VII -ON THE FISHERIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND THE FISH- 

 ERIES EXHIBITION OF 1883. 



By E. W, Duff, M. P. 

 [Abstract, by Chas. W. Smiley, of a lecture at CuUen, Scotland, January 3, 1883.] 



The proposal to hold a great International Fisheries Exhibition in Lon- 

 don was strengthened by the success which attended similar undertak- 

 ings in Berlin, IS^orwich, and Edinburgh. These exhibitions were all 

 extremely useful. They were the means of bringing valuable inven- 

 tions before the public, and of suggesting improvements in important 

 branches of fishing and maritime industry. They were also financially 

 successful 5 in each, case there were surpluses, ranging from £1,400 to 

 £2,000. The Berlin Exposition was open only ten weeks ,: and in that time 

 it was visited by 483,000 people. We propose to keep the London Exhibi- 

 tion open for six mcuths. The population of London and the suburbs is 

 now about 5,000,000 ; that of Berlin, only 1,100,000. We may therefore 

 look forward to the number of our visitors running into millions. 



The origin of the Exhibition was the -result, in a great degree, of the 

 success of the Norwich Exhibition. The proposal to promote a similar 

 undertaking on a larger scale in London during the present year eman- 

 ated from Mr. Birkbeck, M. P., and some members of the Fishmongers' 

 Company of London. A preliminary meeting was held in the Fishmong- 

 ers' Hall in July, 1881, when the Fishmongers' Company gave £500 to the 

 prize fund and £2,000 to the guaranty fund, and appointed Mr. Birk- 

 beck, who had acted with great ability as chairman of the Norwich Ex- 

 hibition, to the chairmanship of the executive committee. That com- 

 mittee, limited to twelve, was composed of the representatives of the 

 various fishery interests of the kingdom. The Marquis of Hamilton, 

 as representing Ireland, and Sir A. T. Gait, as representing Canada, have 

 since been added to the executive committee, while the duty of repre- 

 senting Scotland has devolved upon me. We succeeded in securing the 

 support of royalty. Her Majesty the Queen graciously consenting to be 

 patron, while the Prince of Wales became president, and the Duke of 

 Edinburgh, our sailor prince, appropriately acting as our vice-presi- 

 dent 5 the Duke of Eichmond and Gordon, whose business abilities I 

 am sure you all recognize, becoming chairman of our general committee. 

 As foreign minister, Lord Granville offered us every assistance in bring- 

 ing our project before foreign countries. 



The Exhibition building stands on 23 acres of ground in the Horti- 

 cultural Gardens, within three minutes' walk of a railway station. In 

 [1] 317 



