beyond most men both by reason of status and occupation, 

 are rapidly giving way to the Company and the Syndicate. 

 The Madras fisherman, though in a way skilful and 

 fairly hard-working, cannot compare with his British 

 confrere in status, fibre, or position, and any change in 

 his status will scarcely be felt by himself and not at all, 

 except in the way of progress, by the industry or by the 

 country. The process has already begun in Tellicherry 

 and other places, and the coast railway now open to 

 Cannanore, and shortly to reach Mangalore, supplies 

 cheap and rapid communication which is one of the 

 essentials, but hitherto a missing factor, of the organi- 

 zation of the industry ; the railways have largely made 

 Grimsby and other great fishing centres with their 

 splendid tieets and organised fishing industry, and the 

 Madras Railway will be the making of the West Coast 

 fishing and curing yards when capital and business enter- 

 prise have joined with it en triplice. 



39. A very gieat industry is now opening to enter- 

 prise. The primary opportunity for such an opening 

 was given by the grant in the fish-curing yards of cheap 

 salt at a cost, includino- cost of manufacture and carri- 

 age, of only As. 6-8 in South Canara, and Re. i in 

 Malabar per maund of 82 lb. The opening of these 

 yards and the consequent lifting, in no small degree, of 

 the orrave burden of the salt tax, is primarily due to 

 Dr. Day whose report of 1873 insisted on the necessity 

 for providing cheap salt to the curers if both the fisher- 

 men who catch and the trade which cures and distributes, 

 were to find a market, and if the public were to be pro- 

 vided with cheap and wholesome food. His proposal 

 that enclosures for curing might be provided in which 

 salt should be supplied at rates just remunerative to 

 Government was accepted, notwithstanding the objec- 

 tions which were imagined, and these enclosures are the 

 present fish-curing yards. I do not think that the debt 

 of the Presidency to Dr. Day for his advocacy of this 

 reform has been fully recognized, though obvious to 

 observers of present activities. If a rule regarding the 

 use of cheap salt in boats, as suggested in paragraph 15 

 supra, can be devised, another step will have been taken 

 towards the development of the whole trade. 



To this reform has now been added an improvement 

 in communications such as Dr. Day could hardly have 



