§ MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland), in asking leave to introduce a Bill to provide for the closing of existing whaling stations during the 1268 summer herring fishing and to prohibit whaling stations being established in the future on any part of the shores of Great Britain and Ireland, said the case which he had the honour to present to the consideration of the Government was of the utmost, importance to the great herring fishing of Scotland, of which Shetland, at certain seasons, was the principal ground. In 1903 things were going well with them. Good fishings and consequent increased commercial prosperity had put life into the people. In the summer of that year two foreign whaling companies, without leave or licence from any public authority, invaded the most beautiful Voe in Shetland and in a short time rendered its waters unfit for life. Herring stations had to be abandoned, and fishermen he afterwards met at Pittenweem assured him that cuts on their hands would not heal, trifling sores became ulcers, owing to the polluted waters. He visited the Voe as soon as possible, and the scene could only be described by a Zola or an Upton Sinclair. Not only that, but for miles down the Voe the mussel bed, were destroyed. At a public meeting he denounced the beastly business, but landlordism, capital, mid cunning were too strong, and no public feeling was aroused. The following year Mr. Graham Murray appointed a Commission to visit Shetland, and the result was presented to the House in the form of a Bill, but outside influence being brought to bear on the Government, no serious attempt was made to pass it, and on the west coast of Shetland the herring fishing had gone from bad to worse, and the industry was in despair. Naturally enough, when people saw ruin staring them in the face they must find someone on whom they might ventilate their indignation, and although he had done everything he possibly could to impress both the present Government and the late Government with the gravity of the situation, he was bitterly blamed by the local Tory Press for not having successfully compelled either of the Governments to adopt his views. His hon. friend the Secretary for Scotland also came in for a considerable share of abuse, and with equal justice he was denounced most vigorously for the carelessness and apathy of his predecessors, who, knowing and admitting the gravity of the situation, did nothing. His hon. friend the Member for South 1269 Tyrone told the House the other day that he proposed introducing a Bill to legalise whaling stations in Ireland, and in view of the disastrous results that had followed in the west coast of Shetland, he wanted to be told what they knew. They knew as facts that since this inhuman work started, the herring fishing on the west coast of Shetland had gone from bad to worse. They knew that the Norwegian fishermen drove the whale killers from their shores, and that the Norwegian fishing had not yet recovered. They knew that the operations polluted the waters for miles round, and destroyed the mussel beds. A petition had been presented to the Secretary for Scotland from the Shetland Herring and White Fishing Association, praying that the Government would, without delay, appoint a Commission of Inquiry to examine and report on the subject. He and other Members representing the fishing industry strongly supported that petition, and he could not imagine any reasonable ground on which it could be refused, and they were presenting a memorial to the Secretary for Scotland praying that he would accede to the request. Many hon. Members from Ireland, departing from their usual custom of not associating themselves with them, had supported the principle of this Bill, and he was grateful for the support. And until the Commission which it was hoped the Secretary for Scotland would at once appoint made its report, he trusted that the Irish Government would stay its hand and refrain from granting any permits for the establishment of these stations. All the circumstances of the case justified the Government in accepting the principle of this Bill, that meantime no further stations would be permitted on the British or Irish coasts, and that the Secretary for Scotland should take power to prohibit the working of such stations as were now erected, during certain seasons of the year.
Question—"That leave be given to introduce a Bill to provide for the closing of existing whaling stations during the summer herring fishing, and to prohibit whaling stations being established in the future on any part of the shores of Great Britain and Ireland,"—put and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Cathcart Wason, Mr. Gwynn, Mr. Leicester Harmsworth, Dr. Ambrose, 1270 Mr. Weir, Mr. O'Malley, Mr. Morton, Mr. Hugh Law, Mr. John Sutherland, and Mr. Ainsworth.