The dollar weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1862-1864, 1863-05-21
From the Chicago Times.
The Puritana as. Fisherman.

The Puritans as Fisherman.
t Perhaps Puritan cunning and cupidity In
: lesislating for its own benefit at the expense
OF the remainder of the country has been a.
t successfully displayed in its operations tc
' secure bounties from the general Govern
ment for its fisheries as in any of its in
: Vulnerable devices in Federal legislation
] We are glad Senator Richardson took occa-
, sion few days since to expose the absurdity
OF the claim upon which the appropriation
OF S4OO,O0 bounty was based. ..
That claim now is that the fisheries edu-
cate seamen for the navy. When the bounty
was first granted in 1889, il was founded on
the idea of compensation for the duty paid
on salt used in curing exported, dried OF
picked fish and adjusted to the amount oil
the tax, rising with its increase and falling
with its decrease.' This claim was abused,
as has been fully shown by debates in Con-
gress at different times, The bounty has
always been enormously greater than the
proportion the fishing interest was compelled
to pay on the salt tax. The tax was a mere
preteDse as we shall show, unjustly opera
ting against the interests of the whole coun-
try for the exclusive benefit of New Eng
/ land.
That section bas uniformly opposed the
repeal of the salt tax, because its repeal
would leave no plea for the continuance OF
the bounty. Consequently, the fishing
bounty has not only drawing millions from
the public treasury since 1883, lut has i'm
posed tax upon salt which the country has
paid that the pretext for the bounty nigh t
not be removed. We submit that this is a
somewhat sharp practice for pious Purtans.
supposed to be engaged exclusively 10 the
Interests of God and humanity ,..,:, .
We guhioin q hrief cvpopsis Of of q n
acts Of Congress, which will show how fish
ing bounties have been adjusted to rising du.
ties. and how they have not been adjusted
to decrease in duties. We think they will
also show the persistent hold New England
keeps upon the treasury when she has once
thrust her hand in. ,.......
L. Act of Congress, 1889, grants Sc. a
barrel on picked fish, and SC. a quintal on
salt fish (dried); duty on salt at that time
being sc. per busLsl. .-.l-.
2. Act Of 1890 increases the bounty to 1Oc
per barrel and los. q1intal; duty on salt 12c.
per bushel. ... ......, ....
3. Act of 1892 repeals the bounty in lieu
Of drawbacks on dried fish, and as an equiva-
lent therefor, authorizes an allowance to be
paid to vessels in the cod fishery (dried fish)
at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per
tun on vessels of twenty to thirty tuns; with
d
lars for the highest allowance to any vessel
4. A supplementary act of the same year
adds twenty per cent. to each head of these
allowances. ......g.. .. IT,. ..
5. Act of 1899 increases the bounty on
picked fish to twenty two cents per barrel; !;
and adds thirty three and third per cent
in favor of the cod d-fshing vessels. Duty
on salt twenty cents per buShel. ..-
6 Act of 1893 increases the bourty Oh
picked fish to thirty cents per barrel. No
additional duty on salt.
z. Act of 1907 (Mr. j Jefferson's Admins
tratioD> wipes out the duty on salt and the
fishing bounty with it. Mr.. Jefferson was
after this more bitterly mathematical by
the pious Puritans as an infdei than ever
before. .. .... .t. .....-...- ..
8. In 1914 the Puritans reviv ed the boun-
ty and secured twenty-ceuts a barrel on
pickled fish, and an allowance of two dol
lars and forty cents per tun for vessels in
the codishery between twenty and thirty
tuns, and four dollars for vessels above thirty
tuns, with Limitation of two hundred and
seveuty-two collars as the highest allowance.
8. Act of 1919, the allowance to cod FISH
ing vessels was increased three dollars and
fifty cents tun on vessels from i've to thirty
tuns, with Limitation of three hundred and
sixty dollars as the maximum allowance.
10. Act of 1928 authorizes the mackerel
fishing vessels to take out licerses similar
to the cod-ishing vessels. The Secretary
of the Treasury the same year reported the
mackerel vessels as illegally drawing m money
from the Treasury: The amount drawn by
them was estimated to be from forty to fifty
thou sand dollars per year. s s-.... ..-..,
Thus it seems, the mackerel vessels not
only secured the bounty awarded to picked
fish, but drew the allowance of from three
dollars and half to four dollars per tun, in
tended exclusively for vessels in the cod
i,heries. Another notable instance of sharp
practice. .- !
The bounty has been steadily increasing
until it has now reached 100000 per year.
We shall call attention TO the subject again,
as it is prolific one, recoliecting that we
concluded with the operations of the mack
erel PuritaDs. t,r s.r.---..-5 .y"I