OF MASSACHUSETTS. 235 



acre, and by the utilization of thousands of acres which are now 

 practically idle, but which either are now adapted for growing 

 shellfish or can readily be made so. 



Our present shellfish laws are a heterogeneous, conflicting 

 patchwork, devised to meet temporary and local conditions, 

 utterly inadequate to-day to permit the fishermen to secure a 

 just return for their labor, and completely sacrificing the public 

 interests. In many cases the responsible tax-paying citizen 

 cannot find a place to dig a family supply of clams or quahaugs, 

 neither can the industrious native fisherman get a fair day's pay 

 for his labor. 



An entirely new code of shellfish laws is necessary, based upon 

 the general principles (1) that in selling the shores the State 

 reserved the right of fishing as " far as the tide doth ebb and 

 flow," and (2) that the State may now lease these fishing rights 

 under such conditions and restrictions as to secure to every 

 citizen so desiring and so deserving an opportunity to cultivate 

 ' such a definite area as may meet his needs and powers. Experi- 

 ence has proved conclusively that it is a correct economic prin- 

 ciple for the State to give a secure title to certain carefully 

 defined lands to a capable man, and to say : " This land is yours. 

 You may raise potatoes, corn, hay or anything you choose. 

 Every plant, fruit or tree growing on this property is yours. 

 You have become responsible for its right and proper use. You 

 have full and complete rights in this property, and can develop 

 it by investing your labor and your money according to your own 

 judgment, and the State will protect you in these rights as long 

 as you do not interfere with the rights of other persons." 

 Equally so it is an indubitable economic fact that the landowner 

 finds it more profitable to plant or transplant corn, potatoes, 

 grass, strawberries, etc., rather than to depend upon the natural 

 methods and yield. Similarly, it is equally logical for the State 

 to give to the fisherman equal opportunities with the farmer. 

 The State should guarantee the tenure of the fisherman in his 

 definitely bounded shellfish garden, and should protect his in- 

 terests and the property on that garden as securely as if it were 

 potatoes or corn, and should, so far as possible, guard him from 

 local jealousy or the effects of petty politics so long as he con- 



