ARGUMENT OP SIR JAMES WINTER. 933 



harm such as I have been endeavouring to describe. There would 

 be no objection to that. It is the catching by seines every day in 

 the week and during Sunday which is objectionable. 



DR. DRAGO : I think this Act refers to nets, in Section 4. 



THE PRESIDENT : It says with " nets, seines, bunts, or any such 

 contrivance." 



DR. DRAGO: Yes. It says: It is forbidden to set out nets, seines, 

 bunts, or any contrivance between the hours of 12 o'clock on Satur- 

 day and 12 o'clock on Sunday night. 



SIR JAMES WINTER (reading) : 



" Xo person shall, between the hours of Twelve o'clock on Saturday 

 night and Twelve o'clock on Sunday night, haul or take any Her- 

 ring, Caplin or Squids, with nets seines, bunts, or any such con- 

 trivance, or set or put out any such net, seine, bunt, or contrivance, 

 for the purpose of such hauling or taking." 



558 That agrees, I think, with the statement that I just made, 

 and that is, that the mere leaving of a small net in the water 

 during Sunday is not objectionable. It does not do any harm. But 

 constantly putting out and hauling in the nets is what produces 

 the effects that are intended to be prevented by this legislation, 

 the constant threshing of the water by the boats and the moorings, 

 and the putting out and hauling in of the nets, the oars, &c., those are 

 the things which it was considered were doing harm and driving the 

 fish away from the grounds; and that if a fisherman put out his net 

 on Saturday night and left it there until Monday morning, there was 

 no harm done. However, I am not now discussing the propriety or 

 otherwise of the measure. I am only endeavouring to explain, as far 

 as I know, the reasons why the legislation was passed. 



In 1879 (p. 708 of the British Case Appendix) will be found an 

 Act which amended the previous acts relating to the catching of her- 

 ring, by altering the date of the close season from the 20th Octo- 

 ber to the 18th April. 



THE PRESIDENT : If I am not wrong, Sir, there is here, already, in 

 the law of 1872, a proviso : 



" Provided, that nothing herein contained shall prevent the taking 

 of herrings by nets set in the usual and customary manner, and not 

 used for in-barring or enclosing herrings." 



You have explained, Sir James, already, the words " not used for 

 in-barring " ? 



SIR JAMES WINTER : Yes. 



THE PRESIDENT: But what is the use of the words first given in 

 the proviso : 



" Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the taking 

 of herrings by nets set in the usual and customary manner " ? 



