LAWS FOR PEARL HUNTERS 67 



income from fines should be used in the work of maintain- 

 ing the mussel and fish supply, where it is most needed 

 by the State. 



As hogs are very destructive to whole beds of unios, 

 the owners should be required by law to keep the animals 

 out of the rivers during times of low water. In cases 

 where the law would be disregarded and the mussel beds 

 damaged, the owner should be fined about $3.00 for every 

 hog. This would have a good effect. 



Legislation that will reduce the freight rates on cars 

 of shells is needed very much in some localities. There 

 is often considerable expense in moving shells to a rail- 

 way station, but it can be clone if the railroad com- 

 panies' charges are favorable. But when the freight rate 

 is high they cannot be moved. This difficulty is usually 

 found in localities that are a long distance from the fac- 

 tories. As an example of the high prices charged by 

 railroads, one case is mentioned here. Last year a rail- 

 road company charged $200.00 for hauling a car of shells 

 from Central Minnesota to the nearest button factory. A 

 car usually contains about forty tons, so the rate was 

 about $5.00 per ton. This amount is about one-half the 

 value of the shells in some instances. 



A high tariff placed on shells and all imported articles 

 that are made of mother of pearl would raise the price 

 of shells throughout the United States. There should 

 also be a high tariff placed on pearls and pearl jewelry, 

 and especially on the culture pearls which are coming 

 so rapidly from Japan. 



There is another thing that deserves the careful atten- 



