Forty-second Annual Meeting 11 



paign against water pollution, we can soon make our influ- 

 ence felt. Get the greatest power for good in this country 

 interested — I mean the press. 



Two of the most beautiful cities in the United States 

 have flowing through their midst the Father of Waters — 

 the great Mississippi. This river has its source in my own 

 state, and in the upper reaches its pure spring water is fit 

 for any use. But in these two cities there are over three- 

 quarters of a million inhabitants. Every sewer empties 

 into this river, making it impossible as a home for any self- 

 respecting fish, a place where no boy wants to go swim- 

 ming, where there is no pleasure in boating, where the com- 

 mercial few have spoiled the pleasures of this vast popula- 

 tion, but if a voice is raised against the pollution they say 

 that you are stopping the wheels of progress. But I pre- 

 dict that some day the people will rise up in their might 

 and make the authorities stop this pollution, but that will 

 be only when we get our cities to adopt the commission 

 form of government, and the women of this country have 

 the ballot. 



Gentlemen, we are all sorry that the Hon. George M. 

 Bowers, United States Commissioner of Fisheries, and 

 many of the station superintendents have been deprived 

 from meeting with us here today. I understand that, by 

 a recent act of Congress, no financial provision is made for 

 expenses of Government employees to attend meetings like 

 the present gathering. We are all sorry that any law or 

 any rule should have prevented these men from attending 

 our meeting, and I want to say here and now that Congress 

 has certainly blundered. Every man in charge of a Gov- 

 ernment fisheries station derives great benefit by attending 

 our meetings ; it is a schooling that does every one good. 

 We get ideas from each other and we profit by them andj 

 so does the work of the Bureau. I would like to refer this 

 matter to our Resolution Committee so that the proper 

 action may be taken. We should urge the necessity of hav- 

 ing a large representation of employees from the United 



