PUBLIC DOCUMENT No. 25. 19 



The most difficult laws to enforce satisfactorily belong to the 

 first group. Fishermen and hunters, too often impelled by 

 selfishness, notoriously destroy in order that another may not 

 secure the booty. Many lobster fishermen openly say that 

 when the lobster is gone they will take up some other kind of 

 fishing. Similarly, any regulation to protect the breeding fish, 

 birds or mammals is met with strenuous opposition from men 

 who object to any interference with their own practice or con- 

 venience. Yet there is an ever-growing necessity for intelligent 

 restrictions in fish and game protection. 



The farmer and the fishermen have legitimate rights which 

 the State must recognize. The prosperity of the community 

 rests ultimately upon agriculture; and therefore the birds must 

 be protected in order that the ravages of insects and the 

 noxious weeds may not impose too great a burden upon agri- 

 culture, thus increasing the cost of food production. The wild 

 fox, cat, dog and other animals must not be permitted to de- 

 stroy our birds or poultry. The respective interests of the 

 various members of the community in rabbits and deer, both 

 of which may injure rural property, must be regulated with 

 intelligence and justice. The rights of the farmer to the prod- 

 ucts of his labor must be protected, and, similarly, the rights 

 of the laboring man and of the leisure class to participate in 

 the enjoyment of fishing and hunting, without serious prejudice 

 to the welfare of others, must be recognized. Unfortunately 

 the rights of the State and general public often appear directly 

 opposed to one or more classes of the community, but in such 

 cases the public interest must be paramount. The highest 

 courts have decided that the wild fish, birds and mammals are 

 the property of the State and cannot be converted or reduced 

 to private possession except under such definite regulations as 

 the Legislature of the State may enact. 



Towards the people who are not citizens of the State a mini- 

 mum discrimination must be made in order to secure to tax- 

 paying citizens their just benefits. Such instances are the 

 laws restricting hunting by unnaturalized, foreign-born persons, 

 which even in their present imperfect form have been of much 

 benefit, and the regulation compelling nonresidents to take out 

 hunting licenses. 



