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INTERNATIONAL FISHERY MATTERS.

It is a cause for congratulation that the long-standing dispute over the fisheries on the so-called treaty coasts of Canada and Newfoundland was submitted to settlement by arbitration, and that a decision has been rendered which will prevent future difficulty. By the terms of an agreement signed at Washington on January 27, 1909, by representatives of the British and American Governments, it was agreed to submit to the permanent court of arbitration at The Hague the principal questions that have arisen in connection with the interpretation of the treaty of 1818. The award, which was practically unanimous, was announced on September 7, 1910. A conference was subsequently held in Washington under the auspices of the Department of State for the purpose of giving effect to certain features of the award.

At the request of the Department of State, this Department again detailed a representative of the Bureau of Fisheries to visit Newfoundland for the purpose of observing the operations of American vessels engaged in the herring fishery on the west coast of the colony. In May, 1911, there met in Washington an international conference for the purpose of concluding a treaty for the prevention of pelagic sealing in the North Pacific Ocean. The conference was held under the auspices of the Department of State and was participated in by all of the nations having sealing interests-that is, the United States, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor was one of the two delegates of the United States. The treaty was signed July 7, 1911, and ratified by the Senate July 24. By the terms of the treaty, which became effective on December 15, 1911, all pelagic sealing by citizens or subjects of the signatory powers will be prohibited for a period of 15 years, and a special article accords similar protection to the sea otter in the extraterritorial waters of the North Pacific Ocean, leaving to the respective nations the right to regulate land killing of fur seals and the hunting of sea otters in territorial limits.

The Fifth International Fishery Congress convened at Rome, Italy, in May, 1911, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the unification of Italy. The Department was officially represented at the congress by an assistant of the Bureau of Fisheries.

In previous reports reference has been made to the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, signed April 11, 1908, which provided for the appointment of two international fisheries commissioners, with power to draw up a set of uniform and common regulations for the protection and preservation of the food fishes in the boundary waters between the United States and Canada.

After very comprehensive and thorough field investigations by the commissioners, assisted by the Bureau of Fisheries, and covering

every fishery and practically every fishing ground from Passamaquoddy Bay to Vancouver Island, the commissioners made their report, which, on February 2, 1910, was transmitted to Congress by the President in order that legislative action necessary for the enforcement of the regulations might be taken, but the matter has not been finally disposed of.

The Department has been officially invited to become a member of' the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, as the representative of the United States Government. This council, organized in 1902, is composed of representatives of most of the nations of western Europe, and has for its special object the prosecution of scientific investigations in the direct interests of the fishing industry. The important fishery problems that are demanding attention in Europe are similar to or indentical with those which have already arisen or are destined to arise on the western shores of the Atlantic; and it will be of great advantage to the United States to be able to participate in and profit directly by the studies conducted by the leading fishery authorities and experts of western Europe. A small, fixed annual appropriation is required to meet the administrative and other expenses of the council, which has its permanent headquarters in Copenhagen, and an estimate covering this amount has been submitted to Congress by the Department of State.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

The Commissioner of Fisheries strongly urges the establishment by Congress of a biological and fishery station on the Pacific coast of the United States, and a station for the study of fish diseases and for general experimental work in fish breeding at some suitable point not remote from Washington. Closely associated with the latter item is a recommendation for the creation of the position of fish pathologist. The necessity for this position is urgent and is becoming more so each year. Efficient administration and proper regard for the interests of both cultivated and wild fishes demand that there be available a qualified assistant who can devote his entire time to the study of fish diseases, hatchery epidemics, and water pollutions.

Among other recommendations of the Commissioner are appropriations for repairing and more adequately equipping the important fisheries laboratory and hatching station at Woods Hole, Mass.; for the construction of two new steel fish-distribution cars to comply with modern traffic requirements; and for a seagoing vessel for use in connection with the marine hatchery in Maine.

It is recommended also that all subordinate positions in the Bureau be removed from the class of presidential appointments and hereafter be filled by the Secretary.

BUREAU OF LIGHTHOUSES.

REORGANIZATION OF LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE.

During the fiscal year 1911 much progress was made in the reorganization of the Lighthouse Service under the provisions of the act of Congress approved June 17, 1910, providing for a more direct administration of that Service by the establishment of a simple bureau form of organization.

The four officers provided for in the act have been appointed by the President. The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner took office on July 1, 1910, and the Chief Constructing Engineer and Superintendent of Naval Construction were appointed later in the year.

The civilian lighthouse inspectors authorized by the reorganization act were not appointed during the fiscal year, for the reason that no appropriation was made for their salaries. Five civilian inspectors have, however, since been appointed, four of these being assigned to duty in the First, Second, Seventh, and Seventeenth districts, respectively, and the fifth to general inspection duty.

