Ward. — Atlantic and Pacific Salmon 93 



ing the Pacific salmon which furnishes so important a 

 part of the food supply of this country and of other parts 

 of the world. Scientific men have called attention to the 

 serious dangers which ill-considered promotion and care- 

 less destruction of spawning grounds have brought to bear 

 on the supply of this splendid fish. 



In response to these warnings President Roosevelt ap- 

 pointed a commission for the investigation of problems 

 connected with the Pacific salmon and its fisheries, and 

 Congress continued the work of studying the situation 

 and of aiding the fish to maintain its position by the es- 

 tablishment and development of hatcheries. One of the 

 oldest and most prominent is at Baird, Cal. It is accord- 

 ingly with grave apprehension that I have read the fol- 

 lowing paragraph in a recent publication: 



Only a few spring-run fish have been seen in McCloud River at Baird, 

 Cal., and the dam without a fishway in the Sacramento River is to a con- 

 siderable extent responsible for the condition which threatens to render 

 the Baird hatchery useless. 



In California certain state officials have suggested that 

 since the dam was constructed without a permit from the 

 War Department, action to correct the evil should be 

 taken by the United States authorities. But since the 

 Sacramento River at the point in question has not been 

 adjudged a navigable stream, no permit was required and 

 the matter falls legally wholly under the control of the 

 State of California. It is pertinent to ask whether that 

 state is so lacking in foresight and its officers so devoid 

 of responsibility for public interests that they will con- 

 tinue to permit conditions that menace thus directly the 

 public welfare. 



But the question has an even broader aspect. These 

 fish are a national asset. They are born in the waters of 

 an individual state but they soon pass into the ocean, 

 glean from it without expense from any state or nation the 

 supply of energy that brings them back at stated periods 



