The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-03-27

ed properly because the commission
possessed honor enough to refuse to
consijer breaking valid contract
', hich 1t had made for the state. The
members of the commission felt that
1T was an insult to their intelligence
and integrity to have anyone insist
on their considering repudiating a
valid and binding agreement.
1t may be true that the commission
ers were not over-courteous in their
attitude toward these disgruntled pa
triots, but they felt that the latter
received far more consideration than
| they deserved, as far more than they
are likely to get If they violate the
injunction order granted by the cir
cult court of Elizabeth City county
restraining all parties from trespass-
ling upon or otherwise interfering with
4 these grounds which have been as
! signed to +. w. Darling and others.
Deep Water Oyster Planting.
AS this industry has now been shown
beyond question 10 be success. the
commission decided unanimously at
! its last meeting to encourage It's de-
velopment in every legitimate way.
and at the same time to protect the
interests of fishermen, clammers and
trot-line and dip-net crabbers. The
| following rules and regulations were
adopted by the commission, giving
the terms upon which the land will
| be leased:
! o.. All persons applying for as
signments before July l.. 1917, whose
applications are accepted, will be
given a lease for twenty years, the
first five years at an annual rental OF
/ twenty-five cents per acre, payable in
advance as In the case, of other as
signments of oyster planting grounds;
the remaining fifteen years to be a
rental to be fixed by the commission,
not to exceed 800 per acre pear year.
After July /, 1917. new terms will be
announced
! (2). No land, especially valuable in
/ the opinion of the commission for
catching clans with tongs. Will be
leased at all.
! f3). All assignments of land with
contain the following restrictions pro-
tecting fishermen, trot-line and dip
net crabbers: 1t is expressly agreed
and understood that the assignment Is
made subject to the right OF all fisher
men to obtain license for fish stands,
j to use the same unmolested as long
as the fishermen pull their stakes at
the close of the fishing season. as is
at present required by the United
States government regulations. 30 as
not to interfere with he dredging Of
the ground by the oystermen. and also
subject to the right OF all persons hav-
/ ing license to catch crabs from the
waters over said grounds with trot-
lines and dip-nets.
/ az. All applications now pending.
| II granted, will be leased at the rate
Of twenty-five cents per acre per year.
(5). All applicants must have the
land they desire surveyed and plated
and Ale with their application a copy
OF the plat so the commission may
know exactly what land Is desired.
/ Fishermen and Crabbers Protected.
It will be readily seen from the
above rules that the fishermen have
absolutely no grounds for complaint.
They will be permitted to fish their
pounds just as II the land had never
been assigned. The commission takes
the view that a few pounds on the
ground do not injure the oyster plant
ing, and the planting Ct the ground in
oysters does not interfere with the
fishermen. Indeed, IL Is believed II
will be a benefit to the fishermen to
have the ground planted in oysters.
as the oyster beds furnish feeding
grounds for the fish. II both the fish
Ierman and the FISHERMAN possess any
OF that spirit OF live and let live"
they will both be satisfied with these
rules
Crabbers who catch crabs with trot-
lines and dip-nets are absolutely pro-
ttEteQ 10y tile GDCfe EuIes, just HS arc
the fishermen. There Ia no reason
why the same land should not be used
for both purposes. The trot-line crab
bers will be benefited by the oyster
planting. as the crabs viii congregate
on these beds to get food, especially
on newly planted beds, The only
workers who will be restricted by
the leasing OF this land will be those
engaged in dredging crabs in the win
when a
mating OF course. we could not permit
oyster ground to be dredged for crabs.
No person would lease ground for
oyster plantng If such thing were
permitted. OF course. the crab
dredger will still be at liberty to con-
ttnue to dredge on unassigned land In
the bay until the legislature prohibits
this method OF taking crabs. Doubt
less, 1t will be prohibited at the next
session of the legislature. 1t ought to
have been stopped years ago. Our
reasons for these statements will be
fully given In another paper. II this
method of taking crabs Is stopped, we
believe It will be but a short time be-
fore our rivers and bays are again
plentifully supplied with crabs. We,
therefore, believe that In assigning
this ground we are conserving and
protecting the grabbing industry.
Benefits From Deep Water Planting.
The benefits to accrue from the de-
velopment of this deep water planting
industry are many and of great mag
nitude. both to the rkers OF Tide
water Virginia and to the state at
large. The development Of this indus
try will bring millions Of dollars into
the state annually, in return for the
oyster crops which will be produced
to markets, and to the employees in
on this land that Is now barren. Much
of this money will go to the laboring
man who catches seed oysters from
our natural rocks. to the boatmen who
transport the seed to the deep water
beds. to the men who dredge the ma
ture oysters from the beds and trans
port them to the shucking houses and
the shocking houses.
To illustrate the amount Of money
which will go to the labortng man
from the development of this indus
try. we will cite what has been spent
in the experiment conducted by Mr..
Darling and his associates Tn y1e-