954 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



modification in detail. On the other hand, the history of 

 the fisheries, both here and in other countries, is a guarantee 

 that occasions will arise when groundless demands for 

 change will have to be resisted. To meet both these 

 contingencies, and to qualify itself for putting into practice 

 the principle of " the greatest good of the greatest num- 

 ber," the State should neglect no opportunity of mastering 

 through the agency of a duly-qualified department, armed 

 with all needful powers, every detail, natural as well as 

 artificial, of this great industry. Norway and the United 

 States have taken the initiative in thus combining scientific 

 research with practical administration, in a single depart- 

 ment charged with the superintendence of the fishing 

 industry. Without in any way reviving any exploded 

 doctrines of political economy, the State might, by fol- 

 lowing the example thus set, do much in furtherance 

 apart entirely from "protection' or "encouragement" 

 of the fishery interests of the United Kingdom. 



. A kingdom, relative to which the Report 

 of the Sea-Fishery Commissioners of 1879 says, " the value 

 of the fisheries in this country may be computed in mil- 

 lions ; the capital invested in them in millions ; the per- 

 sons dependent on them in hundreds of thousands." 

 Notwithstanding this, there " are no means whatever of 

 comparing by figures their yield now with their yield in 

 former years." 



In this respect we are behind almost every other 

 nation, yet evidence is constantly accumulating to show 

 the important use which could be made of such statistics. 

 Besides serving ... as a gauge of the effects of 

 legislation, they might be of great service in negotiations 

 with foreign powers in such a matter, for example, as the 

 misunderstanding which appears to have arisen between 



