28 Fish, Fishing and Fisheries of Pennsylvania. 



midst of winter, but it did not meet with the approbation of the Gov. 

 ernor and council, and was the cause of some dissension between them 

 and the Legislature. The bill was returned by the Governor with the 

 objection that, instead of being an amendment to previous acts, as it 

 purported to be, it was in reality a repeal. 



"The assembly endeavored to remove his opposition to it and he re- 

 plied in a message in which the whole subject is reviewed. He said 

 that the policy of the proprieter hath always been against the erection 

 of the dams and weirs, because they were an obstruction to navigation, 

 and that the racks were worse than the weirs, for while the latter were 

 only made of light sticks the former were constructed of more substan- 

 tial material, like horse-racks, and were sustained in their places by 

 large stones carried into the river to support them. A more serious 

 objection was the threatened destruction of the fish. The practice fol- 

 lowed by those who fished with racks in the Schuylkill was the most 

 ruinous that could possibly be contrived. 



'"This Practice is for Great Numbers of People mostly on Horseback 

 for a mile or two or more, with large Bushes, Stakes or other Instru- 

 ments that may best answer the End, to beat the water with great Noise, 

 rake the Bottom of the Eiver above the Backs and, to take all the meth- 

 ods in their Power to force the Fish down nto the Backs; and if this 

 was the Practice heretofore, now when half the Biver is to be left open 

 it will follow of course that others in and about the vacant Part must 

 use equal or greater Industry to prevent their getting that way by the 

 Backs, by which means those that can escape must be more frightened 

 and disturbed, the Spawn by the treading of Horses or other Feet, and 

 by raking with Bushes and Trees must be destroyed.' 



"Not only were the people residing on the upper part of the river de- 

 prived of that to which they had an equal right with the other settlers, 

 but it would result in the extermination of the fish, and the inhabitants 

 and their posterity would be robbed of this great source of benefit and 

 profit. He also gave as an objection the moral consideration that the 

 erection of racks was attended with 'tumultuous Meetings, riotous Be- 

 haviour, Quarrels, Contentions and even Outrages amongst the Young 

 People and others who assemble as to a Merry-making or a publick Di- 

 version, at the time of fishing by Backs, which are so unseemly Returns 

 for the benefits conferred.' 



"The opponents of dams and weirs succeeded in preventing the act 

 from becoming a law, but their views were not enforced without resist- 

 ance. The fishermen of Long Ford were too stout hearted and too 

 tenacious of the privilege they had for years enjoyed to yield without a 

 struggle, and the use of the racks was continued despite of the legislators. 



"Finally, in 1738, their exasperated adversaries up the river organized 

 a force of volunteers, as formidable from the numbers and courage of its 

 constituents as possible, collected a fleet of canoes, and under the com- 



