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bv .Tiul^o Foster. Sylvaiuis Smith, of Cilouccstcr, on pago 336 of tlie American 

 o\iil('iKT, is aski'd : — 



"(>, Wliiit ciiiisi's Imvc liccii in i'\iMl<'ii('t> iiiti'i-rt'iiiiL; willi the siilf dl' salt iimi'kcri'l duriiij^ tlio 

 past IV'w yi'iiis ?— A. 1 tliiiik tlicri' liavc liccii si'Vi'inl ciiusfs. One is the ruciiily ol ciiirN iiij,' mii' livsli 

 tisli iutii ilistiiiit iKii'is of till' ((iimtrv. Tlial liiis in iTiiiily iiilciri-nil witli it. Tlu'ii tlicrc is ilic lake 

 lici riiiLT ; (huiiiL; tin' iiinntlis nl' Nnvciiilu'V ami I ir. nnlu'r iiniil May tlicy are vory jili'iily. Tlicy art) 

 litiw usi'il ill vrry laii,'!' iiuaiitilics all tliroiij;li(iiit tlic Wi'st. 



" (.,>, What arc lake licrriiij: f — A. A s]i('rii's nf wliitc tisli, mily siiiallcr. 



" l,». Wliat ilii they sell I'nr por liarn'l '. — A. This jiarty I rct'i'rri'tl tn, s]ii'ukiiif; iil' his trade, said 

 tlmt last year ho used Hii.hih) paekaijes. A iiackn;,'e is a halt' liairel. 



'■ Ij). IldW are these |iut up < — A. I'iikled. And he told nie they snld at L! dollars a )iaekai;e. 



" i). Yon say they havi' iiitert'eii'd with the nmstaiay ol' the ileiiiaiid ? — A. I think diuiii;,' the 

 months we used to dejieiid very lari,'ely on the I'onsuniptioii of our niaikerel. the kdve herrinj,' has liueii 

 one ,1,'reat eause for the deeline duriiij.' these months in the value of maekerel." 



Oil ]iage ACiS Professor Haird testifies as follows: — 



" (>. Have yon any statisties resjiectin;; the [lake tishery for the years lS7t'> mid 1S77 ?— A. I liave 

 cvily jiartial statistics for 1S77. I jaiMished the statisties in detail in my rejiort for 1S7L', and 1 am 

 now havin;: statisties for 1S77 eoUerted, and will have them I suiijiose hy the end of the season. 



" (,>. 1S72 rejireseiits hut faintly the jireseiit state of iliin;^s. Can ycai tell u.s how it wa.s in 187- ? — 

 111 lS7l! the Anii'iiean )iroihution of li.-.li in the Lrreal lakes wa.s o2.Uoli,(lii(l lbs. That iiuaiility of lisli 

 Wiis taken, hut how mueh more I cannot say. Those were marketed in liutl'alo, Cleveland, Cliitiij,'(i, and 

 many other stations. 



"<J. floes that include the Canadian catch ' — A. I ]ire.suiiie there is no Caiunliaii catch in ihiit 

 ani'iunt. Those are the tii;ures as they were ohtaiiied hy my ai,'eiits, frtuii the tishermeii and dealers. 



" (j>. You ohtained theiu from th( dealers in the lari,'e cities? — A. Yes. and the tishermeii at the 

 jjronnds. Tliis year 1 have had every station on the American side of the lakes visited and canvassed. 



" C,V You have steady coinmniiication with and reports from the dealers ! — A. 1 have rejiorts only 

 when 1 send s]MM ially after them, as 1 <lid in 1^'7-, and am doin.L,' this year. 



" ( >. flow far have you pot in your inipiiry tor tlii.-i ijatr >. — A. f have only a jmrtial return for 

 ("hicapo. 



