192 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
I am a state’s rights man, and am jealous of any action of the National 
Government which would deprive the state of a single right. But when I con- 
sider that the great bodies of water which produce natural food run through 
and by different states; when I consider that petty political influences, jeal- 
ousies, and other equally silly reasons prevent a state from protecting from 
extermination a natural food product, I am convinced that the only solution of 
this question is in rational control of the fish by the Federal Government. 
I hope this congress will put itself on record to that end, for I believe that not 
until this is done and the Federal Government legislates for fish protection and 
supplies its powerful backing to the enforcement of such laws will the question 
of fish protection be solved. 
