Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-01-23
OTHER STATES MAY
FIGHT FISH TRUST
Continued from First Page.)

telephone to New York and ask the
wholesale dealer what they will give
for their catch, and no matter how
many dealers are consulted they all
give the same figures, which have
been agreed upon at a previous hour
Il the net owner doesn't accept these
figures he finds the entire catch of
fish on his hands, and what is he to
do with them? The easiest way out
OF the difficulty is to throw them
overheard into the sea or to turn
them over to the farmers for fer
tilizer.
When a statement of these facts
was sent to an official of ttsburgh
he wrote back and asked if it were
not possible for the Federal govern
ment to establish freezers along the
coast where the fisheries are located
and act as a clearing house for every
State, so that the dealers could pur-
chase direct and not have to deal
with a middleman or set of men. He
states that the cry for government
control could well be applied to
migratory fish and that no person
could be found who would object to
the plan excepting possibly the fish
trust, who might through it's agents
seek to defeat any attempt on the
part of Congress to pass requisite
legislation. While the idea is not
new it tells the story of the high
cost of living all over again, a mat
ter which the officials of the United
States Government are trying to rem
edy by reducing the tariff on foreign
products, while at the same time they
are passing up an opportunity to
cheaper the cost of living by making
it possible for the people to pur-
chase food fish, which does not cost
a penny to feed and which can be
gathered and made ready for the peo-
pie at penny a pound By such
an arrangement the pound net fisher
men of New Jersey would find Uncle
Sam their only customer, and if he
was the only one in the business he
could find customers for the catch
in all parts of the country.
Government Can Reduce Cost.
By careful Investigate on of all ele-
ments of the fish business The Star
is ready to prove that Uncle Sam
could handle the fish from the nets,
give the fishermen a fair profit and
resell the fish to retail dealers at a
cost of not more than four cents a
pound, which would carry with it the
cost of supervision necessary to see
that the people received the benefits
from the arrangement. There is no
doubt in the minds of the authorities
that this arrangement can be car
ried out. A similar plan is to be
tried in regard to the rendering into
fertilizer of shark, dogflsh and other
fish of non edible varieties. The prop
osition is to have the United States
government operate the plants and
pay a premium for the fish that can
be made into fertilizer.
The claim is made that if the gov
eminent can do this, it can take
charge of the food fish and sell it
TO the people. There seems to be no
thought among the people with whom
the matter has been discussed that
the government should become a fish
peddler, but no harm can be found
in 1t controlling the food fish through
series of storage plants for the
excess catch and controlling stations
for the disposition of the fish. Large
cities in the country have broken up
food monopolies. The breaking of the
potato trust in Cleveland was an
example. The mayor of that city
knocked out an illicit combination in
a week and it never recovered Not
only that, but others took warning