340 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



who would otlieiwise be idle, the food of those who woiild otherwise 

 be hungry, the wealth of those who would otherwise be poor." After 

 debate it was resolved by Congress tbat "the common right of taking 

 fish should in no case be given up." For this principle the eldest 

 Adams contended with ability and constancy until it was fixed in the 

 Treaty, where it stands side by side with the acknowledgment of inde- 

 pendence. 



In the discussions which ended thus triumphantly, the argument for 

 the fisheries was stated most compactly by Ealph Izard, of South Caro- 

 lina, in a letter to John Adams, dated at Paris, the 24:th September, 

 1778; and what he said then may be repeated now: 



Since the advantages of commerce have been well understood, the fisheries have 

 been looked upon by the Naval Powers of Europe as an object of the greatest 

 im])ortance. The French have been increasing their fishery ever since the Treaty of 

 Utrecht which has enabled them to rival Great Britain at sea. The fisheries of 

 Holland were not only the first rise of the Republic, but have been the constant 

 support of all her commerce and navigation. This branch of trade is of such con- 

 cern to the Dutch that in their public prayers they are said to request the Supreme 

 Being that it would please Him to bless the Government, the Lords, the States, and 

 also the fisheries. The fishery of Newfoundland appears to me to be a mine of infi- 

 nitely greater value than Mexico and Peru. It enriches the proprietors, is worked 

 at less expense, and is the source of naval strength and protection. (John Adams' 

 Works, vol. vii, p. 45.) 



I have grouped these allusions that you may see how the fisheries of 

 that day, though comparatively small, enlisted the energies of our 

 fathers. Tradition confirms this record. The sculptured image of a 

 cod hanging from the ceiling in the hall of the Massachusetts House 

 of Eepresentatives, where it was placed during the last century, con- 

 stantly recalls this industrial and commercial staple with the great 

 part which it i)erformed. And now it is my duty to remind you that 

 these fisheries, guarded so watchfully and vindicated with such con- 

 quering zeal, had a value prospective rather than present, or at least 

 small compared with what it is now. Exact figures, covering the ten 

 years between 1765 and 1775, show that during this period Massachu- 

 setts employed annually in the fisheries 065 vessels amounting to 25,620 

 tons, and only 4,405 men. In contrast with this interest, which seems 

 so small, although at the time considerable, are the i^resent fisheries of 

 our country: and here again we have exact figures. The number of 

 A^essels in the cod fishery alone in 1861, just before the blight of the war 

 reache'd this business, was 2,75S amounting to 137,665 tons, and with 

 19,271 men, being more than four times as many vessels and men, and 

 more than five times as much tonnage, as for ten years preceding the 

 Revolution was employed annually by Massachusetts, representing at 

 that time the fishing interest of the country. 



Small beginnings, therefore, are no discouragement to me, and I turn 

 with confidence to the future. Already the local fisheries on this coast 

 have developed among the generations of natives a singular gift in build- 

 ing and managing their small craft so as to excite the frequent admira- 

 tion of voyagers. The larger fisheries there will naturally exercise a 

 corresponding influence on the population destined to build and manage 

 the larger craft. The beautiful baidar will give way to the fishing- 

 smack, the clipj)er, and the steamer. All things will be changed in form 

 and pioportion; but the original aptitude for the sea will remain. A 

 practical race of intreiiid navigators will swarm the coast, ready for any 

 enterprise of business or i)atriotism. Commerce will find new arms; 

 the country new defenders; the national flag new hands to bear it aloft. 



