THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 509 



part of the busses' crews was, at the time now spoken of, 

 composed of foreigners, Germans especially, whom nothing 

 prevented from teaching their countrymen, or other 

 foreigners, the process on which they were employed 

 during the summer. If Dutch curage was not generally 

 practised abroad, it was because other methods were used 

 in foreign countries with such success as made English, 

 Germans, Swedes, Danes and Norsemen the victorious 

 competitors of the Dutch in the great herring markets, as 

 early as the beginning of the present century. 



The point at issue being so far elucidated on both sides 

 in the Parliament papers, the oral discussion could not of 

 course bring any fresh arguments into the field. Still it did 

 not lack interest. The speech of Mr. Kemper, who employed 

 himself most strenuously in defence of both the curing 

 monopoly and the importing prohibition, is a fair specimen 

 of the peculiar logic customary to protectionism. The 

 first-named measure, according to Mr. Kemper, was in 

 reality not a monopoly at all. Bum-boat owners were 

 left perfectly at liberty to exchange their vessels for keeled 

 busses, and take their share in the profits of curage. And 

 so they certainly were, as far as the words of the law were 

 concerned. But no keeled vessel could sail from, or anchor 

 in safety at a convenient distance off one of the villages 

 on the Dutch sea coast ; so in order to adopt the orator's 

 advice, shipowners from the coast would have had to 

 transfer their establishments to the riverside towns, and 

 abandon the capital primarily sunk in their business, 

 besides the many other expenses and disadvantages always 

 attendant upon shifting the seat of an industry from one 

 place to another. As coast-fishermen pithily said in their 

 petition, their liberty to equip busses was equivalent to a 

 merchant's liberty to sell certain wares, under an obligation 



