Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-26
The People Of Maryland Awake to
the Necessity Of Action.
STARTLING FIGURES ON TIE BEDS.
Opinion In Favor Of Putting the Industry
In Private Hands.
TIE sAyr PRACTICALLY USELESS

|
rom tne present OUTLOOK, the oay seems no'
lar distant when marylanos oyster INDUSTRY
which is perhaps the principal one in the
State. shall have been ruined, or at least re.
dnced to ins;,n,6ca,t nronortiona Ths
,.onL, a.. tp.n 90 onr fronted
peoIie r. "io w" Ncie ,:-,..;s-
Dy tne necessity Oh securing such iessia'i'N
as will efectually protect the oyster from
the ruthless piracy of dredgefs who know
no law and whose hand is not even stayed
by the knowledge that there must come 8
day when their occupatiou will be gone.
Pittsburg. Chicago. st. Louis, and, In
fact. all the Western cities are almost en-.
tireiy dependent upon the supply from here,
and Maryland oysters are preferred to all
others on account OF their rich favor.
Dredeers have for years persistently COM
bated the assertion that the oyster beds
could be depleted. But there has been q
steady decrease in the yield for . number OF
years, which has already greatly affected
the business and has caused Baltimore pack
ing houses to transfer their operations to
North Carolina and to New Orleans. North
Carolina particularly has profted by the
Iaxity of MARYLAND laws, combined with in
ability to enforce those that are on the stat
ute books.
Recommendation of a Comnission.
;,,.1n
ne oyster 9ueSson n 49, f go I'D
oeiolI eue pu0o'E 900 'oa d n " ~ o,,snt;on
"s saliy as 100 ~ ~ ens slossuu VIZ hSa,nh.
oI tnose inaeres.ec ss .ua ".msS ~ We" onno;p, %
1o oeai upon w.. D., rsos, Prnot.
oommt, r,;naO4 o;an,;s. oH os ~. Iohns Hontins
1n 1Ina;.,. Gn. T"n..;n !. J.ms. W. WsddeII tbs
.ban anVeaS.y, endIr Wa nf tha stste ovster - nav
andefSoionaI William H.nry Ieag law.
YER Professor Brooks Recommended that
The beds be leased to private individuals,
che State to guarantee them such protection
in their rights as it could. Captain Wad-
dell coneurred in the recommendation; not
go Colonel Legg. While apparently doing
so IN a general wav, be dissented from the
conclusions of the majority as to the prob
able speedy exhaustion of the oyster beds
under the system of dredging and longing
then and stiil in yopue.
But an examination of the Chesapeake
oyster beds made by Lieutenant Winslow,
Of the United States NAVY. in 1873 and 1879.
in COMPARISON with that made by Prof.
Brooks in 1928, demonstrates that in three
wears the beds examined had lost 35 per
cent more than one-third their value. and
that where in 1889 there was one oyster on
an average to 2L square Yards of bed, in
1929 there but enc oyster to each ~
square wards of the same beds. Since 1883
the exhaustion and depletion of the oyster
beds has steadily continued, until the close
of the season of 1891 finds all classes inter-
ested in the oyster industry and in the pres
ervation of the bivalve agreed that the sup
ply is rapidly diminishing, and that there
is great need of additional legislation to
prevent total depletion.
What MIGHT Have Been. -.
ss7In tbe renort of Prof. Brooks and mis- col-
1eaoues to the Iepislature in 1894 II was
sbaSn bv careful comnarison with the re-
snIts in states where oyster farming ba.
been Introduced and ENCOURAGED. that the
oyster rrounds of MARYLAND. Welding onIv
10 000. 600 bushels annually. were capable of
Welding without ipiury 300. 0O0. 600 bushels
a wear and of furnishino emniovmrnt to
500 600 people instead of 80. 900. Under the
nresent system the 640. 600 acres of oyster
grounds Weld the State $50. 600 a wear. be-
Sides about $4,000 to the school fund.
Rhode Island. from /. 100 acres of oyster
oronnd none of which is as valuable a, that
of the chesapeake Bay. in 1884 derived
revenue (from rents, etc. } of S11 900. Upon
the same basis the oyster ground, properly
developed, should yield the State annually
over Sc, 00o, 900. or more than enough to pay
all the expenses OF the State Government,
interest on the pubic DEBT included. and
dispense With the necessity OF any State tax
whatever.
As to the remedy for the existing state of
affairs, opinions differ widely. No class of
oystermen seems willing to sacrifice even the
slightest temporary advantage, and legisla-
tion has therefore been an eggregious blum
der from the very first. As everyone knows
oysters are caught in two ways-by means of
the dredge and with tongs. The dredge is a
large scoop composed OF chain work and is
raised by means OF wlndlass on board the
boat. A bushel or more OF oysters Is thus
brought. up at one time. But by this means
more oysters are frequently destroyed in one
brushes the young oysters and drives many
into the soft mud of the river bottom where
they perish.
In order to protect the residents OF the
counties in their rights it became necessary
to establish the oyster navy In 1867. There
are now two steamers, SIX schooners and
eight sloops. The steamers have crews of
IL men. and the sloops and schooners, on AL
average, half that number.
The Navy Doesn't Protect
But to anyone who has observed eyepts il
has Iono since become snnarant that the
navv is totally inadeouate tn enforcs the
oyster laws The Commanders of the var.
ious boats are Usually taken from the coun-
tries which border on their districts and are
10th to resort to strict measures to stop dep-
relations for fear of beinp ostrac,sed in their
own community One metbod bv which
piraticai dredees have been enabled to
operate in spite of poliee suryeIrlance was to
station a boat at each end of a certain dis
tr,ct This hoat would sional the annroacb
Of sbs nol;os vssssI and t6s draJoss wonid
have then witbdrawn to Mace witbin the
limits ASSIGNED to them. The sentry boats