AWARD OF THE FISHERY COMMISSION. 2291 



Q. And tlipse you had not taken into consideration when you made 

 your answer in regard to fish in the water having no commercial value. 

 The mackerel and middle inch make money out of them T A. I did not 

 include them. 



Q. The men who actually go in the vessel do not make money out of 

 them 1 ? A. No; money is made by middlemen. 



Q. How is it that shrewd, enterprising, practical men like the Glou- 

 cester people, continue to keep their capital in that business, if they 

 lose money ? A. We would be very glad to have some better business 

 pointed out. 



Q. Do you know of no better business? A. Yes. 



Q. Why do you not go into it ! A. Gloucester Harbor is one of the 

 best on the coast ; we possess all the facilities for carrying on this busi- 

 ness of producing an article of food, which other places do not ; we have 

 learned the business and we propose to keep in it, whether we make or 

 lose. If we cannot pay our debts we will assign and commence again. 



Q. But is there not an aggregation of wealth in Gloucester T- Has 

 there not been an increase in wealth ? A. Very small, indeed, among 

 those in the fishing business. Some rich men may move in and pay 

 taxes. 



Q. You have said that you knew very few men who had retired from 

 the business ; perhaps they do not retire but keep their money in it. 

 A. It is difficult for a man to retire and to sell out. 



Q. You are not a member of the'firm of Procter Brothers ! A. They 

 are publishers. They are relations of mine. 



Q. They have published a pamphlet on the Gloucester fisheries ! 

 A. Yes. 



Q. Have you read it ? A. I think I have. 



Q. Are the men engaged in the fishing business ! A. Xo. 



Q. They live in Gloucester ? A. Yes. 



Q. And are in business in Gloucester ? A. Yes, as publishers and 

 keepers of a variety store. They were born there, and always lived 

 there. They make themselves acquainted by conference with those in 

 the fishery business. 



Q. Have they conversed with you about it from time to time ! A. 

 For any point they wished particularly to know about. 



Q. Is it an annual work they publish ? A. They don't publish an 

 annual work. That book was got up for the Centennial, and to advertise 

 Gloucester. 



Q. You have given the value of the fish product iu 187C as $4,648,- 

 500 f A. That amount I did not give as mine. 



Q. You indorsed it generally? A. I thought it was nearly correct. 

 I thought the figures rather high. 



Q. They give for 1875 $3,901,500. I will read what is stated in this 

 pamphlet as the cause of the development at Gloucester : 



Subject to perils like these and hardships greater than we can describe or imagination 

 conceive, the fisherman plies his busy trade. Through his labors mainly, Gloucester ha 

 grown from a population of 6,350 and a valuation of one million dollars in le 



his skilled operations and the advantages taken of his labors, the tislnng business of Glou- 

 cester has grown from an enterprise of secondary importance to rank among tl 

 producing interests of the country. Less than thirty years ago, in 1? 

 the fishery products of Gloucester amounted to $589,354. Last year (187o) the prod u 

 of the Gloucester fleet was as follows: (The figures are here given.) 

 $3,909,500. 



