1164 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [26] 



justified both by the substantial encouragement given to the enterprise 

 at its inception, by this proof of interest on the part of the United States, 

 and by the fact that the section devoted to our country is more valuable 

 than that of any other, and valuable for reasons of which we may very 

 properly be proud. 



" I have the highest authority for saying that, qiiite apart from any 

 consideration of intrinsic interest or curiosity, our share in the Exhibi- 

 tion is superior to all others in virtue of the scientific intelligence shown 

 in its arrangement and classification, thus rendering it more instruct- 

 ive than any other. This is especially gratifying because it is a triumi^h 

 of a far higher kind than could be won by any ingenuity in our contriv- 

 ances for the breeding or mechanical perfection in our implements for 

 the taking of fish, though in these also we may safely challenge and in 

 some cases defy, comparison. 



" I shall naturally have occasion to write again and more fully on 

 this topic when more perfectly informed, but could not deny myself the 

 pleasure of reporting to you the impression already made in this inter- 

 national competition by the genius for organization of which our coun- 

 trymen have here given proof, a faculty certainly not the lowest among 

 those that distinguish the social and civilized man." 



13. EUROPEAN OPINIONS OF AMERICAN FISH CHLTUEE. 



Still more impressive are the expressions of opinion on the part of 

 public officials and the press in various parts of Euro}>e. I may add 

 that it was my daily pleasure and pride, while in attendance upon the 

 European fisheries exhibitions, to observe with what appreciative eager- 

 ness the collection sent over by our Government was studied by people 

 of every class, by monarchs, statesmen, merchants, manufacturers, fisher- 

 men, and by the public generally. In order that the readers of this es- 

 say, who are, I take it for granted, equally interested in the matter, 

 may share these pleasurable feelings, I will quote somewhat at length 

 from what has already been printed, and to which they cannot well 

 have access. 



Great Britain. — Band words of approval from British authorities 

 might be quoted almost without limit. The writer has in his possession 

 a series of scrap-books, in which are arranged hundreds of quotations 

 from English papers upon the course of the Fish Commission as illus- 

 trated at the late Fisheries Exhibition. I will only refer to the testi- 

 mony of a very few. Prof. Cossar Ewart, of the Edinburgh University, 

 in the preliminary rejwrt of the investigation committee of the fishery 

 board of Scotland, says : 



" The example set by America, Germany, and other continental states, 

 we must follow. We have as a nation at last made a liberal acknowledg- 

 ment of our ignorance, and at the conferences of the International Fish- 

 eries Exhibition expressed regret." 



