ARGUMENT OF J. M. K. SOOTHWICK. 



Newport, Rhode Island, October, 1871. 



Dear Sir: It is with diffidence that I, in compliance with your 

 request, attempt to prepare for you this paper on the fish question ; for, 

 as my resources of information have been limited, I cannot claim thor- 

 oughness, either in reading or personal observation. Therefore. I fear I 

 shall, like too many others who have written upon this subject, give 

 too much of theory without practice ; and to escape the study of cause 

 and effect, jump at the first plausible theory for the solution of an im- 

 portant question. 



That my conclusions are mainly right I can only hope ; but I feel 

 assured that your very thorough investigation will establish what is 

 right, and expose and reject what is wrong. If it aids you in settling 

 any point of fact, or helps you to arrive at a philosophical truth, I shall 

 feel repaid. 



As much of it was written during a local controversy in this State, it 

 will contain much that may not be of general interest ; but, as you said 

 "Don't stop," I give you all as I have written it, hoping that you may 

 be enabled to glean something from it. 



THE DIMINUTION OE PISH APPARENT, NOT REAL. 



In former times, before the facilities of transportation in ice became 

 the means of supplying the great markets and the interior country with 

 the products of the waters, fish was an article of food only to the few 

 living along the coast, and a small amount sufficed for the demand. 

 Any extra catch, at this time, overstocked the market and caused a 

 glut that gave the appearance of the great abundance that has been 

 attributed to those times. 



LOW PRICES. 



In consequence of the limited market the prices were very low, and 

 the fisherman never realized pay adequate for his toil, notwithstanding 

 he saved to himself (or to the consumer) the large profits that now go 

 to the marketmen, by daily taking his catch in a barrow to some promi- 

 nent corner or to the houses of consumers for disposal. 



HARD TIMES. 



In that day, by dint of lobstering, piloting, and acting as city watch- 

 man winter nights, the fisherman who was very industrious and very 

 prudent, managed to make both ends meet ; but where one was so very 

 fortunate it was only by working early and late, and using the utmost 

 economy. 



AVERAGE CATCH. 



The fish most caught were cod, haddock, tautog, bass, and mackerel. 

 They would usually get from one hundred to one hundred and fifty 

 pounds, but sometimes failed to catch so much, and then they would 

 complain that "fish were not so plenty as they used to be." 



