10 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



The State gave them this authority in the beginning. It fol- 

 lows, therefore, that the Legislature can withdraw this dele- 

 gated authority at any time when it is convinced that it is for 

 the benefit of the State so to do. To those few who are directly 

 profiting at the expense of the many, this resumption of author- 

 ity by the State may seem at first sight a high-handed pro- 

 ceeding, but a brief survey of the facts will prove it to be justly 

 warranted and eminently desirable. The present system of 

 town control has had a sufficient trial. It is in its very essen- 

 tials an unbusiness-like proceeding. A large number of towns 

 acting in this matter as disorganized units working independ- 

 ently of one another could not in the nature of things evolve 

 any co-ordinated and unified system which would be to the 

 advantage of all. The problems involved are too complicated, 

 requiring both broad and special knowledge, which cannot be 

 acquired in a short term of experience. Lastly, the tempta- 

 tions of local politics have been found to be too insistent to 

 guarantee completely fair allotment of valuable privileges. 



The Legislature has not only acted unwisely in allowing the 

 towns in this respect thus to mismanage their affairs, but it 

 has not fulfilled its duty to the Commonwealth as a whole. The 

 Legislature has unwittingly delegated valuable sources of wealth 

 and revenue, the fruits of which should have been enjoyed at 

 least in some degree, directly or indirectly, by all citizens of 

 the Commonwealth alike as well as by those of the coast towns. 

 Many of the coast cities and towns have dealt with this oppor- 

 tunity very unwisely, and few have developed or even main- 

 tained unimpaired this extremely valuable asset of the State. 

 It cannot be too strongly emphasized that such important sources 

 of wealth as the shellfisheries are not the property of the coast 

 towns alone ; they are the property of the whole Commonwealth, 

 and the whole Commonwealth should share in these benefits. 

 In allowing these valuable resources to be mismanaged and 

 dissipated by the shore towns, the Legislature has done a great 

 injury to all the inland communities, and, indeed, even to those 

 very coast towns for whose benefit such legislation was enacted. 

 The Legislature was not justified, in the first place, in grant- 

 ing jurisdiction over these important industries belonging 

 equally to the whole Commonwealth and to the coast towns. 



