Address of Representative Linthicum 199 



preventing the shad and herring from finding their way 

 further up the river." 



Now we all know that notwithstanding the desire 

 which moves the citizens of the several states to fair 

 dealing in their relation with their fellowmen, it is always 

 a difficult matter to convince the legislative body of a 

 state that it should deprive its citizens of what are re- 

 garded as certain inalienable rights for the purpose of 

 giving an equitable deal to the citizens of some other 

 state. While the fish are coming his way, the fisherman 

 is content and apt to view almost humorously the com- 

 plaints of those not so fortunate as himself, but when the 

 situation is reversed, and his own state is powerless to 

 help him — when the sense of justice of another state must 

 be depended upon, — then conditions become almost un- 

 bearable. Innumerable waters which flow to the coast 

 pass through the jurisdiction of several states, yet those 

 states nearest the coast have invariably assumed the 

 attitude that they have the right, by reason of their for- 

 tunate location, to preempt the wealth which may enter 

 those waters from the sea. To induce them to recede 

 from that conviction would be an effort as hopeless as 

 the tower of Babel. 



I am glad that a brighter, more equitable day is dawn- 

 ing. The nation has laid down the doctrine that what 

 is essential to the happiness and well-being of all should 

 be equitably shared by all. It has declared against mon- 

 opoly and discrimination whether that monopoly and 

 discrimination be in matters of tariff, the possession of 

 coal mines and hydraulic power sites, or what not. Those 

 who have given thought to the subject and supplemented 

 that thought with a thorough study of the situation, be- 

 come more convinced each day that the equitable enjoy- 

 ment of our fisheries will never be reached under a system 

 of state supervision. The Federal Government alone 

 possess the power to handle the situation under regula- 

 tions that will do impartial justice to all; that will pre- 

 serve to posterity the fisheries of the nation, a resource 

 whose value is becoming constantly greater by reason of 

 the increasing use of fish in the daily diet of our people." 



