THE COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES = 423 
The result of these letters and conferences was that a 
joint resolution (H. R. 468, 41st Congress, 3rd session) was 
introduced on January 28, 1871, to the following effect: 
“That the President be, and he hereby is, authorized 
and required to appoint, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate, from among the civil officers or 
employees of the Government, one person of proved 
scientific and practical acquaintance with the fishes of 
the coast,’ to be Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, to 
serve without additional salary. 
“That it shall be the duty of said Commissioner to 
prosecute investigations and inquiries on the subject, with 
the view of ascertaining whether any and what diminution 
in the number of the food fishes of the coast and the lakes 
of the United States has taken place; and, if so, to what 
causes the same is due; and, also, whether any and what 
protective, prohibitory, or precautionary measures should 
be adopted in the premises, and to report upon the same to 
Congress.” 
This bill was drawn up by Mr. Edmunds and Professor 
Baird with the idea that its form would effectually pre- 
clude the appointment of any mere political candidate toa 
place requiring the utmost scientific knowledge; or the sug- 
gestion on the part of the little-minded that the Commis- 
sioner was actuated by pecuniary motives in reeommend- 
ing the passage of the resolution. 
The resolution was passed by both houses, and an 
entirely new and onerous function was placed on Pro- 
fessor Baird’s shoulders. 
5 The framers of the resolution little thought that, after the death 
of Professor Baird, a President of each great party would violate 
both the spirit and the letter of this law by appointing a purely 
political follower, not a civil officer, to this important post. 
