878 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



the Fish Commission for the purpose of filling our rivers and streams 

 with fish as an}^ other member of Congress. I am as willing as any 

 other to contribute to the increase of this wealth ; but that is another 

 thing from this fish exhibition. The multiplying of food-fishes in this 

 country by artificial means is quite a different thing from going 

 abroad and spending $50,000 at an exhibition. We can take that 

 appropriation and go on with our fish-culture. 



The Fish Commission went before the Committee on Foreign Afiairs 

 and stated we had gone further than all the countries in Europe in the 

 matter of fish-culture, and that they were constantly resorting to this 

 country to study our 'methods. Therefore there can be no benefit to 

 be gained by this exhibition, and there can be no suggestion of any 

 improvement to come from it. There can be no successful allegation 

 that those people are blind to our products and we must therefore go 

 to this exhibition at a cost of $50,000 to advertise our fish production. 

 The Fish Commissioner tells you their interest as well as their intelli- 

 gence are constantly advising them to look in this direction for the 

 purpose of getting their supply. 



As I said in the outset, in 1880 we attended one of these exhibitions 

 at Berlin. Now we are asked to provide for another exhibition. One 

 seems to beget the other. So we are to get up in various Depart- 

 ments of the Government upon this sort of sophistical reasoning from 

 time to time all sorts of junketing expeditions, for they are nothing 

 more or less. 



I challenge any gentleman to find a well-founded fact in the report 

 to show that our attendance at Berlin has increased the demand for 

 our fish production. I submit there is an absence of any such ground. 

 There is a good deal of declamation about American fish production. 

 There is a deal of assumption without a single report from any official 

 source to base it on ; but we are expected to take it for granted that 

 all these statements are correct and to vote money toward this exhibi- 

 tion. There can not come, I apprehend, the slightest difficulty if we 

 fail to do it. The world will still want fish, and the mercantile world 

 and the interest involved in fish production will take care of all these 

 matters. 



We need not concern ourselves so much with the affairs of the 

 American people in relation to their foreign commerce or their asso- 

 ciations with foreign- countries in matters of trade. We had better 

 confine our attention to their fish and other industries and see to build- 

 ing them up, if we have anything to do with the subject. They do 

 not ask any such assistance as this bill contemplates. If they are left 

 alone they will do in the future as they have done in the past, with 

 their industry and intelligence take care of all of these interests for 

 themselves. 



Mr. Speaker, I am getting fatigued with the idea that on every 



