Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-04-04
Communicated
THE POTOMAC FISHERIES,

f~aS AZ Ah AONAAA w bhV OhOtt Sh1e thS
state of Maryland will ask the Su'
preme Court of the United States tc
decide the question "Is an oyster 8
fish," 1t is proposed to arrest a citizen
of Virginia for taking oysters from
the beds Of the Potomac river and
finally carry the case to the highest
court with the hopes of getting q
decision that will hereafter prevent
Virginians from participating in the
oyster fisheries of that river.
The proposal to abrogate that long
established privilege would seem
ridiculous, were it not an evident
fact that "money talks" and especi-
ally so in the case of lawyers who
pocket fat fees in such cases, if they
can once get them going. There are
lots of dirty tricks worked on people
by some members of the legal frater-
nifty, without any respect to the
injury done to communities at large.
Dodson and Fogg have lots of sue
cessors.
1t would seem that nothing but a
big contingent fee could induce any
lawyer to encourage any set of people
to undertake to deprive other per-
sons of privileges SO well settled by
hitherto undisputed possession for
so many years. 1t is true that the
Virginia authorities do little to assist
Maryland in preserving the oysters
of the Potomac river, and that the
work of the oyster police boat, when
1t deigns to cruise into that river,
does but little good, but that should
be no reason why great state shoul ]
undertake, in revenge, to drive out
the citizens of another state because
their constituted authorities are
derelict in their duties.
The right of Maryland to the
bottom of the Potomac was admitted,
and all claims thereto surrendered
by Virginia more than hundred
years ago, and in return she received
the right to share equally with Mary
land In all the benefits to be derived
from the free use of the waters. These
matters were settled by the commits
sioners of each state at Mount Yer.
non, and the agreement is known as
the compact of 1885," Among other
things it provides that "the rights of
fishing in said river shall be open to
the equal enjoyment of the citizens of
both states,' etc.
1t Will be claimed, no doubt, that
the "rights of fishing" refer exclu-
sively to such fishes that swim, and
not to any others, and that as oyster.
were not especially mentioned, tha,
they were not regarded as belonging
to the order of fish proper, but went
along with the soil of the bottom as
pertaining to real estate and not tc
the water.
1t would be interesting to learn
the reasoning of the newly arisen
prophet of natural history who draws
the line that sewers the oyster from
his designation as fish and also
what other species are included as
belonging to the non-migratory class.
oysters may not be able to move
around, but they appear to be able
to sink in the fall of the year out of
sight and to reappear late in the
Spring and Summer. ANY oyster
tongman will say that oysters are
more plentiful after a hard freeze
than just before. They appear to
rise up out of the mud. The mana
nose can bury itself in the sand in 8
few minutes, and several species of
mussels travel around on the bottom
by ejecting jet of water from an
orifice in the posterior portion of the
shells. And then there are the crabs
and the HOLSTERS. Are they fish:
If not, what are they?
Those old Virginians who owned
the big plantations along the rivers
may have been a set of fools, but
there isno evidence extant to support
such theory. They may not have
known anything about the troubles
to be caused later by the humble
oyster, but it isa sure thing to bet
your old boots that they were well
acquainted with his edible qualities.
Aud it is equally sure that the right
to take the "luscious bivalve" from
his native habitat was covered by
the "rights of fishing" conferred by
the "Compact of 1885," or else such a
compact would never have received
the sanction of the Legislature. The
old Virginians knew a good thing
when they saw it and the way they
rolled back part of the claims of the
Maryland authorities showed that
they were capable of caring for their
rights.
The possession of privilege for
nearly three hundred years would
seem to confer some rights in the