FIFTIETH CONGRESS, 1887-1889. 1057 
duties of the Commissioner to the entirely new work of the introduc- 
tion of shad into the waters of the Pacific States, Gulf States, and the 
Mississippi Valley, and of salmon, whitefish, and other useful food- 
fishes into the waters of the United States to which aey were best 
adapted. 
This enactment changed the character of the duties of the Com- 
missioner from that of mere scientific investigation into an extensive 
and most important administrative work, Sed! time, labor, and 
‘responsibility many times greater than the inquiry to be made under 
the act first above mentioned into the causes of the decrease of food- 
fishes. From 1872 down to the time of Professor Baird’s death, in 
1887, his work was continually increasing under the provisions of the 
acts a Congress passed from year to year, enlarging the area of his 
labors in respect of the hatching of fish and their establishment in all 
the waters of the United States, as well as the shipment of eggs and 
young fish to other countries having similar establishments, etc. And 
in addition to all this Professor Baird was required to take the respon- 
sibility of and provide for the exhibition of the fishery products, 
etc., of the United States at the Berlin International Exhibition, at 
the British International Exhibition, at the Philadelphia Centennial 
Exhibition, and at the New Orleans Exhibition, and he was also 
required to devote a great amount of time and labor, in the prepara- 
tion of statistics and furnishing facts for use on behalf of the United 
States before the Halifax Commission. And yet it was not until the 
year 1883 that provision was made for his having any responsible and 
official assistant. In all this work, scientific and administrative, he 
made himself familiar with every detail and gave many hours of - 
nearly every day in each year to the personal management and super- 
vision of it, to the great advancement not only of science and scien- 
tific knowledge, but to the successful development of the scheme of 
restocking the waters of the United States with fish as provided for 
in the acts of Congress; and his management of the fishery exhibits of 
the United States at the various exhibitions referred to conferred the 
greatest honor upon his country. ; 
During all this period of more than fifteen years I was a near neigh- 
bor and intimate friend, and saw him and his work almost constantly 
from week to week, and so I can state from personal knowledge that in 
my deliberate opinion his work as Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries 
occupied not less than six hours on an average of every day of the 
whole period. During a large part of this time he had his office at his 
house, occupying rooms set apart and devoted exclusively to these pur- 
poses, and he had the almost. constant assistance of his daughter in the 
examination of the very voluminous correspondence, the writing and 
revision of letters, and in all such incidental ways as that most compe- 
tent young lady was able to help her father; and a few years ago he 
H. Doe, 7832——67 
