200 



Notwithstanding this last drawback, it is very probable that, 

 were arrangements introduced similar to those in England and 

 Ireland, the system of Fishery Boards in Scotland might be con- 

 tinued, and steps taken to extend them. Especially is it desirable 

 to adopt some other plan of raising funds than by obliging the 

 members of Fishery Boards to assess themselves and their neigh- 

 bours. It is scarcely reasonable to expect, that proprietors of 

 fishings, especially when their fishery rental is small, will volun- 

 tarily constitute a Board, whose proceedings would involve the 

 members, not only in the expense of employkig watchers, but in 

 legal proceedings for removing obstructions, stopping pollu- 

 tions, &c. 



The aversion to such self-imposed assessments is all the more 

 natural, when it is remembered how heavily taxed all subjects 

 entered in the valuation rolls of Scotch counties are, for police, 

 prisons, lunatic asylums, poor rates, schools, &c. &c. 



Another valuable suggestion may be obtained, from the mode 

 of constituting the Boards of Conservators in England. There 

 the Boards include three classes of persons : first, owners or 

 tenants of fisheries in the district, not below a certain yearly 

 value or river frontage ; second, persons selected by the Justices 

 in Quarter Sessions, the number being previously determined by 

 the Home Secretary; and, third, persons selected by those holding 

 licences for fishing in the district, the number depending on the 

 money value of the licences. In Scotland, under the Salmon 

 Acts, the Fishery Boards consist entirely of proprietors, in 

 respect merely of being connected with those parts of the river 

 which put them into antagonism with one another. In England, 

 whilst some of the members are on the Board in respect of 

 being owners or occupiers of fishings above a certain standard, 

 the majority of the members are elected and selected with no 

 other qualification except fitness for the duty, in the opinion of 

 those appointed by law as thought competent to judge. 



The constitution of the English Fishery Boards is therefore, in 

 principle, greatly superior to that of the Scotch Boards ; and in 

 any future legislation for Scotland, this point should be kept in view. 



Above all, there should be for Scotland an appointment of 



