29 
done and the result was that the lawless element among the 
oystermen grew bolder than before and the lessees lost heart, 
feeling that it was worth no man’s while to pay rental to the 
State and expend money upon the development of oyster bot- 
tom when the State was either powerless or unwilling (ap- 
parently both) to afford him adequate protection from depre- 
dation or to punish those responsible when depredation had 
actually been committed. 
An illustration of the condition is given by the sworn state- 
ment of Robert H. Spedden. See Exhibit A. 
This statement has never, so far as we know, been disputed, 
although it was given wide publicity during the Legislative 
session of 1914. It was placed before the Board of Public 
Works as a complaint with regard to Captain Miles. No reply 
was ever made to the Shell Fish Commission by the Board 
of Public Works, but it later developed on inquiry that the 
Board of Public Works had taken no action except to fail to 
re-appoint Captain Miles at the end of his term. The men 
arrested have not yet (December, 1915) been tried. 
This was the situation when the Legislature of 1914 con- 
vened. ‘The planters were discouraged because they had lost 
faith in the intent of the State to protect them. The great 
body of oystermen were in a state of indignation and a law- 
less minority, encouraged by the failure of the State to enforce 
its laws, was planning further depredations. 
Three separate plans were suggested, one proposed the repeal 
of all leasing legislation ; a second, presented with the approval 
of the Shell Fish Commission, provided for re-examination and 
re-classification of any unleased area by the Commission, with 
further provision for an appeal to the courts in case the Com- 
mission’s decision was unsatisfactory; a third proposed to 
shift the power for revision from the Board of Shell Fish Com- 
missioners to the courts and provided for the re-examination 
not only of unleased areas but of leased areas as well, with a 
further provision for the condemnation of leased areas by 
the State if they were found to have been natural rock at the 
time the lease was executed. Numerous other features, call- 
ing for the advertisement of all applications, for the creation 
of a neutral zone, etc., some good and some bad, were incor- 
