Morning journal and courier., 1881-03-25
House.

At 1O:O5 8. m. the House was called to order, I Speaker Case in the chair. Prayer was offer ed by Chaplain Sage. Business from the Senate was disposed of l in concurrence, including the rejection of the resolution amending the charter of the New Haven Gas Light company. Committee reports were received as fol- lows:
 Cities and Boroughs-Bll providing for the removal of snow from the streets of New ] Haven; rejected. Bill relating to sewerage in Waterbury; Calendar and Printing. Humane nstitutions-Resolutions making appropriation for a highway at the Reform School at Meriden; Calendar and Printing. Unfavorable on appropriation to the General Hospital society of New Haven; Calendar. rporations-Amendment to Municipal Gas company's charter; given leave to with draw. Bill authorizing the establishment of cooperative savings and loan associations; rejected.
 On motion of MT. DeForest, of Bridgeport, the order of the day was called for, being the bill prohibiting steam dredging for oysters on natural beds.
 Clerk Perrin read both the majority and minority reports of the Committee on Fish cries. The former report was against the passage of the bill.
 the minority report and the bill were taken up.
 MT. Hodge, of Windsor, said the object of the bill was to prevent steam dredging on natural oyster beds. The present statute was @ compromise measure.
 MT. DeForest, of Bridgeport, said that in 1879. for the first time, the attention of the Legislature was called to steam dredging on natural beds. The law passed at that time restricted steam dredging, but proved inope- ratiye. In 1880 the question was brought up again in the General Assembly. That Legis- I-L. -I~sI H-s about 600 acres of the natural beds This law will make steam dredging impossible on any natural beds. The area of this natural oyster ground is very limited so is the product of that area limited. The seed oys- ters coming from these beds are about enough to keep the private beds in operation. We all have natural pride in these grounds but certain class of these citizens have pecu- liar interest in them. They are almost the sole dependence of large class of the poor people for food and labor. The owners of steam dredgers have taken possession of large tracts of oyster grounds for cultivation, more than the policy of the law would allow. The users of steam can dredge many more days, many more hours in each day, and their drags have 8 larger capacity than those used by sailing vessels. The idea that this was a fight against progress similar to the former objections against railroads and moving ma chimes, was absurd. The steam dredgers, by bu6lr cIhlIuS, 1Ht6Us6O Gn0 oyster, Wltn D u66k6 help from divine being.
 MT. Merriman, of Meriden, said, inIopposi- ton to the bill, that the business of cultivat- ing oyster beds was yet in it's infancy. The majority of the oystermen in this State did not call for the passage of this bill. It was the immense weight of the dredge, and not the manner in which it was drawn, whether by steam or sail, that spoiled the beds.
 Mr. Peckham, of Preston, argued in favor of the prohibition of steam dredging, stating that the beds in the Thames would be badly affected by the use of steam.
 Mir. Mitchell, of New Britain, understood that the House was committed on fhis sub- ject beyond the reach of argument. This he did not believe. The bill was in the face of the progress of the nineteenth century and in favor of monopoly-a monopoly of ineff- ciency. The speaker read from Scrib1e1's Monthly extracts explaining the spawning of oysters.
 Mir. Gum, of Milford, favored steam dredging He gave the facts relating to beds in the vicinity of his town, which went to show that it was the sailing craft which dam aged them. and not the steam dredging. Pro