Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1858-09-03

That the act entitled AN act layiry duty on
imported salt granting bounty on picked fsI,
tNP"iteti aud allowances to certain vessels EN-.
played IN The hshcrics,' passed on the 18th day i
July, IN the year 1873, shall be, and the same
hereby Is, continued in force, anything in the sa id
act I" the contrary notwithstanding (See Statutes
at Large, vol. 3, page 25i)
The act Of March lst, 1877, goes still fur.
thcr to illustrate the object of the bounty
system to fishermen 1t req uires the owners
and tl'ree-iourths of the crews of fishing ves-
sc's claiming the bounty to he citizens oi the
nltcd States. Section third is rs follows
THAT, after the 30th day of September next,
the b"untes ard allowances As now granted by
tw I" the owners of boats and ves.els enya ved il,
tie fisheries shall he paid only on boats Of yesseI Is
the officers and at last three. quarter. of the
crews "t which shall be proved to the satisfaction
"t the collector at the district where said boat or
vessel shall belong, to be citizens o. the United
states, or persons not the subjects of any foreign
rncc ot state See Statutes at Large, vol. s.
page 3jl}
This act removes all doubt as to the object
Of the bonnty system.
The first act Of 1889 may with some plaus-
ihi'ltv, be said merely to refund the salt du- :
ty to the exporter Subsequent acts, how :
ever. paid the quarter part Of the bounty to
the sellnen directly, with the evident pur-
pose ot enconragin. not only the busin IS Of
hsh'ns. but the profession OF seamansllp.-
hnt 1t was ascertained that foreigners avail
ed themselves of the benefit Of the bountv
lhw> in proportions 50 la &c as in some de-
-rre To- irustratc the purposes of Government
This act Of March !, ISL, is therefore in
tended to supply this defect, and to Ilace
the loading "hycct o. the bounties beyond all
question.
The act Of March ;, 1919 increases the al
lewance to boats and vessels under thirty
"ns. l'lacins tI,osc between five and twenty
on tn" SANE iout'ng lis thos, between TWEEN
Y and thirty. These above thirty are al
l"w"i Il reduced bounty, in case they shall
he engaged three and half months, but les.
than tour, provided their crews consisted of
ten PERSONS. 1t is ir the following terms
That from and after the passin. Of this act,
there .h'll lee paid on the las, day Of Drce;nber,
annually, t" the owner Of every fishing boat or
,rssrl or hi agent, by tho collector Of the dis.
trlct where .o"h boa, ar vessel may belong that
hail he qualified agrccably to law for carrying on
the hNnk ard other ced fisheries, and that shall
actually have been employed therein at sea for the
term "t tHar months at least OF the fishing season
new preceding, (which season is accounted to b.
lf"m the last day ui February To the last day ot
"N'm'er every year,) for each and every ton Of
-H'h hoat 'r vessels burden, acGordin. to her ad
luod-u cnIeHt ~ licensed or enrolled; if Of more
th'n five tal, and not cNcecdin. thirty tons three
dollars aad fifty cents; ii above thirty tons four
dollars; aud II above thirty tons, and il the
ire" consist OF ten Itrstns and hn, ing bccn ac-
tua!iy employed in the cud fishery at sea, tor the
term at thru and Uuc-hulf months at least. but
lr-ithan i"nr months of the season aforesaid
three dollars and fifty cents Prorpi,d, That tn.
All ;ltu on of
son SHAH not exceed three hundred aLi sixty dol
lar. t>cc Statutes At Large, vol. ;, page 80 }
This act has been said to repeal the act OF
ISL, requiring the owners and three iourths
ii the crrw To he citizens of the United
states Bat there i not the slightest war
rmt tas such an assertion. The former act
i. n,j - nttrh as referrrd t., and therefore
.lll plrt- of it which are not specifically
chang i 10y the act Of lSl1, remained in full
t1rcc. The Fate OF allowance is cnclnlnc,.l
4nl the term required for y certain class OF
ie>> l. t. b. AT -. Is mnli.ied. hut in every
ltl,tr respect the act of l>l1 remained in tul!
torcr. GA the supp5siton that this act re-
f"Ll> the iprner, the salt duti IS would stand
repealed, since they We're not re-cnnctcd bv
the act of lNl9, and in that case the bounty
system would stand al pot from any prctencc
ryem OF rrtundn, the duty On salt But this
question is autlio!itatiycv settled hv the reg
uatipns ot the Treasury Department, which
require, in conformity with the statute OF
lNi1. that the master and threrf,nrtl,s of
the crew et any vessel claiming bounty must
he proved u be- citizens of the United Sta ties.
(>rt Circular Instructions, dated Eel ruary
~, lNi2, issued iv Secretary Corwin.) 1t
is to be noted that the acts passed since the
revival OF the system Of bountes arc silent a>
To the bounty bcin. in lieu Of the salt duty.
ur being measured by the amount of the duty
collected. These acts are still in force while
the bounty has continued at the highest point
which it ever attained. The salt duty has
been reduced from twenty cents the bushcl OF
tiitv->x pounds, to less than two and half
reuts, the bushel; in II word, the increase OF
the bounty went on pari passu with the dim
lnutipno OF the salt duty. The exact figures,
which find in the recent report of the Sen
att Committee on Commerce, are two cents
ana thirty-thrcc hundrcdths per bushel 1t
is clear therefore that the system of bounti,~
though originatin. in the salt duty, has
gradually been separated from it, and now
stands upon IFS own merits rs an indcp.nd-
ent policy 1t has been in existence " ith an
interval OF six years, from the organization
Of the Government to the present time; and
think that | have abundtntly shown, from
the very terms Of the several acts ON the sub
icct Of bountics. that leading object in tn.
inception, and the sole object for forty years
past of tlcir continuance, has been the MAIN
tcsincc Of u school for sramen.
SIR, these bounti $ to the hardy fishermen
/, of New England stand before the American
people, for their yindication, upon the same
footing with the Naval School at Annapoli.
and the Military School at West Point
admit that the system of bountics las u means
of stimulating industrial enterprises is obec~
tlonhlc, and. indeed, indetensiblc. But
where the object is avowcdly the training OF
American sc;,Inen, with u view t. the nation
al defence, there can be no more objection To
this particular plan, than to those adopted
for the education of officers at the militia
ry and naval academies. 1t is no objection
to 1t that a branch Of private industry is fos-
tered hy it, but, on the contrary that circum-
stance isa strong recommendation of it, for by
the aid of the fisheries, the Government is
enabled To accomplish, with three or four
hundred thousand dollars. what millions
would scarcely do without them.
The expenses of the Navy Department for
the last fiscal year according to the report of
the ) 'crtt,ry of the Treasury, were twelve
millions seven hundred and twcnty-siX thou
sand dollars; and this SUM exceeds, by more
than half Il million the whole amount OF
bountics paid according TO the same authori-
tv. from the foundation Of the Government
to the present time. The average amount ot
hpuntirs per annun has been about three hum
lrcd thousand dollars. In lSj6. it was only