VALUE OF NORWEGIAN LAKES FOR FISH CULTURE. 553 



place to develop more fully ; I suppose it will be done when the reali- 

 zation of the necessity is sufficiently clear to the public. But even if 

 legal enactments contain all the necessary provisions, this will not be 

 enough. Law alone is inoperative ; it must have living supporters, par- 

 ticularly when the temptation to break it is especially great, as will be 

 the case when the fishing-streams, rivers and brooks, receive the com- 

 X)lete supply of fish which they can accommodate and sustain. Constant 

 and active watchfulness must supplement the protection of the law, and 

 the business will with the greatest ease be able to meet the expense which 

 must herewith be associated. Where a single individual commands an 

 isolated field for fish-culture, the matter is very simple ; where the cul- 

 ture must be carried on in partnership by more than one, or by many 

 interested parties, watchfulness becomes necessary over a greater area 

 than for the isolated proprietor's district. He who cultivates for himself 

 alone, independent of others, will see to carrying on the business in the 

 manner most profitable for himself, and act in accordance with that ob- 

 ject, and, if he does not do this he must blame himself for the possible 

 damage or loss. Where many i^ersons are interested, the temptation to 

 undertake to feather one's own nest at the expense of the rest is very 

 great, and not every one is able to resist it. In such case the custody 

 must be open for inspection, that even the interested parties observe the 

 rules of the business, namely, that the catching of fish be judicious, so 

 that no improper division may be made, nor the business be injured. 

 But in this case it is not sufficient as hitherto to depend chiefly upon the 

 men sei)erately appointed for such inspection. If it is imi)ortant to have 

 fixed legal enactments, or agreements respected, then should every means 

 auxiliary thereto, which costs nothing, be brought also into the greatest 

 activity, and this activity should not as generallj^ hitherto, be i)aralyzed 

 to the greatest possible degree. 



Where numerous keepers of the law or established custom are ap • 

 pointed it is clear that many and very improper adv^antages can and 

 must escape their observation, which, however unavoidable, must be- 

 come generally known to other persons among the i^eople more or less 

 interested in the matter. Why not seek to invoke such assistance for 

 the support of the law when it can be procured without cost ? In nearly 

 all hitherto established laws of such a nature they have, as it appears, 

 made it possible to prevent the public from interesting themselves in 

 any way for their support. Tlie specially -appointed inspector was to 

 have a share in the fines which were imposed for transgressions ; the 

 discoverer and informant, who had no such position, received, on the 

 contrary, nothing. It appears now as if they, with full knowledge, 

 ■vvished to relax tbe operation of the law to the utmost extent in which, 

 with a little appearance of decency, it could exist. That such mainte- 

 nance of the law will be secured to a considerable degree by allotting to 

 every informant the same compensation can be subjected to no doubt, 

 and by such a plan alone can such laws fully acquire theh' intended 

 strength. 



