Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-06-04
EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF
HON. HANNIBAL HAMLIN


EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH OF
HON. HANNIBAL HAMLIN.
In the Unitod States Senate, May G, 1858, Oh the
Bill repeating the Fishing Bounties.
| Mn. PRESIDENT: The relations which the
| fisheries have borne in every country to the
commercial and naval prosperity of that
country, think, are intimate and impor-
tant. They are measured by no narrow Wis
ion; they are circunscribcd by no local
position; and | think if the Senator from
Alabama (Mr. Clay) had arisen above the
mere locality of the fisheries, and had pro-
ceeded to make an Investigation of the sub
ject upon broader principle, he might have
come to q different conclusion--at least he
might have divested himself of that bitter
ness which was witnessed in the sncer upon
his face, if not in the language which he ut
tered when he said that the taking OF cod
was momcntous concern. Tho mere act of
taking cod may be Objectionable, if the Sen
ator pleases, to that sneer; but when meas
ured by other considerations that Justly and
!, properly belong to it, and when viewed in
an enlightened scnse-in that sense which
belongs to an American Statesman and to an
American Scnator-it is worthy of anything
else but the sneer of any Senator. The fish
cries are local Tho Ruler of the world has
made them so. The waters of the f,r North
are the fields in which the fish are taken.
and it would be natural to suppose that the
people residing near to those fields are en-
ploycd in that pursuit Though they are
local, they are, nevertheless, in their mpor-
tance, national So the fields in which the
| ir-ct ma Is ltiya tpI t fl,
State which is represented by the Senator
who sits beside mo, (Mr. Benj..min;) and |
affirm here to-day that while you pay boun-
ty to the fishermen, for national purposes, as
| shall cndcavor to establish, you pay a
bounty, by yo..r system Of revenue laws, to
the planters and growers Of sugar-cane in
Louisiana. You may say that the ono is
based upon revenue. and for revenue pur-
poses My answer is, that the other is for a
purpose us national, and as broad; and that
is, of training scamen for the naval ser
vice.
In every country which has existed from
the formation of the world to the pes sent
time, the relations between the fisheries and
the commerce and the naval power of the
country have been intimate and direct. In
decd, sir, there is no country on tho face OF
the globe that has been marked and distin-
guishcd for its naval or its commercial su-
premlcy, that has not had corps of fisher
man from which to support both of these
institutions From the days of Scripture
times, from the day when Sidon was founded
which was the city of fish, down to the pres
cnt moment, there has been no nation that
has not relied for its commercial and It's ma
val prosperity upon its fisheries as nurseries
for seamen, to supply both its commerce
and its navy.
| But, sir, l want to show you what was the
part which these fishermen bore, not only in
the revolutionary war, but in the war o
1912. | invite your attention to the very
important part which they contributed, and
/ | think no class contributed more-l had
almost said that all other CLASSES had moi
contributed as much to produce that happy
results which was produced in either case, IL
these fishermen who happened to reside in Il
Il locality. Ii YOU can educate seamen chea'
per n any other way, | am for abplisaing
| the fishing bountes. | am for sustaining
these fishing bountics oily upon the ground
that it is the cheapest mode by which you
can educate men upon whom YOU must rely
in the emergency of war. Can you do il
cheaper in any other way? Then do it.
am not advocating bountcs to any class oi
citizens, be they who they may, unless it be
of national Importance, for Il national pur-
pose, and be the most economical mode OF
eiiccting the object. believe that the con
| trbution of two or three hundred thousand
dollars Il ycar-,he average is about two hun
| dred and five thousand dollars-wili contin-
uously keep in reserve II vast corps of sea
men upon whom you can rely in time OF
war better than any other class of men-
II class upon whom you must call in than
emergency. If. however, there is any alter
native propostion-ift there is any other way
in which seamcn can be more chcaply and
economically furnished to your Navy, that
am not in favor of this. am not in favor
of bountics. am only in favor Of them il
this case because there is Il necessity for
them, from the nature of the business which
requires aid to kocpit alive and to keep il
alive is the only way in which You can get
the force that is requisite and necess iry,
Now, | come to the important part which
this corps of fishermen bore in the struggle
of the revolutionary war, They We're few
in number then, compared to what they arc
n wv, but they We're important. There was
no branch of tho service that did more honor
able and gallant service than they. There
was no part of the service that aided more in
bringing about the happy negotiations which
ended in peace, and in our independence
1t is recorded in the history of the times, and
Of it there can be no serious question. that
more than fifty thousand tons of British,
shipping were captured in l771, by these
| New England fishermen. rurwin, Of Salem,
Loyalist, who fled to England states in his
Journal that from May l776 to February
! l77S, Lloyd's Coticc-housc list shows that
American privatcers, one hundred and seven
| ty-three in number, captured seven hundred
and thirty three British vessels, with thei'
cargoes, worth more than twenty-five million
dollars and they counted millions OF dollar'
by hi5her standard in that day than we dt
now. Other authorities, entitled To conf
dencr, show that during the war full tive
hundred tons of shipping were taken by rebe
priyateers We had no Navy. In all tho
naval service of the revolutionary war, W,
had to depend mainly upon the pryatce
service that was composed almost exclusively
of the fishermen. So efficient were they
that underwriters demanded, and there wer
paid, premiums of from thirty to fifty PEE
cent The mercantile interests Of Englan,
clamored for peace. The fishermen wer
abroad upon every water; and the lagoons o
the Mediterranean never swarmcd with mel
more efficiently engaged in catching fish THAI
did the privatcersmen Of New England swarm
the ocean in capturing British vessels, in tn
war of the Revolution.
| wish to read an authority in relation t,
their services in the revolutionary war, an'
it is the authority of that old patriot an
statesman, Henry Knox, who shared wit
Washington SO much OF the glories and sui
tercd SO many of the hardships of the wal
He speaks with a feeling heart of tho service