13 



Vice Presidents — David Crowell of Beverly ; William Matthewson 

 of Provincetown ; A. M. Smith of Portland ; Richard L. Mayo of 

 Boston ; and Eugene Blackford of New York. 



Secretaries — William H. Jordan of Gloucester and A. R. Nicker- 

 son of Boothbay. 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Mr. Corliss was conducted to the chair by David S. Presson, Esq., 

 and presented to the convention by Mr. Cunningham. He said that 

 he appreciated the compliment of being called upon to preside over 

 the deliberations of the convention. It had been his privilege to 

 meet his fellow citizens on many occasions, but never under circum- 

 stances more important than those attaching to this meeting. They 

 had never been called upon to consider matters, the issues of which 

 were more vital than those the} r were called upon to consider to-day. 

 The time had come when through the results of unwise legislation 

 and diplomac} r the fishing business cannot be profitably pursued. 

 Next year the provisions of the fisheiy treaty will terminate, and the 

 conditions under which we have been laboring for the past dozen 

 years will cease. You have felt that it was all important at the pres- 

 ent time to come together for conference and consultation ; to look 

 at the condition of the fishing interest to-day and consider what 

 means can be adopted for its resuscitation and benefit. Particularly 

 it is important to have a watchful eye in the future that there shall 

 be no further legislation injurious to this industry. 



Mr. Corliss then reviewed briefly the history of the American fish- 

 eries, from the organization of the United States government to the 

 present time. At the conclusion of the Revolutionary war, when the 

 treaty of 1783 was negotiated, John Adams, the fisherman's friend, 

 tenaciously insisted that our fishing rights should be preserved and 

 we should have the same privileges as an independent nation that we 

 had as colonies before the battle of Bunker Hill. When the treaty 

 of peace was enacted at the conclusion of the war of 1812, Mr. Madi- 

 son being president, the commissioners were instructed to break off the 

 negotiation rather than to sacrifice any of our fishing rights. The 

 British claimed that the war abrogated our rights under the treaty of 

 1783, but this our commissioners denied, and our privileges remained 

 unchanged. Then came the convention of 1818, by which we lost 



