THE FISHERIES. 19 



ted States since the late war has not fallen short of 

 1 ,000,000 barrels. Nearly one third of the quanti- 

 ty now imported, is consumed in manufacturing es- 

 tablishments. The quantity of whale oil imported 

 has been about the same as of sperm. The num- 

 ber of ships employed in the whale fishery, the 

 past year, was upwards of 300. The number of 

 persons employed to navigate them exceeded 

 6000. It is well known, that these vessels are chief- 

 ly owned, built and manned in Massachusetts. 

 They are supposed to require to equip for sea, 

 6000 tons of iron hoops for casks, 18,000 bolts of 

 sail cloth, 36,000 barrels of flour, 30,000 barrels of 

 beef and pork, 6,000,000 staves for casks, besides 

 numerous other expensive articles of equipment 

 and provisions. They require annually about 

 700,000 pounds of sheathing copper.* 



It is a fact highly honorable to the enterprising 

 men engaged in this hazardous, daring and roman- 

 tic-employment, that they can compete so success- 

 fully with those of other nations, while they encour- 

 age their fishery by a protective duty and liberal 

 bounties. The protective duty of Great Britain is 

 nearly double our own. 



There is probably no branch of business more 

 directly calculated, in all its ramifications, to enrich 

 a state, than this. It gives employment to me- 



* Boston Courier. 



