166 APPENDIX. 



other well organised Fishing Company, might rea- 

 sonably expect to have an annual dividend, beyond 

 outlay and insurance, of from thirty to forty per 

 cent, upon their capital, and it would take but little 

 space, to prove by facts, that the above estimate is 

 not beyond what might fairly be calculated upon. 

 But I think the subject admits of a somewhat wider 

 scope than that suggested. 



The prospectus of the company states that the 

 project is a gigantic one, and such truly it is, if it 

 could put in motion our national fisheries. Let us 

 look for a moment, however, and see how they 

 manage these things in Scotland, and we shall then 

 be better enabled to understand the question — pre- 

 mising in the first place, that in natural advantages, 

 and in the abundance and quahty of the fish, the 

 Irish fishing grounds, equal, if they do not surpass, 

 those of Scotland. 



A century back the coast population in Scotland 

 were bare-footed and bare-legged, half-clothed and 

 half-fed, and not in the least degree superior, in any 

 of these particulars, to our own neglected country-men 

 at the present day. But what is the condition of 

 this coast population in Scotland now; and how was 

 the change brought about? The whole coast of 

 Scotland now, may be said to form one thriving 

 and prosperous community — smihng cottages, decent 

 habihments, safe harbours, good exports, and above 

 all, a healthy import of the chief necessaries of life 

 into all the sea-coast villages. — This happy change 



