168 THE RELATIONS OF THE STATE WITH 



threatened extermination of the salmon. All these new 

 complications, added to the survival of ancient difficulties, 

 represented a formidable array of important interests, con- 

 flicting at every turn with those of the fisheries, with which 

 the new Boards of Conservators had, and still have, to 

 devise means of reconciling them. 



Duties of the To provide the machinery for reconciling the conflicting 

 interests of fisheries, navigation, mines, mills, manufac- 

 tories, drainage of land and towns, and water supply was 

 obviously the duty of the State. It was impossible to act 

 on the principle of letting the "weakest go to the wall ;" 

 but it was equally impossible to allow that, because the 

 weakest was deserving of State protection, it should claim 

 protection to the unreasonable disadvantage of a stronger 

 and more important neighbour. Powers have consequently 

 been given to the Conservators of the salmon fisheries to 

 protect the interests of those fisheries in various directions 

 from the removal or remedying of weirs and the pre- 

 vention of pollutions down to the adjustment of hereditary 

 disputes between pike and salmon smolts. 



Principles of That the principle is sound by which the existing rela- 



existing 



salmon laws, tions of the State towards the salmon fisheries are regu- 

 lated, can hardly be open to question. Whether the 

 principle is carried, in practice, to its full extent whether, 

 for example, greater powers might not be given to abate pol- 

 lutions and weirs is a question well worthy of discussion, 

 but one which can hardly be adequately treated here. 



The misfortune is that in all the legislation which took 

 place and in that which did not take place down to the 

 commencement of the present century, the State allowed 

 its attention to be directed to one predominating subject, or 

 to one feature of the subject, to the exclusion of all others ; 

 and also that when it did act its action was often based on 



