60 Thirty-scvi'nih Annual fleeting 



whitefish, that they might not be entirely wiped out of the great 

 lakes that border upon the state of New York. I am a busy man, 

 and burned the candle at both ends to familiarize myself as a 

 civilian of the state of New York, with this matter, that I might 

 go before the authorities of the Dominion of Canada, the Prov- 

 ince of Ontario, and my own state, which I did, and secured at 

 the last session of the legislature a bill in harmony with the laws 

 of every other state bordering on the great lakes, in which New 

 York is interested, save the little forty-five mile territory of the 

 state of Pennsylvania. 



Now it is the proud boast of the Pennsylvania commission 

 that they take more commercial fish this year than they did last. 

 I am glad of it. I yield to no man on this floor the credit I 

 would give to Mr. Meehan or any other commissioner of fisheries, 

 or any hatchery man. They have my admiration. They have 

 my muscle; they have what little l)rain I have got, and a good 

 deal of talk. 



Now let us see. There is not a state that borders on Lake 

 Erie ; there is not a province that borders on the great lakes, that 

 has not a certain element of harmony of law regarding the pro- 

 tection of the food fish of those lakes — save the state of Penn- 

 sylvania. 



We do not have to go far to find the reason why the repre- 

 sentatives of the state of Pennsylvania wish, at this time to kill 

 this resolution. In 1907 out of the four hundred and sixty mil- 

 lion eggs allotted to seventeen states, Pennsylvania received two 

 hundred and sixty-two millions; out of eighty-seven million 

 Whitefish eggs allotted, she received fifty-seven million; out of 

 two hundred and fifty-seven million Pike Perch eggs allotted, 

 she received one hundred and ninety-four million ; out of twenty- 

 three million Lake Trout eggs allotted, she received two and one- 

 half million; of Lake Herring, she received all taken by the 

 United States over eight million. 



In addition to this the New York Department of Fisheries 

 rendered valuable assistance ; while the Canadians at the north 

 practically filled two of the Pennsylvania hatcheries with eggs 

 given by the Department of Pisheries. 



Prom this showing collected from the records it is very evi- 

 dent that Pennsylvania seeks to take an unfair advantage in the 



