12 American Fisheries Society 



There is absolutely no need of my saying anything about 

 this great city. Mr. Johnston has told you he is going to 

 conduct you personally about the place, and I am quite sure 

 you are in very good hands. I have found it my duty at 

 times to warn these delegations about invisible lines, to which 

 Mr. Johnston made reference. When he told you about the 

 one that runs east and west across this continent he reminded 

 me of the fact that when you get to that place you have to 

 stand and pay duty on any little commodities that you want to 

 carry across — not personal apparel. There are other invisible 

 lines in this North American continent that are of equal im- 

 portance; one of them is in the centre of the river which you 

 see from the windows of this room. Mr. Johnston will ex- 

 plain to you why it is important that you should know some- 

 thing about that boundary — you can do things on one side 

 of it that you cannot do on the other. Now, all I can say 

 is that you are very welcome to Ottawa. I hope that your 

 meetings will be profitable and that your stay will be very 

 pleasant. 



President Avery : I know of no gentleman who is more 

 capable of making a fitting response to these cordial and elo- 

 quent addresses of welcome than one of our distinguished 

 members, Mr. William C. Adams, Director, Division of Fish- 

 eries and Game, Boston, Massachusetts. I am pleased to in- 

 troduce Mr. Adams at this time. 



Mr. William C. Adams, Boston, Mass. : Mr. President, 

 Mayor Fisher and the representatives of the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment : My impulse is to disregard all matters of dignity 

 and to turn this into a sort of love feast. I am going to 

 celebrate the occasion personally because it is my first trip 

 across the invisible boundary line referred to by Mr. Johnston. 



When I arrived at Montreal and walked through the Cana- 

 dian Pacific station there, I was impressed by the exhibits I 

 saw, in one of its outer halls or passageways, of the natural 

 resources of Canada. This morning when reference was made 

 to the invisible line that separates the United States from Can- 



