MARYLAND: OYSTER INDUSTRY. 431 



of making the tougmen, and especially the negroes, engage in other occupations. Could this be 

 done without restricting the rights of citizenship it would prove a great blessing to the negroes 

 themselves, as it would lead them to regular work in the cultivation of land, and it is well known 

 that as soon as these people are possessed of a house and a few acres of land they become more 

 law-abiding and industrious. 



It has generally been a favorite idea of the legislators both of Maryland and Virginia that 

 each State should derive some revenue from the natural oyster-beds belonging to it. To this end 

 many laws have been passed, but no satisfactory results have ever been accomplished. The 

 expense of enforcing laws over such an extensive body of water as the Chesapeake Bay is neces- 

 sarily very great. In 1879 the entire amount received from licenses to tong, to scrape, and to 

 dredge in Maryland was less than the cost of maintaining the oyster-police force. This, however, 

 was an exceptional year, and very little was collected from dredgers for reasons given elsewhere. 

 Since the oyster-police force was first established up to September 30, 1879, the amount collected 

 from dredging licenses, measurers, and fines exceeded the expenses of the force by $235,156.59. 

 In addition to this there is a county tax upon tonging and scraping which averages about $10,000 

 a year. This amount is by law paid to the public schools of the respective counties. It would 

 be necessary for the State to maintain the police force, even if it had to be done by appropriations 

 from the general treasury. Disband the force, and in a few weeks the bay would be a battle-ground 

 for tongers and dredgers. This was plainly demonstrated last winter on the Rappahanuock River. 

 Virginia having abolished dredging on natural rocks, it was decided to do away with the police 

 force. In the winter of 1879-'80 about 40 dredging boats entered the Rappahanuock arid began 

 work. The native tongnien, incensed at this depredation upon their beds, undertook to drive the 

 dredgers away. In this, however, they signally failed. The dredgers, being well supplied with 

 rifles, opened fire upon the tongmen. For several weeks the appearance of a tongman at any time, 

 was certain to draw forth a volley from the dredgers. The legislature being in session at the time, 

 it was decided to supply the tongmen with a cannon, a large number of rifles, and a supply of 

 ammunition. Before the arrival of these, however, the dredgers had left. Such is but a sample 

 of what would be constantly occurring if the dredgers of Maryland were not overawed by the 

 police. 



In Virginia there are some laws for taxing oysters but as there are no means of enforcing them 

 they are worthless. The total amount of license money received during 1879 was only a few hun- 

 dred dollars. When gathering the statistics of the oyster trade in Maryland the matter seemed 

 perplexing enough; but when the effort was made to obtain the same information in Virginia the 

 task was found to be even worse. State officials, from county clerk to auditor, knew nothing defi- 

 nite about the business. There was no license, as in Maryland; no record of the number of boats 

 or men; in fact, nothing upon which to begin laying a foundation. The county officials, however, 

 willingly rendered all the aid in their power, and to many of them I am greatly indebted for their 

 kind assistance. 



DREDGING. There are really but two ways of catching oysters practiced in this State: dredg- 

 ing and touging. Scraping is but dredging on a smaller scale. 



Before discussing the merits and faults of our present method of dredging, it may be well to 

 give some description of this manner of catching oysters, which, while very familiar to Mury- 

 landers, may not be so well understood by those who have never witnessed the practical working 

 of it. Dredges are bags made of iron rings linked together, forming meshes similar to thos^R" an 

 ordinary seine, the mouth being held open by an iron frame, from the four corners of which project 

 four iron bars converging to a point at a distance of a few feet from the mouth ; to this point a 



