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THE FISHERY QUARREL.
61

Fishery, which has heretofore created and still continues to excite so much disturbance and confusion, we beg leave on the part of the Freemen and Inhabitants of this city to say we are willing, provided it shall meet with your approbation, that the cause in dispute shall be fairly stated and referred by way of an amicable suit to the decision of the Judges of the Supreme Court; and in the meantime until such decision can be had, that the shore shall be fished in common between your Tenants and the said Freemen and Inhabitants; that is every party to have the liberty of setting every alternate nett."

In a second communication Messrs. Johnston and Younghusband refer to the controversy as being:—

"A dispute which has long been the cause of violence and confusion between the Inhabitants of the City and your Tenants—of lawsuits and ill will between yourselves and the Inhabitants. A dispute which yearly makes wretched several poor men and their families and to yourselves cannot be otherwise than a source of vexation and expense. * * We do not conceive it a matter of so much consequence, even to the Public, in whose favour it is determined, as to have it determined."

The letters from which we have just quoted were answered at some length by Hazen, Simonds and White,[1] who claimed that decisions already given by the courts were virtually in their favor; that other suits were now before the courts in which the question as to the right of fishery might be tested; and they objected to an amicable suit to determine whether they had the exclusive right "to take fish upon their own shores" as seemingly a tacit admission that their title was doubtful. About this time the Supreme court began to be regarded with great interest by the contending parties, the fishermen anticipating a decision in their favor whilst Ward Chipman, the counsel for Hazen, Simonds and White, seems to have been apprehensive of a decision unfavorable to his clients. As an indication of the state of expectancy that existed, we learn from the columns of the St. John Gazette that on July 15, 1803, the fishermen gave a sumptuous entertainment on Navy Island to a number of the leading

  1. ↑ The whole correspondence appeared in the "St. John Gazette" and General Advertiser" of June 25, 1803.
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