149 



in conjunction with the Bay State Society, Friday, Feb. 

 19, 1892, the subject under consideration being " What 

 the National Government is doing to perpetuate the Salt 

 Sea Fisheries. Before the speaker, Col. McDonald of the 

 U. S. Fish Commission, commenced on his subject. Presi- 

 dent Appleton invited Mayor Rantoul of Salem to make 

 some remarks. He welcomed the members of the Society 

 to Salem, in behalf of the city, and made reference to the 

 early fisheries of the colonies, to the symbolizing of the 

 codfish as the emblem of early wealth (hence the term, 

 codfish aristocracy), and to the great abundance of bass 

 fish in Bass river in the early days. President Appleton 

 then introduced the speaker. Col. McDonald of Washing- 

 ton, D. C, who said he was poorly qualified for the task 

 he was about to perform, but his paper showed he had 

 given the subject great care and thought. The inquiry, 

 he said, is a pertinent one, and if the work with which the 

 •commissioner is charged is distinctly economic in its aims 

 he must show results adequate to the expenditure in- 

 curred, or else be judged incompetent. The commission 

 prosecutes three different lines of work, but all contrib- 

 uting to one ultimate end, which is to increase the re- 

 sources of our waters, to render our fisheries more produc- 

 tive and profitable, and to improve the conditions for our 

 fishermen. 



The speaker paid a warm tribute to Prof. Baird, assis- 

 tant secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, who was well- 

 fitted for laying out and prosecuting the desired work. 



He first convinced himself that the fisheries of the New 

 England coast were on the decline ; he then proceeded to 

 see what could be done to remedy matters, but first he had 

 got to make himself acquainted with the life and habits of 

 all the species of fish in these waters. 



The commission has proceeded upon the lines marked 

 out by Prof. Baird, to arrive at a complete life history of 

 all the inhabitants of the waters, to study their habits, 

 •determine their food, to determine their distribution and 

 migration. 



