The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-25

me statement made before a legis.
iatiVe committee that II would re-
| uuirc the navy of the United State,
TO guard the public bottoms is like.
wise the opinion of those who know
conditions here. A gasoline dredg.
can run into the survey. rob tho few
oysters that remain. as easily as 4,
swings about the private lands and
steals Tongers invade private bo..
toms and take what they want al
night, Dolstering up their thieyerv nr
re ground that the oysters are picked
from natural rock.
Miserable Existcncc.
But even at best the tongcrs ca,
DO no more than eke out a ,niser
able existence. When the season =,
good, they go out in sail and easo.
. INC poats. return at night. and sell
| their product for a pittance. Their
financial success is pictured on ma
shores-where shacks stud the waite.
front. God knows how they live. whip
ped out by the cold and the hard life
on the water, they are thin and hun
gry-lookinS. The women are hollow
eyed and PALE. The children are poor
~ clad, unkempt. White or black. tho
story is me same. The poverty which
has stricken them Is rapidly reachinp
out to seize the planters and packers,
many Of whom have been forced Il,
suspend operations, move away or see,e
other work.
Dealers who depend upon the tong
ers Tor their source of supply realize
/ that the latter are slender reeds. A
sudden cold wave will bring in flood
OF orders. Unless a packer has his
own boats he cannot fill them, and
once he fats the orders never come
again. Connecticut, whose policy Is
far different from that of Virginia.
formerly bought it's bivales from deal
ers here. When Connecticut began
planting it had to face the opinion
that it could not produce a sufficient
quantity to feed its own people. To-
day, however, the State, after plant
Ing millions Of bushels, is sending car
goes to Virginia. from which 1t took
away its first handful of seed. On
Long Island Sound there are hundreds
of cottages, clean and freshly painted.
They are occupied by tongmen who
planted as tl.ey picked.
The Southwest trade, firmly held for
a time by Virginia. is disappearing,
Louisiana having engaged extensively
in the business, and with more than
| it's mede of gain.
Outlook Is Gloomy.
The oyster is not an appetizer for
the wealthy folk. 1t is a wholesome
food product, known as such the world
over. 1t gave lifc and strength to
the early settlers of the Old Dominion,
just as 1t had fed the Indians who
lived here first. The Virginia brands
! are popular, and in much demand.
They are the most famous. but the
trade is being transferred to Mary
land and Connecticut, or lost
Reports printed the other day by an
oyster paper In Chicago. stated that
the season generally had been excep-
tionally fine, but it was not that way
In Underwater or along the Eastern
| Shore.
The full story of conditions heres
abouts cannot be included in ono
newspaper article. ~other chapters will
be as gloomy as are the hopes of the
sion, composed of intelligent and in
dependent members, free from that
little streak of politics Astounding
| hereabouts, and anxious to save a
great industry, can perform mag
nificent public service by compre-
hensive investigation which will re-
veal the truth and show the import
ance OF amended laws by which oyster
culture may take tho place of oyster
piracy.
4. To continue these conditions would
be criminal The demands of the
Constitution are being thrown to tho
winds. To save the industry 1t is
necessary to ignore the ignorant plea
of the tongmen. discard the ranting OF
their friends, and deal with tho issue
as common sense and Justice demand,
After a few years Of planting, Vir-
ginia can recover her fortune and
stand with the first. The poor people
A of the inland are as much entitled Ia
these rocks as tho poor who have
stripped them, clearly, therefore. 1t Is
unjust to tax the inland poor to give
the measly profits to those who have
cleaned out the beds and who have
nothing when the year ends to show
lsfor their labor and suffering.