A Defense of Fishermen 



ful moderation in the pursuit of 

 wealth, in this democratic country of 

 ours, would be infinitely improved if 

 a large share of the time which has 

 been devoted to the concoction of trust 

 and business combinations, had been 

 spent in fishing. 



The narrow and ill-conditioned 

 people who snarlingly count all fisher- 

 men as belonging to the lazy and 

 good-for-nothing class, and who take 

 satisfaction in describing an angler's 

 outfit as a contrivance with a hook at 

 one end and a fool at the other, have 

 been so thoroughly discredited that no 

 one could wish for their more irre- 

 deemable submersion. Statesmen, 

 judges, clergymen, lawyers and doc- 

 tors, as well as thousands of other 

 outspoken members of the fishing fra- 



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