86 



III, PUBLIC RIGHTS. The substitution of a speedy and sum- 

 mary process for abatement of obstructions or nuisances to 

 public navigation or fishery. It is not necessary to give judicial 

 powers to the Commissioners of Fisheries for this purpose, 

 because the ends to be obtained would be more constitutionally 

 arrived at through the ordinary tribunals of the country, if the 

 law were made clear. 



By rendering the provisions of the Act distinct, the intention 

 of the Legislature may be practically carried out, in protecting 

 the rights and interests of those of the public interested in river 

 fisheries from further encroachments by private individuals than 

 the law intended, and restraining within legal limits the power 

 to erect fixed engines in tidal rivers and estuaries. For these 



is left to the common law. Their injurious possession against the public a often 

 remains unchallenged from the many obstacles attending litigation. After an 

 illegal weir has been abated another is erected in the same place, the law being 

 evaded by collusion on the part of the proprietor, or by the owner in law assum- 

 ing a Protean change into a relative, friend, or pauper Evidence, J849, p. 91. 

 There are also great difficulties in the way of parties aggrieved trying a question 

 of title. b The courts and ' the London tavern' are certainly open to all, but a 

 protracted suit often gives the fish to the lawyers, and leaves the shell to the 

 clients. 



The very few cases in which private parties have had recourse to legal pro- 

 ceedings for the removal of obstructions is attributable principally to the manner 

 in which, generally throughout Ireland, the fisheries are distributed amongst 

 the public, and to the fact that but few private individuals have a sufficient 

 personal interest to induce them to embark in heavy law suits. Mr. FfennelVs 

 evidence. 



The Lessees of the Northern rivers, in their resolutions of 1848, propose that 

 the privileges and extent of all river and estuary fisheries for salmon be ascer- 

 tained and defined, pursuant to, and in conformity with, ' established and existing 

 rights.' 



Mr. Barry, in reporting on the Rights of fishing on the river Cashen and 

 its tributaries, in 1846, (see Appendix, 1849, p. 74), writes 'The next object 

 of importance will be a clear definition of " several" and public rights, and I 

 firmly believe that the peace and happiness of the community would be pro- 

 moted more by the total extinction of the whole salmon tribe, rather than 

 that the present state of things should continue, engendering the worst feelings, 

 causing discord and contention, exhibiting scenes of selfish and arrogant usur- 

 pation on the one hand, of disregard even for ascertained rights, lawless 

 encroachment, and of barbarous and malicious retaliation on the other. It may 

 with truth be said, that property of all kinds is a prolific source of contention 

 with mankind, but property of the description under consideration is, under 

 present circumstances, in a peculiarly unsettled state; without some further aid 

 from legislation it will, I fear, be utterly impossible to fix a precise standard by 

 which conflicting rights may be clearly defined. It may be said that I exceed 

 the limit of my duty in offering these opinions, but the peace and welfare of the 

 country require that I should not conceal the result of my observations.' 



leading to frequent breaches of the peace, and engendering the very worst spirit in the several 

 localities, upon a subject which of all others requires a cordial spirit of co-operation. 



' The first page in the First Report of the Commissioners, 1843, contains a full and candid 

 exposition of the principles upon which it was intended to administer the law, " to leave to 

 the public in general the power of causing the law to be enforced." In few cases unfor- 

 tunately, in Ireland, can this principle be found to work. In the case of the fisheries it 

 has utterly failed.' Mr. Harry's Report, 10th June, 1848. 



a The violent disputes concerning contested rights have recently occasioned riots, serious 

 breaches of the peace, and even loss of lives. Appendix, 1849, p. 108. 



b Of this there is a remarkable instance in the case of the Carra fishery. Appendix, 1849, 

 p. 61. 



