38 



may learn what has been done in America by the States 

 and Federal Government to maintain and increase the 

 supply of fishes by artificial propagation, etc. , and may 

 become familiar with the results wdiich have been achieved 

 here by scientific exploration of our inland waters and the 

 ocean depths. 



I have reason also to believe that the fisheries of several 

 foreign countries will be fairly illustrated. It is not nec- 

 essary to speak of how much this will add to the interest 

 or importance of this i^art of the Exposition, since I am 

 sure this will be understood by all. But it is certain that 

 it must be of great moment to us as a nation to gather here 

 the arts and appliances which are used for the capture and 

 prei:>aration of fish in other lands ; for, in addition to the 

 interest we may naturally feel in seeing the exhibits of 

 foreign countries and comparing them wdth our own, it 

 must be assumed that our fishermen can learn many things 

 of value and importance to them by a study of such ex- 

 hibits. 



But, aside from the mere question of trade and the 

 enthusiasm which comes from recollection of sport we have 

 enjoyed in angling, or the official zeal felt by those who 

 are charged with great resi3onsibilities, there is a peculiar 

 reason why our love of country should prompt us to a 

 special effort to bring prominently to the notice of the 

 world an American industry which has played so promi- 

 nent a part in the history and development of this nation. 



It is not, perhaps, so well known as it ought to be that 

 fishing was the first industry j^rosecuted in the Western 

 World, and that it led to the settlement of regions that 

 offered small attraction of other kinds. It is, nevertheless, 

 an historical fact that fleets of fishing vessels followed 

 close in the wake of Columbus, and, within a few years 

 after his discovery of America, fishermen of Spain, Portu- 

 gal, England, and France were plying their lines on the 

 banks of Newfoundland. The very names of some of our 



