THE COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES = 417 
realizing his ideal of the public museum he wished to 
bring together. He went into the subject with his usual 
energy and system. His monographic work increased 
his interest still further, and his two summers on the coast 
of New Jersey led his mind toward the problems connected 
with the fisheries. In the Summer of 1863, the first 
visit to Wood’s Hole was made, and every year he more 
and more realized the importance of a thorough investi- 
gation into the causes of the decrease of the food fishes 
along our coast. 
“In the Summer of 1870, Professor Henry set apart 
from the Smithsonian funds the sum of one hundred 
dollars to aid in the investigations which were being made, 
and the Treasury Department granted the use of the 
Mazeppa, a sloop yacht about thirty feet in length (part 
of the outfit of the New Bedford Custom House), for 
my father’s use in prosecuting his work. The next year 
(1871) the first appropriation was made by Congress, 
and Mr. Henry Ensign Rockwell became attached to the 
Fish Commission as stenographer, ultimately becoming 
my father’s regular secretary. 
“The first plan of the Fish Commission did not con- 
template anything but an exhaustive investigation of the 
fisheries and the reasons for their decrease. Senator 
George F. Edmunds and my father together drew up 
the bill; and, upon Mr. Edmunds’ representation of the 
case to President Grant, my father was appointed, to 
serve without salary. The clause in the bill in regard to 
the salary was a point upon which my father insisted, 
receiving during his life time no compensation beyond 
his own personal expenses during the summer, or when 
absent on Fish Commission business. The bill as drawn 
and passed required that the Commissioner should be 
27 
