10 American Fisheries Society 



M. Bowers and his efficient assistants, is showing to the 

 world what Americans can do in fish propagation. But, as 

 1 said in the beginning, the usefulness of this Society is 

 only in its infancy. Great things must be accomplished by 

 »>ur fish doctors and scientists to combat the diseases that 

 fish are heir to. But I have no doubt that this problem will 

 be met and solved correctly. 



As a nation we have been criminally wasteful of nearly 

 all of our national resources. We have cut the timber from 

 the headwaters of our streams and around our lakes, and 

 what is the result? The disappearance of the water, and 

 without the water we cannot have fish. We should begin 

 to remedy the mistakes made and reforest around the head- 

 waters of our streams and along our rivers, and in time 

 get back much of that which has been lost. 



It is a paying investment outside of the benefits derived 

 in conserving our water supply. We have all seen bare 

 hillsides where the timber has been cut away — and what 

 looks more bleak and desolate ? Also we are polluting many 

 of the waters that we already have. There is not a man 

 here present who does not know of some river or lake that 

 has been made unfit for fish by pollution of some kind. It 

 may be sewage or sawdust or some chemical from a tannery 

 or packing plant, or some other of a dozen pollutions which 

 some man or firm under the guise of commercialism — like 

 religion, that word covers a multitude of sins — dumps into 

 our lakes or rivers, not caring whether he destroys the fish 

 in that lake or stream which belong to all the people in 

 their sovereign capacity. But if you raise your voice in 

 protest the cry goes up that you are interfering with busi- 

 ness, that you will drive "Mr. Smith" to the rival city. 

 Thus we lose the tannery if the owners are not allowed to 

 do as they please. 



Gentlemen, did you ever stop to think how we have been 

 sitting idly by and letting things like this happen?' It is 

 our own fault. We have the remedy in our own hands, 

 and if the American Fisheries Society will only start a cam- 



