The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-31
THE oEMLER OYSTER BILL.
II VIII Go Before the Agricultural
Committee of the House To-Day.

It VIII Go Before the Agricultural
Committee of the House To-Day.
DR.. Oemler's oyster bill, action upon
which was postponed at the request of
Representative Clifton of this county, will
come up before the agricultural committee
Of the House to-day. Dr. Oenler will not
be before the committee, but ne said yester-
1 day that he is confident that the measure
! will become a law. He said that Repre-
| sentatives Gordon and Reilly of Chatham
\ advocate the passage of the bill. and are
actively supporting 1t with a large number
| OF representatives from other sectiOlsOf the
state. Messrs. Goodyear and Atkinson Of
! Brunswick are also actively supporting the
| measure, and DR.. Oemler said that they
| Vii 40 everything IA their power to put
| the bill through.
The most vigorous opponents of the bill,
| Dr. Oemler said, are those property owners
who own hundreds Of acres of land lying
| around rivers, and emitting them t. al Of
the water front touching their land, to the
exclusion Of everybody else. This excludes
| those who are not land owners,
from engaging in the culture
OF oysters. Besides, the land owners pay
no revenue to the state for the water prlvi-
leges. IF this condition OF affairs IS to
exist said Dr.. Oemler, 81 should certainly
entitled to hundreds of acres of water front
to the exclusion of anybody who wished to
engage in the cultivation Of oyster beds. /
don't consider, however, that such state
OF affairs should exist, aud my bill is
introduced as a remedy. think
the state should derive some benefit
from the water privileges. Moreover, |
think everybody who wishes to cultivate
oysters in our waters should be granted
the privilege. l think they should be free
to select their location-their beds, wherever
they choose, provided the bed has not been
selected by anyone ese.n
DIR. OemIer reviewed his bill briefly. It
provides that property Owners-those who
own land on the streams of this state
shall be entitled to 500 yards as a property
owner In addition thereto they may pur-
chase, by paying to the state 81 per acre,
i've acres anywhere they choose to engage
IN the CULTURE Of oysters The five acres are
TO be located on a water front, and not TO
extend farther than l20 feet into the stream
from the shore. The bill provides that
while no more than five acres NAV be pur-
chased extending out 100 feet from the
shore, as much as 500 acres may
be purchased aud operated in deep water
by paying 81 per acre. BY this means the
poorest people are afforded an easy llveli-
hood by cultivating and developing the
oyster industry in this state, aud at the
same time the state is deriving a tax, which
Is to be applied to the educational fund.
In answer to a question as to how many
acres are available for oy ster culture in this
state, ne said that he was unable to state
exactly. he has sent to the governor North
Carolina charts, etc, and has asked for
a survey of this state, which he is hopeful
will be made. He says that there are
thousands Of acres though, which may be cul-
tivated and which will be cultivated in case
his i'll goes through. In the state OF Rhode
Island there are about 965 acres in Guilt
walton, giving employment to 2, 400 men.
The first year Of the oyster law was enacted
in Rhode Island ir paid SOL into the state
treasury. Last year it paid over 81, 900
into the treasury.