An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY " collection of insects, plants, aud flowers for scientific " purposes. " (c) The prevention of landing or trespassing on the " banks or shores of any broad or river other than at public " staithes, or with the consent of the adjoining owners, but " this is not to prevent the landing on any spot not being " the curtilage of any house for the pnrpose of mooring and " remaining moored for two tides as heretofore. " (d) The prevention of all nuisances on such broads and " rivers such as the destruction of plants and flowers (except "for scientific purposes), and of the user of all ruusical " instruments thereon. " (e) The granting of licences to collect insects, plants, " and flowers to such persons only as shall satisfy the "authorities that they are already or intend to become "students of natural history, for which licences no charge "shall be made. " (/) The establishment of a close time for fishing 011 " all broads during spawning time. " (g) The provision of-one public staithe in each parish " abutting on any such river or broad, and for the making " and maintaining a public footway therefrom to the nearest "public highway. " And your petitioners will ever pray, &c." This petition which was very numerously signed by members of many :fishing clubs and others, and was sup– ported by the Corporations of Norwich and Yarmouth, and was presented by Mr. G. H. Roberts, M.P. for Norwich, but on his asking a question in the House as to it, the question was at once shelved by Mr. Asquith, on the pretext that the Commission asked for would be premature pending an enquiry into an application of the River Conservat0rs for an order under the Fresh Water Fisheries Act of 1907, and the matter has been allowed to drop. I need hardly say that the Conservators application only affected the fringe of the subject, but any excuse to shelve an inconvenient subject will serve. It is a pity that the points raised by the Petition were not fairly met. for its requirements are the very least which the public will accept after the War, when class privileges and unnecessary game preserving will meet with different measures than would have then satisfied the public require– ments. To imagine that unnecessary game preserving, involving the waste of labour which will be wanted for more public purposes and irritating the public by the practical closing of rivers will be allowed after the War is inconceivable. Even law abiding Conservatives ,v<mld