No. 4.] THE HARVEST OF THE SEA. 155 



they do not propose to have the Rhode Island fishermen 

 coming in there and scooping them out. That is the way the 

 thing stands at present. 



Professor Roberts. My geography is a little rusty, and 

 I would like to know where the eastern l:>oundary of the 

 Commonwealth of Massachusetts is. That seems to be where 

 the trouble lies in this discussion. One man seems to think 

 it is at one place, another thinks it is at another place. The 

 question is, does the authority of the Commonwealth of 

 Massachusetts extend one mile or three miles or ten miles 

 into the sea? It seems to me the whole thing hinges on the 

 eastern boundary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 



Mr. West. I am glad for one that this question has 

 come up here. Being a former in the Connecticut valley, 

 I am personally interested in this fish business. Fish seems 

 to l>e one of the important elements in our fertilizers. 

 Most all of the fertilizer manufacturers use more or less of it 

 in their compounding. 'She great trouble with most of them, 

 so far as I have been acquainted with them, is that the manu- 

 facturers put in too much potash. That comes largely from 

 Germany, and the nitrogen and phosphoric acid in those 

 fertilizers have l;een very abundant. There is a farmer 

 living down there, within fourteen miles of Buzzard's Bay, 

 who has never heard of this product as a commercial aflair, 

 or of its value even. I was a little surprised at that. Now, 

 up with us we have used thousands of tons of commercial 

 fertilizers, and if the price of fish goes up, nitrogen will 

 probal)ly be a little higher, and we shall have to pay more 

 for our fertilizers. Now, if those millions of fish had 

 only been caught last year, what a blessing it would have 

 been to the Connecticut valley and the whole Commonwealth I 

 So you see there are two sides to this question. I am glad 

 it has been brought up here. 



Mr. BoAVKER. I am aware that politics come into this 

 question somewhat. Of course patriotic citizens are all sen- 

 sitive about the rights of the Commonwealth ; luit, as I said 

 to Mr. Russell, I do not care how that crop is taken out of 

 the sea, whether it is taken under United States regulations 

 or under State regulations, if it is only secured. Moreover, 

 it is immaterial whether it is secured by a foreigner or 1)y a 



