamity or some other unavoidable cause, or to vessels that have obtained permission of the minister of state for agriculture and commerce. ART. 10. The minister of state for agriculture and commerce may, whenever necessary, disburse a sum of money, not exceeding one-tenth of the amount mentioned in article 1, to defray expenses for inspecting deep-sea fishing operations, or for maintaining students for training in deep-sea fishing. ART. 11. Persons who shall have obtained bounty for deep-sea fishing by fraud, or shall violate the provisions of article 9, shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of from six months to three years and to a fine of from 100 yen to 500 yen, and shall further be required to return the bounty money received. Persons who shall attempt, but not consummate, the above offenses, shall be dealt with under the provisions of the penal code relating to attempted crimes. ART. 12. The provisions of the criminal code relating to manifold crimes shall not be applicable to offenders against this law. ART. 13. The minister of state for agriculture and commerce may suspend the bounty in the case of persons who shall violate the provisions of this law or any regulations to be issued in accordance with this law. ART. 14. The above punitive provisions shall, in the case of commercial companies, be applicable to such members or managers who are responsible for the business of the companies and who shall have committed the acts prohibited in the foregoing articles. ART. 15. This law shall go into operation from the first day of the fourth month of the thirty-first year of Meiji (April 1, 1898), and shall remain in force for fifteen years. ART. 16. The detailed regulations for the enforcement of this law shall be determined by the minister of state for agriculture and commerce. 4. FRENCH COD-FISHERY BOUNTIES. The following information relating to allowances and bounties granted by the French Government to the cod-fishery industry has been received at the British foreign office through Her Majesty's consul at Bordeaux: Bounties for the encouragement of the cod fisheries are only given to French vessels and to the transport by French vessels of the produce of the French fisheries. These bounties are as follows: Equipment bounties.-Fifty francs per man of the crew for the fishery, with drying ground (la peche avec secherie) either ou the coast of Newfoundland, or at St. Pierre and Miquelon, or on the Great Bank of Newfoundland. Thirty francs per man of the crew for the fishery, without drying ground (la peche sans secherie) on the Great Bank of Newfoundland. Equipment bounties are only granted once in each fishing season (campagne de peche). Bounties on the produce of the fisheries.-For dried cod of French fisheries, per metric quintal (100 kilos), about 2 hundred weight. Twenty francs for codfish exported either direct from the fisheries or from the stores in France to the colonies and French establishments in America, India, and west coast of Africa, or in other trans-Atlantic countries, provided that there be a French consul at the port of importation, |