82 BRITISH FISHERIES 



The Royal Commission of 1863 were the last 

 public body to deal with the vexed question of 

 the herring brands, and the whole of the arguments 

 for and against the system are summarised in their 

 report. On the one hand, we have the contention 

 of the Board that the system had proved of 

 immense benefit to the herring trade by establish- 

 ing a preference for Scotch cured fish on the 

 continent of Europe. Barrels of herring passed 

 to the shores of the Black Sea " current as a bank- 

 note." It avoided serious inconvenience to the 

 curers in foreign markets, in that it obviated the 

 necessity for the inspection of the fish, which 

 would have required the opening of the barrels, 

 and the consequent deterioration of the product. 

 It was a guarantee to the buyer that the goods 

 he bought were of sound quality. Even at that 

 time the competition with Norwegian cured 

 herrings was being felt, and it was urged that the 

 cessation of the system of official brands would 

 most probably have been of great advantage to 

 the curers of the latter nationality. These con- 

 tentions were not seriously combated by the 

 Commissioners, who seem to have been of the 

 opinion that it was not a public duty to safeguard 

 the home merchant against foreign inspection 

 and official inconvenience, or the foreign buyer 

 against fraudulent or incompetent British trades- 

 men. And they expressed the optimistic opinion 

 that, even if the branding system were discon- 



