COUNTRY LIFE
A CERTAIN leadership in the campaign, which becomes more vigorous, against the pollution,of our rivers, is being given by the British Society of Field Sports. It is wise and welcome leadership ; but in some quarters, especially urban and perhaps political quarters, it seems to be held that the protests chiefly concern the interest of wealthy fishermen, especially where it is a question of salmon rivers. There is no sense or justice in this view. The duty of keeping our rivers pure is a national duty. The conversion of a river into a drain is a slur on the community, and the poisoning of the waters is a public danger. Some localities, for example, have been forced to prohibit the use of shellfish in polluted estuaries. In one district stock have been poisoned. Even where salmon-fishing—un- doubtedly a rich man's sport—is enjoyed, the number of fish taken by the rod is not one per cent. of the fish netted for the market. For example, it is recorded that 129,000 salmon were netted at one time in the mouth of the Tyne. The fishermen certainly did not take as many. as 3,000. We all want to see our rivers alive and full of life. Many of them are dead, for no other reason than the idle refusal of municipalities and factories to purify the sewage and effluents, or dispose of them by special drains. It is the silliest of political prejudices to be afraid of benefiting fishermen.
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