THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 83 



combined interests of Hamburg dealers and English fisher- 

 men, the latter backed more or less openly by their Govern- 

 ment's ambassador ; and, in consequence, complaints about 

 Scotch herring being admitted without a certificate were 

 heard in 1716 even louder than in the preceding year. 



Here, now, was a tangible indication of the Dutch 

 regulation system's wrongs and of the danger of maintaining 

 it. Evidence had already been, and about this time was 

 still further obtained to the system's inadequacy ahvays 

 and everywhere to warrant the excellence of the Dutch 

 brand-herring, and it was now clearly shown that, so far 

 from shielding the Dutch fisheries against foreign competi- 

 tion, it left them at the competitor's mercy by preventing 

 them from using the only expedient by which concurrency 

 could be upheld, viz. doing as the foreigners did. It is a 

 remarkable instance of the force of habit and long convic- 

 tion, that no one among the Republic's legislators seems in 

 1715 and following years to have realized this most evident 

 truth. They were imbued with the notion so strongly 

 expressed by Semeyns of old, viz. that Providence intended 

 Holland to supply the world with herring ; and in virtue 

 of this notion they did their utmost to enforce the supremacy 

 of their laws, but neglected such measures as might have 

 actually maintained their superiority in the market. In 

 the long list of States' Resolutions registered on the 

 Hamburg question no mention is made, till it was too 

 late, of any proposal either to relinquish the system of 

 the herring laws or adapt it to circumstances. The Dutch 

 Ambassador's reports on the subject were invariably laid 

 before a Committee of the Herring Towns Delegates to the 

 States of Holland, who had been trained to a stalwart and 

 uncompromising belief in the herring laws' impeccability ; 

 and upon their constant advice the year 1716 was wasted 



