[363] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



(General statutes of Massachusetts, 1859, with subsequent amendments.) 



Appointment and qualification of inspector-general and deputies. Chap, 

 xlix, sections 1, 2, 33, 34. 



There shall be inspectors-general of butter and lard, fish, hops, leather, 

 and pot and pearl ashes appointed by the governor, with the advice 

 and consent of the council, lor the term of five years, from the time of 

 their respective appointments, unless sooner removed by the governor 

 and council, who, before entering upon the duties of their respective 

 offices, shall be sworn. The inspectors-general now in office shall 

 hold their offices according to the term of their respective commissions, 

 unless sooner removed. 



Each inspector-general may appoint deputy inspectors, removable at 

 his pleasure, who shall once in every six months make such returns to 

 him as he requires to carry into effect the provisions of this chapter. 



The inspector-general offish shall give bond with sufficient sureties 

 to the treasurer of the commonwealth in the penal sum of ten thous- 

 and dollars, and shall have no interest directly or indirectly in the cure 

 or packing of pickled fish. 



lie may appoint deputy inspectors in every seaport or other town 

 where such fish is packed for exportation, for whose official conduct he 

 shall be answerable. He shall take bonds of each of them with sufficient 

 sureties, and shall receive from each deputy an excise or fee for his com- 

 mission and bond of one dollar, and no more. The deputies shall be 

 sworn either before the inspector-general or some justice of the peace. 



Pi elded fish to be well preserved and packed. Ibid., sections 35,36. 



The inspector-general and deputy inspectors shall inspect all fish for 

 the inspection of which provision is made in this chapter. 



Under the supervision of the inspector- general and his deputies, re- 

 spectively, all kinds of split pickled fish and fish for iarrel in g except 

 herrings, and all codfish tongues and sounds, halibut fins and napes, and 

 sword-fish, whenever said articles are intended for exportation, shall 

 be struck with salt or pickle in the first instance, and preserved sweet 

 and free from rust, taint, or damage; and, when the same are found in 

 good order and of good quality, they shall be packed either in tierces 

 containing each three hundred pounds, in barrels containing each two 

 hundred pounds, in half barrels containing each one hundred pounds,* 

 or in packages containing each less than one hundred pounds, on which 



* The conclusion of this sentence, from the words "one hundred pounds," is given as 

 amended by act of April 1, 1879. The Revised Statutes of 1859 conclude the sentence 

 as follows: " in quarter barrels containing each fifty pounds, in eighths of a barrel 

 or kids containing each twenty-five pounds, or in kids or packages containing each 

 less than twenty-five pounds, on which the number of pounds therein shall be branded." 



