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these men were arrested, the Associated Press dis- 

 patches said there was to be a riot in the city. The 

 business of these men was being ruined. What was 

 their business ? To violate the law. The dispatches 

 said their business was being ruined and hundreds of 

 families thrown out of means of support. Within 

 forty-eight hours from that time — the}^ did not have 

 any riot, but the men were arrested all right — the nets 

 were seized, not confiscated. Within fort3"-eight hours 

 I received a communication from the committing 

 magistrate and every Democrat and Republican of 

 prominence in the localit}^, thinking they would have 

 some influence with the Board, asking us to give these 

 men permission to fish with their nets until the end of 

 the year, and they would be good and not violate the 

 law again, and would inform on their neighbors. I 

 knew that we had no authority to grant this request, 

 and with a knowledge of the history of the thing, as 

 we understood it, we would not have granted it if we 

 had. I called the Board together by telegraph, so that 

 these men might not say that their petition had not 

 received careful attention. We informed them that 

 there was no provision in the statute in the State of 

 Michigan that we knew of giving the fish commission 

 power to waive the force and effect of the statute. 

 Their next application was to the game warden for the 

 same thing. After consultation with us, he gave them 

 the same answer. On Friday of that week the Gov- 

 ernor of the state happened to be in town, and I was 

 informed that the fishermen went to him with their 

 friends to make a personal application to the Governor. 

 The Governor asked Mr. Dickerson and mj'self, who 

 are the, resident members, to come in and consult with 

 him, and we did so. The Governor has a backbone 

 like a crowbar. He treated the matter with civility 

 and heard these men, and in their petition to us that 

 they stated that they were not to blame for those 



