THE BRITISH FISH TRADE. 23 



The complaint which was thus raised by Young was 

 echoed in other quarters ; and in 1750 a company was 

 formed with a nominal capital of ^500,000 for managing 

 the fishery. But the company was not left dependent on its 

 own exertions. Parliament offered a bounty of 30^'. a ton 

 on all decked vessels fitted out for the fishery, and Frederick, 

 Prince of Wales, the father of George III., became the 

 patron of the company. But neither the patronage of the 

 Court nor the bounty of Parliament saved the enterprise 

 from failure. In 1757 the company was forced to ask for 

 higher bounties, and, in the thirty years ending in 1782, 

 Parliament actually spent more than p/^300,000 in de- 

 veloping a fishery which, notwithstanding this expenditure, 

 was with difficulty supported. In 1786 a new society, 

 which still exists, was formed for the extension of the 

 fishery. The society purchased estates in Mull, in Skye, 

 on the west coast of Ross-shire, and subsequently at Wick 

 on the east coast of Caithness, and built on them fisher- 

 men's houses. But it achieved only a doubtful success. It 

 has long since ceased to take any direct part in the fishery, 

 though it still draws from its property an income which is 

 heavily burdened. It is very doubtful whether it has, in 

 any way whatever, effected the object of its promoters.* 



The system of bounties, which was originally thought 

 indispensable for the prosperity of the fishery, continued to 

 exist for more than fifty years after its institution. Bounties 

 were granted, in the first instance, on every ton of shipping 



* It is an instructive circumstance that the Germans, this century, 

 have undergone the same experience which disappointed our fore- 

 fathers last century. A company has been formed by some patriotic 

 Germans to promote the German herring fishery. It has been sup- 

 ported by loans free from interest, and by heavy protective duties. 

 Yet " neither help at home nor protection against the foreigner enables 

 the company to flourish." — Inspector's 20th Ann. Rep., p. 29. 



