The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-03-21

! F"'"r the Stfs In your Issue al
March G. under double column
caption. you have a communication
from "A party whose name does not
matter, ms tho communication was
never written by the party who
signed IL. but was part of the prop.
uganda put out by the Austrian
allen enemy lobby. which was work.
ing to secure the defeat Of the Fish.
gard purse seines. which have
sought 10 have enacted by the leg
islature In an attempt TO save the
great salmon industry Of this state.
some OF the species OF which have
already been almost totally exter.
minated. while others have been ter.
rlhly depleted.
As the defeat OF the measure has
been accomplished. were the ques.
tion an ordinary one. Il would be
well 20 forget IL as quickly as pos.
siblc. Yet. We must all know that
this question. instead OF dying out.
IL bound 10 grow more acute each
year.
II has been the history of all our
great natural resources that u has
been impossible to arouse public sen.
timcnt Ia the preservation Of the
same until they had either been de
stroyed or 80 depleted they no lon.
ger possessed commercial aspect.
and. Il may be that In the state OF
Washington we shall have 20 wait
until such time as our salmon fish
cry has been depleted to such an ex.
tent that IL no longer possesses a
commercial value before we set
about the work OF conservation and
rehabilitation.
The writer OF the article asks why
IL IL that Austrian allen enemies are
permitted To fish In the waters of
this state. and says that II they are
I am dcrcllct In my duty. He might
have better asked that question OF
the supreme court Of the state OF
Washington, for when I refused TO
issue licenses 20 Austrian alien enc
mics, the supreme court of this state
iscucd a p~rrrnptory writ OF man
dat. requiring me 10 do NO. The
court, In itn opinion. said In sub
stance, that the Austrtnnn were
friendly enemies. Just what
friendly enemy H. never knew un.
tIi beard Il defined the other day
as 'ono who hits you with soft
club
Wanted Truth Ignored
The writer OF this letter OF course
knew this. bat as the letter was
written in an attempt To infiuenc"
the legislature. no attempt was
made AZ writing the truth. In fact
the last thing the lobbyists. working
at Olympia TO defeat the measure.
wanted was for tho members OF the
legislature 90 know the truth.
Tn. writer then goes into the
history Of years ago TO tel ahou'
the destruction Of salmon by frh
trap.. lie failed. however. TO men
,,on tho fact that at that time ne
wra. no, raising hin voice In protest
while I was il~nding every end"nsor'
thru the medium Of the papers
which / managed. 10 prevent TINS
aeatruc,ion OF fish. lie did not ten
Won that because 81 my opposition
/ a. their methods the bix fish inter
eats associated themselves with
other big interests 10 purchase the
tap.rn which was managing IN
order To deprive me 81 the oppor'
,,,nitv 20 ~ffeciualiy combat them.
ON the contrary. he proclaifns the
80. that up uussi about a year AFRO
ne Was an rmploye Of some OF the
biz fishing companies
The communication attempts TO
make II appear ~ tho the proposed
Fisheries code stopped the troiier
from fishing and did not interfere
with the fish traps This statement
IL mailciouEly false. For the first
time In IN. history 81 the state OF
I Washington IL wis proposed BY a
fIah commissioner Of this state tina,
no more fish trap licenses be issued
than were already I'm existence. and
I the Same proposal was made as re
CARDS purse seineS. which have
Iarrsly come into use within the
last six or seven years. and which
have proven an even more efficient
taker OF fish than the fish trap. as
they are able to move from place "a
place. TO fish in any depth Of water.
and TO follow the schools OF salmon
until the last fish Is caught on the
other hand. absolutely no Limitation
was placed on the number Of
licenses which might he issued for
any other kinds OF fishing appli
ances.
silver Salmon Weights
An investigation by Professors
Kincaid and Smith. Of the Univer.
( sity Of Washington. has revealed the
/ fact that silver salmon in particu
lar. and other varieties 10 n more or
less extent. attain by far their larg'
/ est growth in the last five or six
months Of their life. a proposal was
made that fishing off Cape Fiattery
I the feeding grounds OF silver and
Chinook salmon. be not started until
I August /. This law was to become
effective only In case British Colusn.
bia enacted similar provision.
A. regards silver salmon. Profes-
sors Kincaid and Smith told the
legislative committee that In March
and April they only weighed from
az TO pounds. while on June IA
they weighed ~ pounds. and on
August II weighed sA pounds for