The Portland daily press., 1875-02-05
MutuaI Fish.

hall 10 the newly Incorporated ''CranperTy
Isles Mutual Fish Company! There is in
its name rare union of poetry and prose.
Wehave here shadowy Renaissance of the
early days when wide-eyed discoverers came
down along the mysterious coast and gazed
wonderingy at fairy islands, blooming with
verdure and covered with the vines of the
succdlent fruit-orycoccus naacrocarpus-
the ruddy cranberry. We have, also, COM
bined with this romantic title, and toning
down its too predominant talsm,
the highly prosaic and utilitarlan notion nat
urally associated with fish. Fish, too, in
new and amiable light. Not fish isolated
and haughtily assuming position of antag-
onism toward each other and toward the fin
less members of the animal kingdom; not fish
severely repelling all association, proud of
their rank as a distinct order in creation and
resisting all attempts to confound the ego with
the non ego. Not at all. But fish amenable
to the humanzing influences of modern
thought and progress fish cheerfully max
ing that surrender of personal prejudices
which is the first requirement Of living in the
SUCldl SJdtc-uSIl SOOPOAdbih5,
in short, mutual fish.
The ''mutual friend" to say nothing of the
social disrepute into which it has fallen oflate,
has been hunted out of learned circles by fas-
tidious pundits, who object to predicating in
terchangeabeness of human being The
late DR.. Webster shared in the prejudice
against the phrase and spoke of it with
marked disrespect in his dictionary. No
doubt photographers will soon raise hue
and cry about the "muLual fish" and if it
comes to the ears of Richard Grant White he
will let loose upon it all the dogs of war. But
it may be safely predicted that the reciprocal
fish will prove too strong for all the wiseacres
especially the mutual porgy in his season.
A few years ago the legislature, having TAX
en- into its capacious nav the primal germ OF
Franklin county cheese company, was wea-
rily getting on through all the stages of legs
lasive deglutition and assimiation-referring
| to committee, reporting from committee,
reading once, twice and thrice, engrossing,
enacting, sending from one house to the 9TH
er and so on-when squeamish member dis
| covered that the inchoate corporation had
been christened the "Strong Cheese Conpa-
| n.y. from the name of the town in which it
| was to flourish. So name less unpleasant
| ly significant was procured on the spot and
the "Sandy River Cheese Company figures
in current history to this day. We hope
that no such qualms will seize the gentlemen
legislators of 1875, causing them to nip the
mutual fish in the bud. (The cranberry part
| of the name permits this apparent mixture
of metaphor.l Let him blossom! Let him
thrive! The fish is respectable from any
point of view. In the heterogeneousness OF
hash he is great. And the mighty cod in the
Massachusetts State House, soaring above
the heads of the law makers and shedding &
rich phosphoric influence over minds that
brighten and glow in his-may we say
"beams'' ?-is sublime. Let our mutual fish
come unchaIlenged into the world to be a
thing of brightness and beauty forever. MOI
let the company claim hereafter, with the pro
verbal selfishness of corporations, that the
attribute of mutuality belongs ut and not
to the fish. Let no impertinent intrusion
of comma or hyphen divorce what the legis.
ture has Joined together.
But we had high moral purpose in view
when we began, intending to use the Gran
berry Isle Company merely TO point thu
moral. And we hereby expressly and for
mally dsclaim any disrespect for the com
pany or its name which is just as good a
s'Mutual Life'' and other names which hav'
ceased to be funny because they are old
What we meant to say was that there is to'
much fish and other scaly stuff about tn
legislature. Look through the proceeding
of any day and see if biennial sessions would
not be amply sufficient for the transaction o
public business, could the fish com
panes, cheese companies, and othe
private corporations be induced o
compelled to organize under general laws
| But there is some indefnable attraction
drawing them all toward the legislature
whether it be necessary or not. For sewers
years there has been on the statute book
law under which manufacturing, mining ant
quarrying companies can organize withou
enlisting the services of 1872 men at Augusta
with all their paid auxiliary powers and as
sistants and without taxing the state to pa
for these services as well as for all the neces
| sary printing which is no small item. Bu
we have never heard that single compan
has been formed under it. All men rush
the legislature for there charters as before
But if the constitution be amended, as
proposed, this and other abuses will stop.