33 



Even in the herring fishery, although that was very Hmited 

 and did not compare in any way with what he had seen in 

 Scotland, steam had been introduced for collecting the fish, 

 and in a few instances, for vessels employed in catching 

 them, and the results were found very satisfactory. He 

 believed it possible for a Government to do much to en- 

 courage the fisheries by a judicious expenditure of money 

 for such things as could not be expected from private 

 capital. Improvements of harbours, the erection of light- 

 houses, fish culture on a large scale, and perhaps the intro- 

 duction of improved methods of catching and curing fish, 

 as employed in other countries, naturally belonged to the 

 Government ; but the building of curing-stands, and the pur- 

 chase of nets and boats belonged to private capital. There 

 were undoubtedly instances where assistance to fishermen, 

 in the form, of loans with proper security, for the purpose 

 of enabling them to obtain larger and more seaworthy boats, 

 would prove beneficial, but, as a rule, he thought it was a 

 decided mistake to lead fishermen to believe that they 

 could do nothing until they were helped by Government. If 

 leaders impressed them with the idea that they must remain 

 idle until Government took some action, they were not only 

 doing injustice to the fisheries, but to the fishermen them- 

 selves. He could mention a number of instances in which 

 American fishermen, with hardly a penny in their pockets, 

 had begun to work, and to-day were men owning a fleet 

 of vessels. They might have laboured under more favour- 

 able conditions than those of Ireland, doubtless they did 

 in many instances, but certainly if the Irish fishermen, 

 or indeed those of any country, came to realise that they 

 must depend largely on their own energy and persever- 

 ance, it would be much better both for them and for the 

 community in which they lived. 



[31] D 



