84 FISHERIES OF THE NORTH SEA 



ment, for in no trade does individual 

 effort count for so much. There is, how- 

 ever, not much danger of State interven- 

 tion, since by the time the war comes to an 

 end everybody will probably agree that the 

 less of British industries the State controls 

 the better it will be for those industries. 

 Nevertheless, if interference is to be 

 avoided, a more progressive and harmoni- 

 ous spirit must predominate among all 

 sections of workers. 



Various possible improvements may be 

 suggested. In the chief centres of opera- 

 tions a council composed of the more 

 progressive and experienced leaders of 

 the industry should insist on a standard 

 of quality ; an inferior cargo of fish does 

 infinite harm to the whole of the industry, 

 for a consumer who buys a fish of second- 

 rate quality for the table does not want 

 fish again for quite a long time. They 

 should fix a price at which any inferior 

 fish landed should be bought in in order to 

 take it off the market, so that it shall not 

 be used for human. consumption and thus 

 damage the demand. The loss occasioned 

 should be borne by the trade at large. If 



