The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-02-28
The Fish Bill.

The bill for the protection OF fish and TO
encourage tish-cuIture is poor blil-it Is
humble and meek. and has not anything IN
it that should provoke hostility. A man
must be aggressive and belligercnt indeed
to make war upon it; and yet we appre-
bend that, as is the case with all things that
have some good in them, it must meet with
opposition. 1t is only the things that have
no good in them, that are alike devoid OF
harm or good to any, that meet no opposi-
ton. Is it not. indeed, the amount Of OPP
position to a measure that displays the good
it contains? All really beneficial things
cost great amount OF care, labor, advo-
cacv, or money. It is thus that their value
is ascertalned.
But the fish bill is very small boon. The
science OF tsh-culture is one Of the most i'm.
portant to man. 1t promises to do morefor
human support and comfort than any dis.
coyery made for. centuries. Not section
or neighborhood in the land but is deeply
interested in it; and every community
which opposes any obstacle to the measures
for the encouragement OF tish-culture is alb
solutely opposing its own good. 1t is the
best thing IN the world for all people that
the rivers should be abundantly stocked
with fish, and when neighborhood objects
to a law requiring the people to refrain from
hunting with traps, and scires, and poisons,
the few fish which are hiding in the almost
uninhabited waters for year or two, they
are displaying sort OF barbarouSly selfish
opposition to public good which will be
as beneficial to them as to any OF their fel.
| low-citizens.
We confess that we consider it preiudi.
cial to the public character of people for
them to make opposition TO the employment
of the means OF stocking the water-courses
with an abundant supply of fish. Fish is
food indicated by nature as healthy, anu
is afforded at seasons when it meets exactly
the wants of society. Clearly a kind Pro
violence intended it as such. The customs
Of destructive fishing and the obstructive
dams which have intersected our water
courses have defeated the purposes Of Gre
alton, and in this State of Virginia, in the
nineteenth century, large majority Of the
people are in this particular deprived oil
the benefcence intended for them in the
beginning.
| Fish-culture promises the restoration OF
this providential blessing. And shall few
trappers, and harpooners, and fish-poison-
ers here and there. chasing minnows night
and day, stand in the way Of measure OF
general benefit? We trust not.
Pass the pending poor little bill. 1t will
prove the great good in store for society,
and put the people in the mood for further
and more benefcert enactments. Wcmust
| have ways for the fish to ascend the rivers.
The product OF the waters must be increased
if we are to have what nature intended for
us. Art has enlisted in the cause Of nature,
and by artificial Matching it is found that
ninety-fve per cent. OF the eggs Of fish may
be matured, while in the natural way only
five per cent. of the eggs is matured. We
find by this means all our rivers and creeks
may be stocked with good food-fishes. This
discovery is grand, and the State should
avail itself OF its advantages as one Of the
greatest blessings it can bestow upon the
people.