The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-05 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

TIMES.—A case is coming beforethe Home Secre-
tary which should be not only well-considered by
the Government, but carefully watched by the pub-
lic. It is but a short time since Acts of Parliament

were passed for the protection of the Salmon Fisheries
of the country from utter ruin. A commission of
inquiry had proved that practices long permitted
to prevail were destroying a wholesome and palat-
able article of food, and a source, in its way, of
national wealth. Nothing could be more wanton
or gratuitous than the waste which was thus
revealed. The British rivers constitute the finest

salmon grounds in the world, and the culture of
salmon costs nothing but forbearance. If we will
but abstain from killing the fish when they are unfit
for food, and driving them away from streams
which they are disposed to frequent, they will find
their own pastures, do their own fattening, and
come back to us in prodigious numbers of their own
accord at the proper season for taking them. The
whole question was made so plain, the evil was so
manifest, and the remedy so clear, that the Salmon
Acts were passed with the full approval of the pub-
lic, and, as the event proved, with true and timely
wisdom. Seldom has legislation been more directly
successful. The multiplication of fish commenced
at once with the protection of the fisheries; salmon
became more plentiful, of better quality, and even
cheaper than before, while other articles of food
were rising in price. The result was a clear public
gain; but there is a certain county, it appears, in
which the law is openly defied under circumstances
of no common character or import. One of the
best of our salmon rivers is the picturesque and de-
lightful Wye, and its fisheries haire been taken under
the protection of a board duly constituted according
to the terms of the Act. At this season of the year
English salmon are unfit for food, and cannot legally
be even exposed for sale. It seems, however, that in
Radnorshire certain people living on the banks of
the Wye are bent upon killing salmon at Christmas,
in defiance both of law and nature, insomuch that
the conservators of the river have been at the pains
of maintaining a force of watchers for the security of
the fish. The poachers, as they were termed, made
no secret of their intention to overpower all resist-
ance, and they-did actuallymuster for their lawless and.
savage work -in such numbers that it was not until
the close of last month that the police were strong
enough to interfere. On the night of the 22d ult.,
however, the watchers, reinforced by the game-
keepers from a neighbouring estate, came upon a
body of men engaged in spearing salmon by torch-
light. The scene will remind the reader of the fa-
miliar descriptions in " Redgauntlet" and " Guy
Mannering ;" but the end was a desperate fight,
which resulted in the defeat of the offenders, and the
capture of four of their number. It is at this point
that the story acquires more than ordinary interest.
Of the four persons seized by the police two were
found to be sons of one of the wealthiest farmers in
the neighbourhood, and it was " well known," we are
told, that the majority of the whole poaching gang
were men of good circumstances and position in life.
The offence had not been committed by needy men
for the sake of sustenance or gain ; it was the work
of persons well to do in the world, without the
excuse of either ignorance or temptation. We
are left, in short, to infer that the farmers of
Radnorshire regard the laws of the Imperial
Parliament as of no effect in their country or
over their households. They assert, we are told,
their natural right to kill salmon when and how
they please, any statute to the contrary notwith-
standing. If they are interfered with in the gratifi-
cation of their will, they intend to fight and put
down all control with the strong hand. These ideas,
too, appear to have been illustrated at the trial of
the offenders before the magistrates at the sessions.
Threats are said to have been used very freely, and
a' belief was expressed that in the event of a convic-
tion an attack would be made upon magistrates,
watchers, and policemen together. That there was
some foundation, too, for this opinion we should
infer from the speech of the .magistrate, who
actually thought it advisable to tell the audience
present in the court that the sitting authorities
were but the representatives of the law, and that
the law could not be killed by the adnorshire
farmers, though the county magistrates might be.
It happened, though we do not exactly see how,
that the prisoners were discharged, but the Fishery
Board has resolved to bring the matter before
Government, and all the circumstances of the trans-
action will, no doubt, be made the subject of in-
quiry. It seems impossible, however, even with our
present information, to affect any uncertainty
about the character of these proceedings. The
offence was as bad and inexcusable, as it could be.
Poaching is too mild a term for it, for even pbachers
do not kill pheasants in June. These offenders were
men who,- even if the fish had been fit for eating,
were not in want of food. They were perfectly
compeOnt to understand ou what principles. ,the,
Fisher Acts had been based, and what objects
they were intended to promote. They were not
acting. under the pressure of necessity or for the
sake of gain. Even the love of sport, which
sometimes perhaps goes half-way to make a poacher,
cannot be pleaded in this case, for all sportsmen
know-when game is out of season ; and, besides, this
is hardly the time of year when standing knee-deep
in a river at midnight would be an attractive pas-
time. These Radnorshire farmers, unless the story
can be contradicted, must have deliberately defied
the law out of pure impatience of control, and a re-
solution to have their own way in spite of it. The
magistrate compared the people he was addressing to
the native ponies of the country, which were allowed
to run wild so long that, when they were caught
and bridled, they were naturally restive and unruly.
The illustration was not complimentary to the edu-
cation or intelligence of the Welsh, but it was per-
haps appropriately used, and the warning by which it
was accompanied will not, we should hope, have
been lost on those who heard it. Radnorshire is
not so remote as to be out of reach of law, nor
should its people be so rude as to believe as much.
There is no popular grievance in this case to ex-
plain their agitation, nor even the " sentimental"
grievance which is sometimes thought to attach to
the Game Laws. It is for the benefit of the whole
country and all classes, Radnorshire and Radnor-
shire farmers included, that a supply of good and
useful food should not be wantonly destroyed.
With the several rights of fishing in the
Wye, however they may be distributed, we
need not here concern ourselves, for they can
have no bearing on the' question at issue. No
person, whatever may be his claim to take salmon
at the proper season, can be entitled to take it at a
season when the act is forbidden by law. The object
of the law is simply to improve the Wye fisheries,
and to increase the number of salmon in the river
for the benefit of the owners or commoners, whoever
they may be. These Radnorshire offenders were
attacking the interests of the whole public, and de-
fying an enactment which bad been framed expressly
for the common good. If they have any special
right or title to the salmon in the Wye, they must
be specially interested by that very fact in the main-
tenance of the law. They are without excuse of
any kind for their outrageous lawlessness, and if they
can reckon upon sympathy in their own county,
they may depend on it they will find none among
the public at large.