THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF NEW JERSEY. 503 



authorized to pay all the expenses of tiie association, including the sal- 

 aries or other compensation of its officers, and to make a report of the 

 condition of the finances at each annual meeting, and to furnish to all 

 the captains and owners of licensed vessels a printed list each year of 

 the vessels licensed by the association, showing the name of each 

 vessel, the name of her captain, and the number of her oyster-ground. 

 For his services the collector i-eceives 5 per cent of all moneys by him 

 received and collected, and a fee of 25 cents for each license recorded. 

 He is required to give bonds to the county clerk of Cumberland County 

 in the sum of $3,000 for the faithful performance of his duties. 



The financial requirements of the association are provided for by 

 the assessment of a tax on the net tonnage of each vessel. This rate is 

 fixed annually, and varies considerably from year to year. In 1802 the 

 rate per ton was $1. In 1803 it was 75 cents, and in 1804, $1 .HO. Boats 

 and vessels not exceeding 5 tons, U. S. custom-house measurement, are 

 assessed $5. In this way a large sum of money is collected each year, 

 but the law provides that, whenever at the end of any year the sum 

 arising from the oyster fund, after all expenses have been paid, shall 

 exceed $2,000, the collector shall pay the amount in excess of that sum 

 to the treasurer of the State, to be applied to the school fund.* This 

 provision went into effect in 1S74, and is still in force. Prior to 1874 

 the annual amount of the oyster fund in excess of $1,000 was paid to 

 the county clerk of Cumberland County, to be aj)plied to the support 

 of the schools of that county. 



Every captain or commander of any boat or vessel engaged in the 

 oyster business is required to take out a license, authorizing such cap- 

 tain and the boat or vessel of which he is in charge to catch, plant, and 

 grow oysters on the flats and grounds of Delaware Bay and Maurice 

 Eiver Cove. This license is granted by the collector of the oysterfand 

 upon the application of the captain, and is good lor one year from the 

 date of issue. On making such application, the captain must produce 

 the enrollment papers of the vi\ssel before the collector, and make oath 

 that the vessel is to be regularly engaged in the oyster business and 

 has not been purchased, hired, chartered, or in any way employed for 

 the purpose of temporarily taking oysters from the natural oyster beds 

 in Delaware Bay or Maurice River Cove. He is also required to make 

 oath to the names of the owners, their places of residence, and their 

 respective interest in such boat or vessel; also t'liat he will at all times 

 diligently aid in the enforcement of the laws of the State for the pres- 

 ervation of clams and oysters, and will promptly report to the special 

 ofticer any knowledge he may obtain of the violation of said laws. If 

 no doubt then exists in the mind of the collector relative to the good 

 faith of the application, he reduces the statement to writing and places 



* No funds from this source have bevn covered iuto the State treasury up to the 

 date of this report. 



