172 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Number of vessels and sail-boats engaged 3,275 



Value of same $2,042,500 



Number of men hired by planters or dealers 6,897 



Annual earnings of same §775, 520 



Number of -svomen hired 2,4(10 



Annual earnings of same §259, 259 



Number of men in canneries 6,400 



Annual earnings of same $1,082,700 



Total number of families supported 10,000 



Annual sales of — 



I. Native oysters bushels.. 10,600,000 



Value of same $2,650,000 



48. THE OTSTEE-LAWS OF MARYLAND. 



Oyster-laws. — The oyster-laws of Maryland are too voluminous to be given in full, and an abstract has, 

 therefore, been made of them. Before giving this, I quote IMr. Edmonds' remarks upon them and their effect, as 

 follows : 



" For the enforcement of these laws an oyster-police force is established, and for the use of the force one 

 steamer and eight fast -sailing sloops are provided; but owing to the character of the laws in force previous to the 

 last session of the legislature, it was impossible for the jiolice force to carrj' out the purposes for which it was 

 intended. During the fiscal year ending September 30, 1879, the cost of supporting this force amounted to 

 $44,379 76, while the receipts of the 'oyster-fund' for the same time were $31,90^ 12, thus leaving the force in 

 debt to the state for that year $12,410 04. Previous to 1877 the amount received for dredging-licenses had been 

 more than enough to pay the annual expenses of the force; and when this was changed so that the receipts were 

 less than the disbursements, great dissatisfaction was manifested throughout the state. The oyster-i)olice force 

 received the blame, although it did not deserve it. The loss of revenue was occasioned by the fact that more than 

 one-half of the dredgiug-iieet worked during the past season [1879] without any license. This was mainly owing 

 to the failure of the legislatures of Maryland and Virginia to ratify the report made by a commission previously 

 ap]ioiuted to determine the boundary line on the Potomac river between the two states. In consequence of this 

 neither state could claim jurisdiction over the waters of the Potomac, and hence dredgers could work without 

 license. Many of the unlicensed boats also caught their oysters in Maryland waters on forbidden ground, and 

 escaped arrest, not through any fault of the police force, but in consequence of defective laws, which made it so 

 difficult to convict the violators of them that it was useless to arrest the dredgers. 



" During my investigation of this subject I spent a weelt on board the police-steamer Leila, and about ten 

 o'clock one morning, while on this trip, I was called forward by Captain Travers, the commander of the steamer, 

 to watch the movements of a large fleet of dredgers some eight or ten miles ahead of us. Sixty-three boats were 

 counted, only five of wliich were licensed. It was useless to arrest any, since they had seen the steamer nearly an 

 liour before she reached them, and had taken in all their dredges. The wet oysters and ropes lying on deck should 

 have been ^)mHrt/flc«e evidence that the law had been violated ; but repeated trials had demonstrated that it was 

 impossible to convict the captain of a dredging-boat, unless the officers of the steamer were able to swear that they 

 had seen the dredge hauled up; and not only that, but must also be able to swear that oysters, and not rocks or 

 stones, were brought up by the dredge. These two things were obviously impossible in nearly every case. In 

 many cases the police force were hindered and restricted by the rulings of illiterate magistrates, some of whom, 

 it is said, are interested in dredging-boats, while others are more in sympathy with the dredgers than with tlie 

 police. Such was the working of the old law. It is to be hoped that the new one will pi'ove of more vahie, 

 notwithstanding the fact that it is still imperfect. Under the old law the beds were allowed but little rest, tonging 

 and dredging continuing long after the spawuing-season had begun. By the new law, however, it was intended 

 that the close-season should be extended, and it was made unlawful to take oysters from the waters of the state 

 ' between the 15th day of April and the 1st day of September, except for private use, to the amount of five bushels 

 per day, or for sale of the same to any citizen or citizens of the neighborhood, and to them only for the purpose of 

 being consumed where sold, or for the purpose of replanting or bedding in the waters of the counties wherein they 

 are caught, or for sale to the citizens of the county wherein they are caught, and to them only for the purpose of 

 replanting or bedding in the waters of the said counties '. The meaning of this clause being somewhat obscure, 

 the courts have been called upon to interpret it, and by some means they have rendered decisions allowing the 

 tongmen to catch an unlimited quantity of oysters during what was intended to be the close-season. 



" The two most im])ortant features of the new law are, that the penalty for illegal dredging, which was formerly 

 imposed upon the captain and crew only, is now shared by the vessel, and that the evidence necessary lor 

 conviction is made somewhat less difficult to obtain than by the old law. It is, however, still defective, and its 

 force greatly impaired by the insertion of the words ' on deck ', in section 30, wlii(!h says : ' That if any boat or 

 vessel shall be seen sailing over any of the waters of this state which are exempted from dredging by law, in the 

 same manner in which they sail to take or catch oysters with scoop, scrape, drag, dredge, or similar instrument, 



