The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-02
these days ofsErcat etnployihE corpora
tlot,s, are nothing but facts. But they
IRE Overwhelming.
Our Oyster Revenues.

i h. ~ : 3 & 81
,rhe oyster arrived yesterday, after MS
tisunl four months vacation we believe
1t Is customary 10 make q, remark ahent
the opening OF the oyster season ttat
Tho blvalvo IS. agaln I'll, our midst but
va forbear, though making no promises
for next year. s,t
Tho oyster Is n much moro important
individual in Virginia than no was twen-
ty-fivc years ago Then 1t was easy 10
find d man a hundred miles from Tide
water who had never experienced the
but altogether delightful.
sensation or having one Of these royal
lenizens OF the deep slide down his
throat to lthe accompaniment of lemon
md horse.radish. So far as the NOUN
tnineers OF Virginia we're concerned
oysters grew chiefly In cans. But the
development Of the oyster Industry In
Virginia has, kept pace with the building
OF railways, and oysters are now staple
delicacics in every section Of the coun-
try, thanks to quick TRANSFORMATION fa-
cilitlcs and the development of methods
Of refrigeration.
Twenty years ago seventy per cent or
the oysters taken from Chesapeake BAY
came from Maryland waters. Tho other
thirty per cent. were taken from inc
oyster beds of Virginia. This ratio & IS
now nearly exactly reversed. Last asst sea-
son about seventy per cent, Of the Chesa-
reake ,oysters came from Virginia waters
and only about thirty per cent. from
MARYLAND waters Virginia, has been ope-
rating for years under q protected plant
Inc system. Maryland has never en-
Moved this sys TEN. It's value, it would
seem, has been clearly established.
Less than ten years ago the Virginia
oyster beds cost the State more In money
snent for their protection than was ie-
celved from them in the form Of revenue.
Acting on the recommendation OF Gover-5
NOR Tyler, whose administration was
most prolific Of ways and means OF I'M
proving the financial condition OF Vlf-
rin,n, tho Legislature of 1s97-'9S passed
the Le Cato bill. creating n state board
of fisheries, to have charge of all the
oyster beds OF Virginia. The first annual
report Of the operations Of this board
showed tho deficit wiped out and sew
cral5 thousands of dollars IN revenue
from oysters placed On the credit side
of tho ledger. This has been the story
for every year since the erection Of the
board.
The oyster, question will come IN a.
tho session of the General Assembly this
winter. It comes UP every year. IN some
form or other. There is always com
plant from, the up.country members TINT
the oyter beds do not yield II fair share
of revenue The oystermen say they ere
oyertaxed. The oyster agitation at the
| last session took the form Ct bill nu-
thorizing the breaking OF the Baylor
survey and the sale or lease OF certain
of tho States oyster beds. It. |Siltd OF
passage Without entering into g dis
cussion Of the subject In his place,
the legislators should proceed cautiously
and with extreme care in dealing witt,
this oyster question. We are doing
pretty WE'LL much better Than we were
doing ten years ago. There arc y dozer
proverbs which might be quoted to illus
trate the wisdom of exercising care and
caution, going slowly In the, matter Of
oyster legislation.