" (y What does that show? — A. The totnl iiiaiketiiii,' of salted lish in Chica^'o up to the middle <if 

 Ortoher amounted to Inil.ouO half harivls, with alioul L'll,llll|l half hariels exiiecti'd for the rest of the 

 .Season, or ecpial to tiO.niMI harrels of those lisli for • 'liica,i,'o alone for the jucseiil year. The eorre.*- 

 ]iondiiii,' snp]ily of lianvls of fish in 1S7L' was IJ.iliMi in (iiicaj:o, so that the Chicago Iratle has 

 incieas.'d lioiii iL'.i'i'O in ls72 to CiIMMmi in ]S77, or almost live-fold— 4 S-IO. Tin' total catch of li>li 

 in till- lakes in lS7l! was .'!J.i;."ii,iiimi pounds. If the total catch has increased in the .same ratio as 

 tlhil iiiarket has done at Chicago, it will give irili,lltHi,(HiU ^ie(n«/,v I'f Ji^h Ittktii mi the Aimricnn sk/,- vf 

 thi liil.is fiif till- jiri.<iiii iifiir." 



'riicn tliere arc dilicr frosli fislitliat are takiiij;- tlr jilaee of tlic salt niaekerel. Tlie 

 qnestidii is not liclwccn lirilisli niaekerel tind Aiiieriean maekercj, liiil it is helwi'oii 

 niacUcrel ami everyttiinc: else llutt ean he eaten; heeaiise, if niaekerel ri.se in market 

 jiriee, ami in the cost of eateliinji, jiedjile will lietake themselves to other arlieles of fiioil. 

 'riicre is no necessity for their eatinif mackerel. The niaekerel lives in the market 

 only upon the terms that it ( ;ui he clu^aply furnishcil. This Iriliiiiial will reeoUcet that 

 iMeresiinir witness. Mr. Ashhy, from Noaiik, Ct., how eiithusiiisiie he was over the 

 larjic halil'iit tli.it lie cauoht ; luiw his eyes "h ameil, and his eoimtenanee liolitened, 

 wlun he told vo'ir lldnmirs tlie weioht of that halihiit, tlu' sensation jirodiiecd in riilion 

 Market when he lirought him there, and the very homely, hut really lueid way in »vliieh 

 he (Icscrihed the sii)ierior manner hv which they were able to preserve those tisli in ii'c, 

 and the way they were liroiiolil into market : ami liow the whole horizon was dotted \\iih 

 vcs.scls lishinjr tiir lialilitit, and other fresh fish then', with which to siipjily the ij'reat and 

 irereasiiii;- demand in the \e\v "S'ork market. There is also the testimony ol" I'rofessor 

 Haird, who speaks of various kinds of lish. It is nut worth while to enumerate them all, 

 hut hespeaks especiallvof a lish known as "mnliel," ini liie soiilhern coast. So loiio- as 

 slavery existed, it is iiiidoiililedlv trne that there was very little enteriiri.se in this 

 ilircciioii. It snli'ered like every tiling;' else hiil eol ton, rice, and siif^ar, staples whieli 

 cdiild lie eullivaled easily liy slave lalionr. Almost every other tiiiiii of agriculture, 

 ahnost all kinds of maritime hihour, ceased. The truth was, the slaves could not lii^ 

 i!Misi(d ill lioats. The boats winild be likely to head oil' Iroiii Soiilh ('arolina or Virojnia, 

 and not be seen aoain. The vessels that went to the jiorts nf tlie Slave Slates were 

 Northern vessels owned and manned b\ Northern jieople. Sonthem jieople could not 

 v.'.YYx on commerce with their slaves, nor lishinii with their slaves. Slaverv ieino- now 

 abolished, the fisheries of ihi' Siuilhern States are to be developed. 'J'lie iicun) will fish 

 Hir himself. He will have no inoiive I'or runniiif;" av\av from his own profiis. Tl;e 

 rcsiiii has been that this mullet has come into verv considerable iniporlance. I'roCcssur 

 ]?aircl has his slalislic..; concernino ji. and hi' has certainly a verv stroiij;' opinion that 

 thai lish is in (lani,'t'r of e.\ehidino salted niaekerel from the Soiilhern markets (iiuleed, 



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