ir 



that the question involves any thing but the protection of 

 a highly injurious and impolitic monopoly, the probabi- 

 lity seems to be, that if the existing laws shall not be 

 amended by the wisdom of Parliament, the new hopes of 

 the Salmon fishery will soon be at an end. 



It is true, that the decisions regarding stake-nets, which 

 have hitherto been pronounced, apply only to friths, 

 and that the point of law, Whether the operation of the 

 statutes, extends also to the ocean ? is still unsettled, 

 and, indeed, has never been discussed. But, until within 

 these last few years, it was even unknown that a success- 

 ful fishery could be prosecuted in the ocean. It is impos- 

 sible, therefore, to anticipate what views our courts of 

 law may entertain on this subject ; though it is not to 

 be forgotten that when the decisions in the Tay cases 

 were pronounced, more than one Judge is reported to 

 have expressed an opinion that the operation of the sta- 

 tutes extends to the ocean,-' to wherever the tide ebbs 

 4 and flows.' 



Without presuming, however, to say any thing on this 

 question, which the courts must dispose of, according to 

 the law as they find it, at least it may be remarked, 

 that after the experience which has been acquired in the 

 case of the frith proprietors, of the consequences of a te- 

 dious, expensive, and doubtful litigation, it is more than 

 probable that many proprietors of sea fishings will sub- 

 mit, rather than encounter their opponents ; that the 

 fishery will thus not be attempted at any new stations ; 

 and that unless Parliament interfere, the public interest, 

 as well as the rights of individuals, will be weighed down 

 purely by the dread of oppressive and protracted discus- 

 sion in courts of law. 



