Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-12-22

the people who have had daily access
To this. so called, mine OF wealth.
should certainly show some signs OF
prosperity II their claims are =, L.,
made coed: but drive up North OF this
city, how many good homes do YOU
find owned by the people who follow
strictly the occupation Of an OYSTER
man. and II Won will turn TO the tax
books, how much return do you find
made for their property?
Now let Us turn to the neighboring
county of Elizabeth City. in which
there is not an acre of public ground
and every oystcrmnn must work for
! the planter. DO we find the labor leav-
ing the county because II cannot live
upon the wages offered Lg the planter?
Most certainly not, for the town of
Hampton has shown steady growth
In population in the class Of labor en-
gagged in the oyster business and the
county pays more taxes for its size
than any county In the state.
think we are justified then In
claiming that both the State and la
lpr are benefited by the planter.
Inst OF all the claim that trusts
would gobblc up all the beds must be
looked into: how have the other
states met this question? They have
not been called upon to meet 1t. for
II has never confronted them. nobody
vet has succeeded In even making n
beginning at il. any more than an at
tempt has ever been made To got all
tho farms of the State under trust
An oyster ground trust is less likely
10 happen. than farm land trust. for
farms are bought and sold in fee sim
pie. while the oyster grounds arc
leased from the state and every twcn-
ty years the holder of lease must
seek renewal from the State. and II
would he II bold trust indeed that
would attempt To corner leases that
expire every twenty years. the fact
is II is an absolute impossiltlity to
create such n trust for that one rea-
son.
| think that ! have shown conclu-
sively that the statements that had
so much influence In passing our oy-
ster laws. were incorrect, ana had no
foundation in fact.
We will now see what the attitude
toward the laws is Of those for whose
benefit and interest the laws we're
enacted. how they have regarded and
are now regarding thcm:-Sincc the
time of the passage of the first Cen
eral law. this State has expended an
nually over twenty thousand dollars
In maintaining police force. whose
duty II has been to prevent the oy-
sherman breaking these very laws,
/ and has only been partly successful.
and today any relaxation of her vigil
lance would instantly result in de-
predatinns made wherever possible {:
nor Is this hard to understand when
we know that n very large number of
loystermen have been trained from
boyhood to believe that cheating the
State was not cheating at all This
Is certainly not n very good school
for training young man. 10 ht him
to be good citizen of this or any
other state, or TO make good man
OF himself. If he wishes to succeed,
aud II does not appear as If these
We're tho people VINO had the inter
est, and future welfare of the lrlsiness
at heart. or the ones to whom the
State could tuin and expect them to
further her interest. What they them
selves think of the business Is best
shown by the number of licenses (of
the class ! referred to before), issued
to them to work on these public
grounds; n steady decrease has been
shown for four years. and while I
have not seen this years report. |
believe it will show an average an
nual shrinkage of ten per cent, which
simply means that the oysterman
STAYS in the business as long as it
suits him, and when 1t does not, he.
having little or nothing at stake. gets
out and seeks other employment
You never hear of those who have
left the work. II is no concern OF
theirs what the State does. Won only
hear from those still engaged in IL,
and the fact that they see nothing
ahead does not prevent them in the
least from claiming that the pre- sent
conditions must not be changed.
I will here quote few lines taken
from the Louisiana Fisheries Report !:
The local oyster fishermen wished
to keep the oyster industry for them
selves, and prevent new labor and
capital from becoming interested
therein. and they therefore dictated
: the laws that have proven themselves
admirably calculated to prevent any
development of the industry"
| II looks very much as If wc need
seek no further for the reasoy for our
present laws
Within distance of ten miles from
this city lie approximately thirty
Thousand acres of public bottoms. from
which you draw practically nothing: n
large portion of this ground is non
productive and the remainder 20 ,siblv
produces one-third of what Ii would
produce under cultivation.
Private culture of the oyster is