An eminent French writer, an enthusiast on fishes, Lacepède, has
depicted the influence of fisheries, which he illustrates by the
herring, calling it “one of those natural products whose use decides
the destiny of empires.”[217] Without adopting these strong words,
it is easy to see that such fisheries as seem about to be opened on
the Pacific must exercise a wonderful influence over the population
there, while they give a new spring to commerce, and enlarge the
national resources. In these aspects it is impossible to exaggerate.
Fishermen are not as other men. They have a character of their own,
taking complexion from their life. In ancient Rome they had a peculiar
holiday, with games, known as _Piscatorii Ludi_. The first among us
in this pursuit were the Pilgrims, who, even before they left Leyden,
looked to fishing for support in their new home, giving occasion
to the remark of King James: “So God have my soul, ’tis an honest
trade; ’twas the Apostles’ own calling.”[218] As soon as they reached
Plymouth they began to fish, and afterwards appropriated the profits
of the fisheries at Cape Cod to found a free school. From this Pilgrim
origin are derived those fisheries which for a while were our chief
commerce, and still continue an important element of national wealth.
The cod fisheries of the United States are now valued at more than two
million dollars annually. Such an interest must be felt far and near,
commercially and financially, while it contributes to the comfort of
all. How soon it may prevail on the Pacific who can say? But this
treaty is the beginning.
It is difficult to estimate what is so uncertain, or at least is
prospective only. Our own fisheries, now so considerable, were
small in the beginning; they were small, even when they inspired
the eloquence of Burke, in that most splendid page never equalled
even by himself.[219] But the Continental Congress, in its original
instructions to its commissioners for the negotiation of treaties of
peace and commerce with Great Britain, required, as a fundamental
condition, next to independence, that these fisheries should be
preserved unimpaired. While the proposition was under discussion,
Elbridge Gerry, who had grown up among the fishermen of Massachusetts,
repelled the attack upon their pursuit in words which are not out of
place here. “It is not so much fishing,” he said, “as enterprise,
industry, and employment. It is not fish merely; it is gold, the
produce of that avocation. It is the employment of those who would
otherwise be idle, the food of those who would otherwise be hungry, the
wealth of those who would otherwise be poor.”[220] After debate, it was
resolved by Congress that “the common right of fishing should in no
case be given up.”[221] For this principle the eldest Adams contended
with ability and constancy until it was fixed in the treaty of peace,
where it stands side by side with the acknowledgment of independence.
In the discussions which ended thus triumphantly, the argument for the
fisheries was stated most compactly by Ralph Izard, of South Carolina,
in a letter to John Adams, dated at Paris, 24th September, 1778; and
this early voice from South Carolina may be repeated now.
“Since the advantages of commerce have been well understood,
the fisheries have been looked upon by the naval powers of
Europe as an object of the greatest importance. The French
have been increasing their fishery ever since the Treaty of
Utrecht, which has enabled them to rival Great Britain at
sea. The fisheries of Holland were not only the first rise
of the Republic, but have been the constant support of all
her commerce and navigation. This branch of trade is of such
concern to the Dutch that in their public prayers they are
said to request the Supreme Being ‘that it would please Him
to bless the Government, the Lords, the States, and also their
fisheries.’ The fishery of Newfoundland appears to me to be
a mine of infinitely greater value than Mexico and Peru. It
enriches the proprietors, is worked at less expense, and is the
source of naval strength and protection.”[222]
Captain Smith, the adventurous founder and deliverer of the colony
of Virginia, when appealing to Englishmen at home in behalf of the
feeble New England settlements, especially dwells upon the fisheries.
“Therefore,” he concludes, “honourable and worthy Country men, let not
the meannesse of the word fish distaste you, for it will afford as good
gold as the Mines of _Guiana_ or _Potassie_, with lesse hazard and
charge, and more certainty and facility.”[223] Doubtless for a long
time the neighboring fish-banks were the gold-mines of New England.
I have grouped these allusions that you may see how the fisheries of
that day, though comparatively small, enlisted the energies of our
fathers. Tradition confirms the record. The sculptured image of a
cod pendent from the ceiling in the hall of the Massachusetts House
of Representatives, where it was placed during the last century,
constantly recalls this industrial and commercial staple, with the
great part it performed. And now it is my duty to remind you that these
fisheries, guarded so watchfully and vindicated with such conquering
zeal, had a value prospective rather than present, or at least small
compared with what it is now. Exact figures, covering the ten years
between 1765 and 1775, show that during this period Massachusetts
employed annually in the fisheries 665 vessels, measuring 25,630 tons,
with only 4,405 men.[224] In contrast with this interest, which seems
so small, although at the time considerable, are the present fisheries
of our country; and here again we have exact figures. The number of
vessels in the cod fishery alone, in 1861, just before the blight of
war reached this business, was 2,753, measuring 137,665 tons, with
19,271 men,--being more than four times as many vessels and men, and
more than five times as much tonnage, as for ten years preceding the
Revolution were employed annually by Massachusetts, representing at
that time the fishing interest of the country.
Small beginnings, therefore, are no discouragement; I turn with
confidence to the future. Already the local fisheries on this coast
have developed among the generations of natives a singular gift in
building and managing their small craft so as to excite the frequent
admiration of voyagers. The larger fisheries there will naturally
exercise a corresponding influence on the population destined to build
and manage the larger craft. The beautiful baidar will give way to the
fishing-smack, the clipper, and the steamer. All things will be changed
in form and proportion; but the original aptitude for the sea will
remain. A practical race of intrepid navigators will swarm the coast,
ready for any enterprise of business or patriotism. Commerce will find
new arms, the country new defenders, the national flag new hands to
bear it aloft.