THE SOUTHERN SPRING MACKEREL FISHERY. 
251 
them and not he compelled to destroy them. There can he no ohjection to that. That was suggested 
hy Professor Baird himself, the greatest scientist in lishing there is in this country. 
Mr. President, it is an experiment worth trying to see whether, if you will prevent these fisher- 
men from Maine and Massachusetts from pursuing these methods, the mackerel will not come hack 
to our shores once more and enable the iioor men up and down the coast to reap the harvest they used 
to reap years ago, before seine lishing was invented. It is an experiment, I admit, hut we never shall 
learn anything or gain anything if we do not make experiments. There is one thing to he oliserved. 
Every owner of a lishing vessel who testified in relation to this matter testified that in his opinion the 
experiment ought to he tried. Every one so testified; there was not .an exception. 
The Senator from New Y'ork says that the poor fishermen will lie themselves deprived of work. 
It is not so. They will not he deprived of work. So careful has the committee been to protect in the 
hill the rights of the poor men that there is a provision in it which protects the fishermen. What is 
tih.at? It is a provision extending the time when the hill shall take effect up to 1888, as proposed hy 
the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. Ho.ar]. Th.at provision protects the fishermen. I will .admit 
that if the hill went into force to-d,ay it would do harm to fishermen. I admit that all those craft 
to-day are ready for the oce.au and for H.atteras. I admit that their captains .and cooks and crews are 
engaged for a three months’ trip to t.ake m.ackerel, and if the hill took effect to-day they could not 
change from a m.ackerel to a cod fisherm.an in a month’s time. 
Mr. Mili.er. Can they change hy next year? 
Mr. Frye. Next year every one of them will h.ave been changed into a cod fisherman during that 
time. They will then pursue the cod-fishing occup.ation. 
Mr. Miller. The codfish will all he destroyed. 
Mr. Frye. I will risk the codfish. I have here a bundle of letters from New Y'ork, from Boston, 
.and from Maine touching the matter of close time on mackerel, and there is not a man from New York 
or anywhere else who says in his letter that you ought not to try the experiment, and every one of 
them, they being men who have fitted out their vessels for the South, simply asks Congress th.at it 
will so amend the hill as to h.ave it t.ake effect next year and not this. Th.at is all they ask. Wh.at 
for? That is in order to give the fishermen time to tr.ansfer their Amssels from mackerel fishermen to 
cod .and h.alihut fishermen, and to give them time to fit them for that business. It requires a good 
deal of time. They want to have time to fit their craft for th.at Imsiness, .and then these same fisher- 
men will he pursuing that occupation, instead of murdering the mackerel as they are now doing on 
the coast from Hatteras up. 
Mr. Miller. Notwithstanding the kind reminder of the Senator from Maine th.at I had occupied 
nearly all the time of the Senate on this hill, I have not done it to the exclusion of .any Sen.ator who 
desires to speak, and therefore I will venture even .at this late moment to say a few words more 
regarding it, unless the Sen.ate w,ant to adjourn. 
The Senator from Maine [Mr. Hale] thought it very important to put the hill in a proper light 
before the Senate. He stated that it was necess.ary that he should put the hill in .a proper light 
before the Senate in order th.at there might he no mis.apprehension of the objects of the hill and the 
perso]is it was intended to benefit. He st.ated th.at the hill was desired hy .all the people engaged in 
the industry of mackerel fishing, .and that it was only ojipo.sed hy the fishmongers of the city of New 
York. I am entirely willing to take the hill upon th.at basis. 
Mr. Miller. Mr. President, it took several hours of discussion the other day to get at the 
purposes and objects of this hill, hut 1 think the discussion finally brought out very cle.arly to the 
Senate the objects and merits of this me.asure. 
The Senators from M.aine told the Senate that there were none of the citizens of the United St.ates 
interested in this measure save the few mackerel fishermen in the States of Massachusetts and Maine, 
.and th.at therefore the Congress of the United States ought to h.asten to pass this measure .as a measure 
of relief to the fishermen who had petitioned for it. 
It seems that there are about 400 vessels cng.aged in mackerel fishing, giving employment to 
sever.al thousand men, just how m.any I do not know, perhaps four, five, of six thousand, all told — 
.about six thousand the Senator from Maine [Mr. Hale] s.ays. 
From the .arguments produced here in favor of this hill the Senate might he led to suppose that 
the hill h.ad been brought here for the purpo.so of protecting mackerel fishing; that there was great 
d.anger of the species being entirely destroyed, .and thus one of the chief fish-food ])roducts of the 
country being entirely obliterated; but neither the testimony taken by the committee nor any 
