196 



generally received in any market in tbe United States for the article of 

 " Magdalene hernnsjs." 



Herrings fatten as the season advances ; hence those taken occasion- 

 ally by vessels employed in the cod-fisbery on the coast of Labrador 

 are as unlike those just mentioned as possible. It is to be regretted that 

 so few fat and well-fiavored herrings are procured for consumption at 

 home, inasmucli as a more abundant su[)ply of the gibbtd fish, caught 

 in the Bay of Fundy and more distant regions iyi autumn, would doubt- 

 less lead to the disuse of the inferior kinds of dried figh, and render 

 poorer and badiv cured herritigs entirely unsaleable. 



In America this fishery has ever occupied a subordinate place. But 

 some of the cities of Europe owe much of their present commerce and 

 importance to the wealth acquired in its prosecution. To persons who 

 are famihar with the character and rank of the mass of herring-catchers 

 of our day, an account of the mania on this subject in England two cen- 

 turies ago seems almost incredible.* Without space ibr details, or 

 even to relate incidents to show how vast were the projects, and how 

 magnificently rich were the joint stock associations, which were formed 

 by noblemen and princes of the blcwd — to catch herrmgs — I can only 

 remark that the "operators" in timber lands and corner lots of cities 



" Fishing manias iu Great Britain have been frequent. We will briefly uotice several of 

 them. To comiiieiice no earlier, there was one in 1G77, wheu the Duke of York, ami other 

 personages of rank, were incorporated into a body entitled the " Couipauy of the Royal Fishery 

 of England." This cO'ir.pauy seems to have exhati-sted its capital in titting. out "fc«»ses,"or 

 vessels built in Holland, and manned with Dutch berrsug-ciitchevs, and to have been nisneJ 

 by the capture of a large part of their vessels iu a war with France. 



A second was m 172i), when two thojisand of the prmcipa) gentlemea of Scotland foi-aaed a 

 company for the proseeurion of the herria^ fi«hery. This was a time noted for speculations ; 

 and the .Scotch Con^pany — a mere bubble — soon burst, leaving the shiU'ehol tiers to uiourii 

 over their tolly. 



A third occfirred in 1750, when a company \vas incorpoi-ated with a capital of £500,000, 

 of which the Prince of Wales was president, or governor. His associates were amosg tho 

 lirst men in the kingdom. General Jauios Oglethorpe, the founder of the Stute of Georgia, 

 was a prominent member, and, on delivering the Prince the act of incorporation, made a 

 speech, which was published. The public excitement \ra3 intense ; the .stock was subscribed 

 for immediately; vessels rvere built and ecjwipped with the ntmost rapidity, aiwl artifiee* wer»? 

 resorted to in order to ascertain the Dutch utethod of curing the h-vrring Bvit the project 

 failed — as the Earl of Winehelsea and some other peers predicted it would — at the outset. 

 The suspension of this compauy was very injarious to the British herring-tishery generally for 

 a considerable period. 



Men have been ruined in our wvw times for iiidtilging m tho same risjonary schemes. 



la l^-OS, some English theorists of rank and iudneiu-e recommended a natidnni iishery on a 

 rase scale. The plan was plausible, b>it too complicated. Tiiese gentlemeji proposed " tl;a* 

 there should be a grand national corporation, under tlie inmiediale profectioji and superin- 

 tendence <>f Parliament,"' with a capital stock of , Mliich was to bp raised iu shares by 



the seaport towns and corporations, proportioned to the advantages of locality and the amounS 

 of their trade and tonnage, and aJi annual dividend of 5 per cent, was to be guarantied on the 

 capital. ' Conveuiencvs for shipping, storehouses, shed.',' Ac, were to be 'constructed in 

 jilaces contiguous to the best fi.shing-gronnds.' ' A free u:<e of salt' was to be granted to 'the 

 managers without any inrerferenee of the revenue ollicers.' 'The fish taken and cured,' were 

 'to be exempt from all duties whatever,' and, * on the other hand, bo bounties' were *tobo 

 given.' ' Finhermen. disabled by accident, age, or infirmity, and the widows and^diildrea of 

 fisbc'-men,' were ' to be provided for.' Fiyally, 'the corporation' was ' to be authorized to 

 propose rules for the regulation and discipline of the lisbery.''' 



As late as the year 18'25 we have similar projects, (though of prirate companies;) ss^ice, 

 among the immense joiat-stock c(mcerns which burst during the eonnuercial revulsion of 

 that period, we lind three fishing companies wliose aggregate capital (nominally) amounted to 

 the enormous sum of £ 1 ,600,(X)0, or nearly eight milliou* of dollars. 



