GLUTS 141 



being imported there on easier terms than 

 British, on the ground that it was contrary 

 to the treaty made by the British society with 

 the magistrates of Hamburg relating to the 

 importation of British herrings. 



About the year 1770 fishermen from the 

 Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, and especially 

 those of Harwich, complained that the restric- 

 tions and duties upon salt frequently obliged 

 them to throw away their catches of fish 

 instead of curing them ; the Coast Office 

 charges at London were also a cause of trouble. 

 The Dutch competed with the English East 

 Coast fishermen in the supply of the London 

 market, which by long experience they had 

 attained the art of feeding with such exa,ctness 

 that they were able to keep up a constant and 

 exorbitant price against the consumers. 



A similar charge has often been brought, 

 even in recent years, against the British fishing 

 industry. Not long ago it was stated that in 

 order to maintain prices when very large 

 numbers of herring had been caught and 

 brought into port, the fish were intentionally 

 allowed to spoil and then sold as manure. 

 Gluts of fish, and especially herrings, are unex- 

 pectedly yielded by the sea from time to time, 

 and it is at such times that the State should 

 step in to secure the uncured fish for rapid 

 transportation in cold storage and distribution 

 as food in remote inland parts of these islands, 

 after treatment by the brine-freezing process. 



