208 
BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
your peo]>lo can catch them all. The fish jiroceed northward, and you want to shut ns out until after 
the 1st of June, when they will have gone up north, so that you can catch the whole of them.” Well, 
1 trust I have been in this House long enough not to attempt a steal of that kind. [Laughter.] What 
is the fact! Why, the fact is that of the one hundred and eighty-four vessels that are engaged in the 
spring mackerel fishery, which we want closed, not a solitary vessel can he found outside of Maine 
and Massachusetts. So we have got the whole business now. But the truth about it is that, as 
Captain Collins says hero in this report, when the fish get well filled with sj^awn in June they dive 
down in order to accomplish the work. Then there is another difficulty. When the fish start in the 
warm waters about the Gulf Stream, at the beginning they are huddled together, and this pursuing them 
with purse nets breaks them up and drives them way offshore, scattering as well as destroying them. 
Why, look at it. In the face of scientific authorities, I will not undertake to say we can prove 
that the destructive agency of man will extirjiate the whole mackerel tribe from the face of the earth ; 
but I will say this, every man on the New England coast knows that the lobster has almost disap- 
peared. You can now only catch lobsters about 10 or 12 inches long, and I can remember when the 
ordinary size of the lobsters caught was -nearly twice that length; and according to Mr. Evarts 
there are affidavits in existence as to lobsters weighing 25 pounds, although I believe the loiister of 
that weight was not })roducil)le at the time the affidavit was made. [Laughter.] We know that the 
supply of halibut is thinned out, and that the case is the same in regard to a great many other kinds 
of fish. I am aware that Professor Huxley says there is no iiroof that the herring has been dimin- 
ished by the agency of man. But while I can not absolutely prove the necessity, I say all these 
considerations put together render it exceedingly desirable that this experiment should be tried. 
I hold in my hand the printed statement of a gentleman who is probably as conversant with this 
subject as any other man. He came to the committee with the emphatic recommendation of Professor 
Baird, who has employed him specially with regard to this part of the fishery question; and whatever 
information Professor Baird may have has been derived largely from this gentleman, who says there 
IS no doubt that there would he a great improvement in the quality of the fish if we should adopt this 
measure; and then he comments upon the question of cheap food very much as I have done. 
One other consideration. Why is it that our people, having complete possession of this fishery, 
wish it to bo closed as proposed in this bill? I have given you some of the reasons; and I will give 
you another. It is at present a fishery of so poor a character that it does not pay; yet nevertheless 
we are forced into it, and why? From the same peculiarity of human nature that sustains the Louisiana 
Lottery. Out of one hundred and eighty-four vessels engaged in this fishery three or four make large 
hauls and find the business profitable; the others expect that they may do the same; and if one goes 
into it all go into it. Now, all should be stopped. 
I think 1 have stated reasons why this bill should be passed. Let me recapitulate them. The bill 
IS a trial proposition for five years. It is a proposition to close this fishery during the spawning 
season, from March until the 1st of June. Its purpose is to increase the character and value of the 
fish which will be distributed to the people of the United States. If I have made these points as 
clear to the House as they stand iu my own mind I can not doubt the result. Allow me to add that 
this is a matter of serious import to my people. They are deeply concerned in this question; and I 
know of no o])position to this measure that has not its origin in the fishmongers’ association of one 
place or another. We propose to stop the catching of these fish during the period named by stop- 
ping the importation and sale; and the United States being the onlj' place where they can be sold, if 
we stop their sale here the fish will not be caught. 
There is another class of fishermen represented by my friend from New Jersey [Mr. Buchanan], 
a class with which I confess I have sympathy ; and I hope, when I perfectly understand his amend- 
ment, to be able to assent to it; if not, I shall have to submit to the vote of the House on that 
questiou. Ho states that the people on the New .Tersey coast are interested in fishing carried on in 
rowboats; and that this measure, without the amendment he suggests, will cut them off from some 
degree of sustenance during the period to which the prohibition will apply. I sympathize with the 
gentleman’s position, for the consideration he presents is of similar character to that I present in 
behalf of my people. It may be, however, that we can not arrange a close season without injuring 
somebody. But I trust I have shown the counterbalancing advantages to be so great that this House 
will not hesitate to give the fishermen of this country what they all demand. 
Mr. Hewitt. Mr. Speaker, I suppose the House would like to know how it happens that a bill 
of this importance comes before the House with a report in its favor and no minority report, and yet 
a member of the Committee on Ways and Means takes the floor iu opposition to the bill. The reason 
