CH. V] THE SEA-FISHERIES 113 



though more independent life of the smacksman. Probably in a 

 few years the steam trawlers will be manned by Chinese and 

 Lascars. But many good things may be said of the inshore fishing 

 population. Excluding a few who are shiftless and incompetent, 

 who have sickened of routine work of some other kind, who work 

 on the farms, on the docks, or wherever casual employment is to be 

 found ; and including those astute longshoremen who cater for the 

 wants of the seaside visitors, they are a fine class of the littoral 

 population and possess qualities which are much too valuable to 

 the nation to be sacrificed in order that the fishing industry may 

 be run on modern commercial lines, and that dividends may be 

 regularly paid. 



Conditions of employment vary so much round the coasts of 

 Great Britain that it is quite impossible to notice all here. The 

 steam trawling industry, with its command of capital, is fast becom- 

 ing predominant, and there is little doubt that the other steam 

 fishing methods will soon be similarly organised. The steam 

 trawlers often make long voyages, and often short stays in port, for 

 it is essential that fish should be caught. The men (apart from 

 skippers and mates) are paid regular wages; they often have "trip- 

 money," and sometimes a small percentage on the results of the 

 voyage; and they are allowed the "stocker," that is the livers of the 

 fishes and some of the less valuable species of the latter. Usually 

 their food is provided either by the skippers or owners. It is a 

 hard and monotonous life but does not include the same severe 

 manual labour as on the smacks. The smacksmen are paid by 

 wages and shares, and often entirely by the latter method. Their 

 life is rougher than that of the men who work the steamers, but 

 possesses many advantages. They have longer stays in port, thus 

 many of the smacks put into harbour over the Sundays, and with- 

 out necessarily expressing Sabbatarian principles one could wish 

 that this system were a universal one. Then rough weather often 

 means a somewhat welcome spell in harbour, and rest is thus 

 oftener secured than in the case of the steamers. Legislation, 

 which has abolished the infamous trade of the " cooper," has helped 

 them in many ways ; and both steam trawlers and smacksmen 

 must have benefited greatly by the work of the Mission to Deep- 

 Sea Fishermen. The smaller sailing boats are as a very general 



J. F. 8 



