246 CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE HERRING-FISHERY. 



severe punishment, on account of the exposure, the pur- 

 chasers were informed of the errors or fraud, and rejected 

 the purchases made. In consequence of this an attempt 

 was made by the guilty parties to get the Board and their 

 officers into odium. Some of the English members of 

 Parliament, ignorant of the impossibility of carrying on 

 the wholesale trade in herrings, of a marketable quality, 

 without a continued surveillance of experienced men, as 

 the fishery officers are, were induced to object to the 

 maintenance of the Fishery Board, and the inspectors 

 or officers ; and it was thought necessary, in the year 

 1S48, to make inquiry as to the utility or efficiency of 

 the Fishery Board. Accordingly, the Hight Hon. J. Gr. S. 

 Lefevre was sent to Scotland to inquire and report ; and 

 although he came to Scotland with no favourable inten- 

 tions regarding the system, he seems to liave been 

 fully convinced of the great advantages of the system 

 carried on ; and his report fully proves that he, after 

 the most careful inquiry and examination, was convinced 

 that the system was useful, necessary, and tended to 

 promote the success of the fishery. This report is as 

 follows : — 



" REPORT ON THE EXPENDITURE UNDER THE SUPERIN- 

 TENDENCE OF THE SCOTCH FISHERY BOARD. 



" London, January 24, 1849, 



" Sir, — In obedience to the wishes of the Lords Com- 

 missioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, that I should care- 

 fully investigate the expenditure conducted under the 

 superintendence of the Fishery Board at Edinburgh, in 

 order to ascertain how far each part of it is productive of 



