106 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



potatoes, 35,826 bushels ; onions, 2,592 bushels ; beets, 1,296 

 bushels; turnips, 1,728 bushels; cabbages, etc., worth 'fl2,- 

 960 ; vinegar, 2,592 gallons ; fresh beef, 86,400 pounds. 



When you think of what this consumption of such prod- 

 ucts alone has been, decreased from what it was in 1873 by 

 the decrease in the fleet, do you not believe that England 

 should be called upon and required to pay for every cent of 

 damage caused by her failure to perform her part of the con- 

 tract ? She can not, however, and will not compensate suffer- 

 ers for the irritation, the vexatious delays, and indirect 

 damage she has done to the business. Nothing short of the 

 abrogation of the treaty, with renewal of duties on her fish, 

 will bring her to terms. 



I am glad, for one, that this administration, both State and 

 National, understand the importance of the interests at 

 stake, and have shown backbone in the matter. The mem- 

 bers of Congress, and others from the fishing-district, as also 

 from the "heart of the Commonwealth," have rendered val- 

 uable assistance toward having the fishery clauses of the 

 Washington Treaty abrogated, with the duties on fish re- 

 newed. When this is done, then will the American fisher- 

 men keep the American markets supplied by increasing 

 their fleet and fishermen, instead of decreasing them. But 

 now our government is allowing a foreign marine to build 

 itself up by entering our ports, duty free, to supply our mar- 

 kets, and drive out a home industry that has stamped upon 

 the records of our country, from the time of the first plan- 

 tation on Cape Ann to the present time, its services upon 

 sea and land, so that it should upon a future page be re- 

 corded, " The industry that furnished such men has been 

 blotted out of existence by the acts of the National Govern- 

 ment.^' When such a record is made, will it not be an ever- 

 lasting disgrace to American statesmanship ? 



It was my intention to have traced the progress of the 

 planters as I have that of the fishermen ; but time and space 

 did not admit. You, being better acquainted with the farm- 

 ers' industry than I am, will pardon me for the time I have 

 devoted to your sister-industry ; and if I have awakened in 

 you, and by you in the farmers of our land, a fresh interest 

 in the success of American fisheries, I shall feel that in ad- 

 dressing you I have no just cause for repentance. 



