THE PBESIDENT's ADDBESS. 15 



It is, I believe, an undoubted fact, that of late years the 

 Spaniards have had the advantage of us in the Italian market — 

 and a glance at the silvery fish prepared by them, and exhibited 

 in London, would I think convince our Cornish curers that their 

 own system is capable of improvement. 



It is to be hoped too, that the general interest thus awakened 

 in the fish supply of the country may, without injury to our 

 fishermen, tend to prevent its price being unfairly raised by 

 action on the part of the middlemen, which goes beyond the 

 limits of legitimate combination. 



We are told that very large quantities of good fish are 

 constantly destroyed solely for the purpose of keeping up the 

 price. If we heard of an agriculturalist destroying corn or any 

 other kind of food for the purpose of rigging the market, we 

 know what would be said of him, and I believe that sooner or 

 later public opinion will ci'y out against similar tricks in the 

 fish trade. 



I hope the exhibition may lead to some steps being taken 

 with regard to harbours of refuge along our coasts, a subject 

 which has exercised the mind of many a patriotic Cornishman 

 since the days of Elizabeth, and since the famous Sir Richard 

 Grenville made his " Plotte " or plan of the proposed harbour 

 of Tintagel, a copy of which, I believe, is in our library. 



It has been suggested that when the exhibition is over, the 

 exhibits from the Western Counties, might form the nucleus 

 for a local Exhibition of a similar character, which might be a 

 very interesting one, especially if it were founded upon the 

 model of the American Section of the International Exhibition, 

 where can be traced in the most beautifully systematic order all 

 the history of the fish from the very commencement of its life 

 to the cooking of it, as clearly as if it were written in a book. 



Our interest in the exhibition is not lessened by the fact 

 that it was opened by the Duke of Cornwall, and that the 

 blessing invoked upon its success came from the lips of our late 

 Bishop, now Archbishop of Canterbury. AA^hen he prayed that 

 this great work might bring a blessing on the poor, I could not 

 help thinking that his mind was turning to the Cornish 

 villages, where his kindly smile and genial welcome will long 

 be remembered by the Fishermen of Cornwall. Dr. Benson has 



