THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 253 



legislative power were fully enabled to pronounce ; and 

 a termination of debate was an urgent necessity, as the 

 state of uncertainty about ulterior measures, combined with 

 the suppression of premiums while restrictions remained, 

 for some years reduced the herring fishery at a fast pace 

 indeed. More than a year, however, was still suffered to 

 elapse before a final decision was asked from the legislative 

 power ; and the only steps taken in 1855 were a further re- 

 duction of both premiums and monopolies, within the range 

 of Government competency. By Decree of January pth 

 (Staatscourant, No. 10), the reduction of premiums, which 

 had been stopped at 50 per cent, in 1854, was carried to 75 

 per cent. ; and no provision for premiums was made in the 

 budget for the next year, so that none were paid from 1856 

 downward. Next, the Grand Fishery's curing monopoly 

 having been impaired in 1854, by allowing coast-fishermen 

 to cure herring after October I5th, the coast-fishers' 

 monopoly was reciprocally broken into in 1855, by allowing 

 buss-shippers to salt herring for smoking (steuren) after 

 August 2Oth, or the coast fishery's opening day.* Com- 

 petition was thus opened, within certain limits, in both 

 branches of fishery ; and buss and bumboat owners, from 

 the season of 1855 downward, were each others' competitors 

 on tolerably fair terms, except so far as the latter continued 

 to be precluded from curing in summer. 



This remnant of the curing monopoly, besides those of 

 carrying and selling, the prohibition against importing 

 foreign fish, and the rest of the edifice of sea-fishery protec- 

 tion, were now to be cancelled. A law was necessary for 

 this ; for the said institutions were either contained in or 

 directly based upon the law of 1818. 



* Royal Decree of August 2nd, 1855 (Bijvoegsel op het Staatsblad, 

 P- 347). 



