352 GRINNELL 



morning of the Sunday following; that no salmon may be 

 caught in any manner or by any appliance, except by rod 

 or spear, in any stream less than 300 feet wide between 6 

 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in the morning on 

 each day of the week. 



3. That the Secretary of the Treasury may set aside 

 certain streams in which no fishing may be permitted, and 

 that he may establish close seasons to limit the duration 

 of the fishing season, or may prohibit the fishing entirely 

 for one year or more. 



4. The appointment is authorized of three inspectors of 

 fisheries and their salaries are named. 



5. Penalties for violation of the provisions of this act are 

 announced. 



As has been said, the law in force is entirely inadequate, 

 but it is easier to see where it fails to protect than it is to 

 suggest amendments which shall make it efficient. Per- 

 sons in Alaska interested in canneries have expressed the 

 opinion that a tax should be laid on the output of each 

 cannery, and that this tax should be used to support hatch- 

 eries by which the supply of salmon in the streams might 

 constantly be renewed. It is obvious that Congress, which 

 enacts the laws, can know but little, or nothing, about the 

 actual necessities of the case. The present law, which 

 provides for the appointment of three inspectors to look 

 after a territory one-fifth as large as the whole United 

 States, where there are no means of transportation and 

 where every stream that is six inches deep is a salmon 

 stream, is entirely inadequate, and in fact authorizes the 

 throwing away of the small amount of money that is paid 

 to each of these men. Many of the provisions of the 

 present law are excellent so far as they go, and the chief 

 weakness lies in the fact that no means are provided for 

 enforcing the statute. 



It is obvious that the expense of enforcing the law pro- 



