Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-25
THE OYSTER PROBLEM
GEN. BRADLEY T. JoHNsON'S VIEWS
ATTAINING GOOD RESULTS.
a Maryland Virginia Commission-tees
to Cover Costs and 20 Assist in Re-
storntIon and Propagation.


ing to Baltimore Sun reporter OF the
Maryland oyster question, said: at Is
now evident to all that the oyster in the
Chesapeake is doomed 10 extinction in
the public beds by tho operation of the
universal law that nature will not, IN
aided, produce any product largely de-
manded by man, but that industry and
human effort are always necessary to
supply human wants. The buffalo
/ has been exterminated in this genera
/ ton; the seal is fast disappearing be-
fore the energies directed by great de-
mand, and in twenty years the oyster OF
the Chesapeake will have become, like
the terrapin, luxury for the rich, be
| yond the reach Of moderate means. The
/ oystermen and the packers will now tell
you that the oyster industry has lett Bal
timore and has moved South. II is To-
eating itself for the present in North
/ Carolina, and thence VIII move IN due
course to the Gulf of Mexico.
cit is simply disgraceful to the saga
city, patriotism, and energy Of our peo-
pie that we should allow this great
treasury OF nature 10 be DESTROYED be
fore our ewes. We have a natural mo-
nopoly of the capacity ofproductlng the
finest oysters in the world. They are
eagerly bought everywhere n railroad
can carry them. Our oyster-grounds, II
improved, will produce enough to sup
ply all possible demands for generations.
and we are permitting them 10 be de-
stroyed, with no intelligent effort tosaye
them.
IDENTICAL CONDITIONS
al know the condition in Virginia is
identical with that in Maryland. Iheup
country will not take any interest IN the
oyster question, and the whole matter is
| left TO the management Of the tidewater
counties, which in turn are managed by
the oyster-men. They know nothing OF
the experience of other peoplein the ex-
! tinction of natural oyster-beds and their
revival and restoration by scientific cnl-
/ tivation. They have the contempt OF
all unlettered people for book-learn-
/ inc about their specially, and they
/ believe that man raised among oysters
must of necessity know more about them
| than u student gathering his knowledge
| from a few weeks personal observation
and from the reports of others in books.
! Ii is this jealousy Of n scientific treat
ment of the subject which makes 1t so
difficult to handle in the Chesapeake. l
have long thought that nothing could be
done on the oyster question until the
beds were exhausted, and then tho
tongers and the dredgers would be
willing TO permit an intelligent treatment
Of the subject, for by that time there
| will bo no tongers nor drodgers.
81 will offer some suggestions on the
subject. the result OF Investigation IN
MANY years past The present legisla-
ton in MARYLAND and Virginia is utterly
! inefficient because the laws are worthless
and because they are not enforced. inc
whole idea OF the regulation NOT the oyster
fishery is TO limit the quantity Of oysters
taken by limiting the time in which they
can be taken. The fallacy OF this is az
parent when II is clear that as many oys-
ters can be taken in four months as IN
twelve. 1t depends on the price OF oys-
tors and not on the time in which they
are permitted to be taken. The law
oupht 70 regulate the quantity to be
taken, not the time in which they may
| be taken.
TOTHE WHOLE BAY.
"The same regulations ought to apply
70 the whole bay and not TO part only.
MARYLAND and Virginia in l7S5 made
treaty regulating commerce on the bay
and fishing on the Potomac and POGO
moke. That compact was the germ OF
the Constitution Of the United States. l
am confident its principles can be eX-
tended to the regulation OF the oyster
ouestion over the whole bay. Let the
/ whole subject of taking oysters,
the quantity to be taken, the
price of license. and the places
/ from " hich they are to be taken be put
/ in the hands Of commission appointed
by the two States with power to appoint
| their own police to enforce their own
regulations. the expense of the commits
sion and the police to be paid out OF the
/ license-fees. Under such an. arrange
ment an intelligent management aud
faithful enforcement Of the regulations
could be secured, entirely free from the
local and personal interests which now
paralyze every effort to protect or pre-
serve the oyster fishery.
"The income from licenses ought,
after paying the expenses OF the JOINT
commission, to be applied to restoration
of the oyster-beds, which could be pro-
tected from being dredged during times
to be fixed by the commission. Such an
arrangement would be immensely valua-
Die TO the States and would put the man
aCement above the politician and the
local influence which now destroys It.
! But. beside regulations of the existing
| industry, scientific and wise measures are
necessary to experiment, investigate, and
develop the best means for the prOpaga-
ton If the oyster in the Chesapeake. L
do not believe that any feasible admins
tration can be evolved from our political
system that is competent to do this. Any
money appropriated for this purpose VIII
inevitably be wasted and the whole thing
will become Job. There is no use com
plaining of this, It is a condition, not o
theory. We cannot change it. The only
way is to accomplish the end by other
/ means.
PROPOSED DONATION.
1.-THE Johns Hopkins University IS
the great factor in the future social and
political condition of this State. 1t alone
can save our posterity from being doml-
mated bv the commercial morale, and 1t
can hold up the high and noble ideals OF
honorable action aud generous thoughts.
! 1t is the institution il Maryland which
must in time exercise inconceiyable in
Auence on the lives, the social system,
and the political organization of tins
State. We ought to strengthen it and
widen and broaden and deepen Its foun-
dations OF public respect aud popular
confidence. We ought to make use OF 1t
when practicable in public adminlstra-
ton. The State needs geological sur
yey. and the Johns Hopkins can make 1t
better than any instrument that we can
professor Brooks, Of the University,
has made the widest and best study oil
the oyster question OF any living man.
l - ....,,,aA n, tng4 pnnTffH