132 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



received per year for five consecutive years would be $93 

 a man, and there must have been many others on shore 

 employed in curing the fish whose wages would not be 

 much higher, if as high. In 1789, the sale of our fish in 

 foreign markets was very low. Both England and France 

 made efforts to induce our fishermen to move to their ports, 

 fearing that American competition under conditions of 

 peace would interfere with their fisheries. In addition to 

 excluding the fish of other nations from their ports both 

 England and France at that time gave bounties to their 

 fishermen. For a number of years France had paid a 

 bounty to her fishermen in the codfishery at a rate per 

 quintal larger than the average price at which American 

 codfish had been sold. 1 Under circumstances such as these 

 there is little wonder why the codfishery of New England 

 shows a slow development after the War of the Revolu- 

 tion. 



The state of the fishery and the wretched condition of 

 the people who secured their living from it appealed to the 

 sympathies of patriotic Americans. Men in New England 

 who knew the state of affairs felt that the need of assistance 

 for the relief of fishermen and the encouragement of their 

 ancient industry was urgent. In other parts of the coun- 

 try the need was clearly recognized and maintained. 

 Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina declared in the con- 

 vention of his state that met to ratify the Constitution 

 that "the eastern states had lost everything but their coun- 

 try and freedom ; ... it was notorious that some ports 

 at the eastward which used to fit out one hundred and fifty 

 sail of vessels do not now fit out thirty; that their trade 

 of shipbuilding, which used to be considerable, was now 

 annihilated; that their fisheries were trifling, and their 

 mariners in want of bread ; ' and that the people of the 



i Hunt's Merchant's Magazine, V, p. 22. 