Officers of the Navy have been continued on duty as lighthouse inspectors in the remaining coast and lake districts, and officers of the Engineer Corps of the Army have been made inspectors of the three river districts.

Changes in the inspectorships have been made very gradually, as was contemplated in the reorganization act. In general, appointments of civilian inspectors have been made by promotion within the Lighthouse Service.

Officers of the Engineer Corps continue their relation with the Lighthouse Service in the other coast districts, available for consultation as provided by law.

The consolidation of the work in each district under a single lighthouse inspector, instead of under two officers, as heretofore, has resulted in having but a single office and office force in each district and a single system for the use of the lighthouse tenders and all the equipments and supplies of the districts. There has in consequence been a saving in personnel, rents of offices and docks, and particularly in the use of lighthouse tenders. Five of these vessels have been sold or otherwise disposed of during the fiscal year. A large machine shop heretofore maintained in the Second district has been discontinued and this work transferred to the general lighthouse depot. In connection with the consolidation of the district organizations there

have been adopted schedules of the personnel and rates of pay, both in the district offices and in the field construction force. There has also been a revision of the complements of the lighthouse tenders.

The force in the office of the Bureau at Washington has been rearranged to accord with the schedule authorized in the legislative appropriation act for 1912, the principal changes being the placing in statutory positions of members of the engineering force heretofore paid from general appropriations and the discontinuance of five minor positions which were all practically vacant at the end of the fiscal year.

Aids and cadet officers have been appointed, with a view to bringing technically educated young men into the Service and training them for the special work in lighthouse engineering and the duties on lighthouse tenders.

In connection with all the foregoing changes in personnel an effort has been made to avoid hardship to persons who have long been connected with the Lighthouse Service. Where it has been necessary to discontinue positions persons have, so far as their services could be utilized, been offered opportunities for employment elsewhere in the Lighthouse Service, or in other branches of the Government. Where reductions in compensation have become necessary, promotion where merited has been made as opportunity offered.

The number of lighthouse districts has been increased from 16 to 19, the new districts being Alaska, Porto Rico, and the Hawaiian Islands. As to the latter two, this was merely a change in organization, as these had heretofore constituted subdistricts under assistant inspectors. In the case of Alaska, however, the constitution of a separate district makes an important change in the management of aids to navigation in that Territory, and it is believed will greatly increase the efficiency of the work there. A temporary headquarters has been established in the Territory, and two lighthouse tenders are employed there during the season available for active work.

COOPERATION WITH THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE ENGINEER

CORPS.

Arrangement has been made with the Canadian Government as to the division of responsibility for the maintenance of aids to navigation in the lower Detroit River, and that Government has assumed charge of maintaining the aids in those portions of the channel which lie entirely in Canadian waters. These aids have heretofore been maintained by the United States under a contract system. This was not satisfactory, and, besides the economy to this Government, it is believed that the new arrangement will give an improved service on this important river.

Arrangements have been made for cooperation between the Engineer Corps engaged in river and harbor improvements and the Lighthouse Service along several lines, particularly in the matter of furnishing assistance and information, which will be mutually useful, and in the matter of maintaining aids to navigation along the rivers where Engineer officers have been made lighthouse inspectors. In one of these districts the lighthouse tender has been laid up.

BUSINESS METHODS.

A plan has been arranged for a systematic inspection by an inspector from the central office of the Lighthouse Service of the technical work of the lighthouse districts, and for an inspection by an examiner of the business methods, property accounts, and clerical organization in the various districts. The inauguration of these systems of general inspection will, it is believed, materially increase the efficiency and uniformity of the conduct of the work of the Service.

Nearly all of the business methods of the Service have been examined and rearranged during the fiscal year. All printed forms of reports and records have been gone over, and those not considered essential have been eliminated, and additional reports have been called for where required to give necessary information.

A cost-keeping system has been inaugurated throughout the Lighthouse Service, with a view to furnishing classified information as to the purpose for which all funds expended are applied. This system should in the future give correct information as to the cost of maintaining every unit of the Service, with the general subdivisions of those costs-as, for instance, the cost of maintaining each vessel and what part of this cost goes to salaries, supplies, and improvements; and similar information as to important light stations and lighthouse depots. The importance of this in checking and comparing the expenditures in various districts may be realized when it is stated that the Lighthouse Service maintains about 12,000 aids to navigation, has in operation about 110 vessels, maintains about 775 light stations having resident keepers, and employs about 5,500 persons.

A simpler form has been adopted for the employment of members of the field construction and depot forces, so as to permit district officers to employ such persons directly according to the needs of the Service, but under proper civil-service restrictions.

A complete revision has been made of the regulations affecting the Lighthouse Service, and these regulations have been put into operation since the close of the fiscal year. They comprise a compilation, in addition to the regulations proper, of all important laws, decisions, and orders particularly affecting the Lighthouse Service, and they will be a great convenience in the operation of the Service.

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