UNDER THE STUARTS : JAMES I. I A NEW POLICY 141 



other hand, if the king confined his action to the issuing of 

 licenses to foreigners, without giving means for establishing 

 a society of merchants for the fishing, then his subjects would 

 be entirely dependent for their fish on these foreign fishermen, 

 who would charge higher prices to recoup themselves for the 

 cost of the licenses. The country, moreover, would suffer 

 from the loss of the commerce that sprung from the trade in 

 fish ; the transportation of money and bullion for fish and 

 other commodities brought into the realm would continue 

 unchecked ; and the king would lose the great strength of 

 shipping and mariners that otherwise would be available for 

 the defence of the kingdom. 



Objections were raised to the project on the ground that it 

 was unlikely that the Society, even with the advantages which 

 they desired, would be able to compete with the Hollanders. 

 The Hamburgers and other peoples who had previously made 

 the attempt had failed, for the Dutch were very industrious 

 and frugal, their fish always brought the highest price, 

 often 25 per cent above that of other nations, because they 

 were thoroughly skilled and experienced in the industry. The 

 freights of the Hollanders were, moreover, far lower than in 

 English ships, as they took barrelled herrings for ballast, or 

 even for " drink money." 



A more serious difficulty was the principle that lay at the 

 root of the scheme the taxation of the Dutch fishermen for 

 the benefit of the Society. It was evidently admitted that the 

 project would fail, even if the busses were manned by Dutch- 

 men and the herrings cured and exported by them, unless 

 some form of subsidy was provided. But on the threshold lay 

 the question of the king's right to impose a tribute on foreign 

 fishermen. Rainsford endeavoured to help the solution by sub- 

 mitting a memorandum, "Touching his Majesty's Tythe." 1 

 It has some interest from the circumstance that it was the 

 first attempt made in the reign of James to furnish historical 

 and legal precedents for interfering with the liberty of fishing. 

 In substance it is little more than a collection of the stories 

 current at the time concerning the sovereignty of the sea, 

 such as those about King Edgar, Queen Mary and Philip, and 



1 State Papers, Dom., xlviii. 94. It is written on parchment and imperfect, and 

 endorsed, " Mr Rainsford's Answeares." 



