122 ALONGSHORE m 



among the fishermen in the shape of bonuses, as 

 co-operative societies divide their profits among 

 their members. 



The most immediate, the most necessary, step 

 is the improvement of Billingsgate and the other 

 central markets, before fishermen, for lack of 

 encouragement, become further impressed with 

 the maxim, so fatal to the development of any- 

 trade, that a bird in the hand is always worth 

 two in the bush. Only when the centres of the 

 fish trade have been dealt with can the outlying 

 branches be brought into a healthier state. 



Longshoremen are a hardy, independent race 

 of men, very cheap to the nation, and at the 

 foundation of its seafaring. They only want the 

 chance to live. It would be a pity to discover 

 their value too late, and to try and revive them 

 after they were, as a breed, extinct. 



