.156 THE OYSTER. 



cent, while our oysters have never paid to either pack- 

 ers or vessel-owners more than 100 per cent, and of 

 late years they have paid nothing at all. 



The interests of our people demand a complete 

 change in our oyster policy, as rapid and radical as it 

 can be without inflicting avoidable injury or unneces- 

 sary hardship upon any one who is now engaged in 

 the business; for however advantageous to the public 

 in general a change may be, the hardship of a few 

 should overbalance benefit to many, and we should 

 hesitate to demand any great sweeping change if it is 

 possible to devise any plan to open the way for im- 

 proved methods without infringing the rights of those 

 who are now engaged in the business. If proper 

 measures had been taken years ago it might have 

 been possible to have preserved our natural beds from 

 complete destruction, without restricting the fishing, 

 while a new system was being gradually introduced. 



We have delayed action too long, however, and the 

 oyster business has been overtaken by disaster. There 

 is no escape, under any system, from a few years of 

 scarcity and depression, and all persons who are en- 

 gaged in any branch of the business must suffer more 

 or less. It is the duty of the people of the State to 

 see to it that our resources are developed and made as 

 profitable and productive as possible, but while it is 

 quite true that our beds might easily be made to sup- 

 port many more persons than have ever gained a 

 living from them in the past, we are bound to see to it 

 that the welfare of those persons who are now depend- 



