THE SALMON AND CHANNEL FISHERIES. 167 



"peace of all the counties of England shall be conservators 

 " of the said statutes in the counties where they be justices ; 

 " and that they and every of them, at all times when they 

 " may attend, shall survey the offences and defaults at- 

 " tempted against the statutes aforesaid; and also shall 

 " survey and search all the weirs in such rivers, that they 

 " shall not be VERY STRAIT for the destruction of such fry 

 " and brood, but of reasonable wideness, after the old 

 66 assize used or accustomed ; and that the same justices or 

 " any of them which shall find default or abuse against the 

 " statutes aforesaid, shall make due punishment of them 

 " which be found in default, after the content of the same 

 " statute; and that the same justices shall put good and 

 66 sufficient under-conservators of the same statutes under 

 " them, which shall be sworn to make like surveying, 

 " search, and punishment, without any favour thereof to 

 " be shewed; and moreover that the same justices in their 

 " sessions shall enquire as well by their officer as at the 

 " information of the under-conservators aforesaid, of all 

 " trespasses, misprisions, and defaults, made against any 

 " of the points aforesaid, and shall cause them which be 

 " thereof indicted, to come before them, and if they be 

 " thereof convict, they shall have imprisonment and 

 " make fin after the discretion of the same justices ; and 

 " if the same be at the information of any of the under- 

 " conservators aforesaid, the same under-conservator 

 " shall have half of the said fine." [The remaining part 

 of the act relates to the lord mayor of London, as conser- 

 vator of the Thames and Medway.] 



It seems that the main object of this act was to' 

 confer the conservancy of rivers upon the magis- 

 trates ; but I never heard or read of any inter- 

 ference of theirs on the subject. I cannot find, 



M 4 



