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tuous seas, if there were not adequate harbours to seek 

 shelter in. Another important point as mentioned by Mr. 

 Walsh was the great inconvenience and loss which in the 

 south of Ireland a fleet was put to by being obliged to 

 come into harbour with each cargo of fish, and there was 

 no doubt that an immense improvement would be made 

 if steam power were employed. That, however, must be 

 a matter of private enterprise. All that the Government 

 could be expected to do was to provide the means for 

 harbours. Then he spoke of the great want of more 

 suitable boats and gear, but there were two sources of 

 supply now in operation. The inspectors of fisheries had 

 a fund of ;^500,ooo, from which fishermen could borrow 

 at very moderate interest for the purpose of supplying 

 boats and gear. Since that fund had been in operation, 

 the inspectors of fisheries had lent out about ^50,000 to 

 the fishermen of Ireland, and, very much to the credit of 

 those men, the whole of that sum had been paid back with 

 the exception of about ;^iOOO, and even that very small sum 

 would not now be outstanding if adequate means had 

 been taken for its recovery. Besides that, there was a 

 Society in Dublin which had £"30,000 or ;^40,ooo at its 

 disposal for the same purpose. An important provision 

 had been introduced last year, enabling the inspectors 

 instead of lending money to advance it in the shape of 

 boats and gear, which was a great improvement, because 

 he was afraid some of the money was often applied to 

 very useful purposes, such as portioning their daughters, 

 paying rent, enclosing land, and such like. Now the 

 borrowers were debarred from that kind of thing, and in- 

 stead of getting the money obtained the same assistance in 

 kind, which would tend very much to the advancement 

 of the fisheries. He had a very well-grounded hope that 



