98 



Bird- Lore 



A Letter from Governor Roosevelt 



The following letter from Governor 

 Roosevelt was read at the annual meet- 

 ing of the New York State Audubon So- 

 ciety, held June 2, 1900, at the American 

 Museum of Natural History : 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman, 



Chairman Executive Committee. 



Jl/y dear Mr. Chapman : 



* * * It was the greatest pleasure 

 to sign the Hallock bill. Let me take 

 this chance of writing a word to you in 

 behalf of the work of your Society. It 

 would be hard to overestimate the im- 

 portance of its educational effects. Half, 

 and more than half, the beauty of the 

 woods and fields is gone when they lose 

 the harmless wild things, while if we 

 could only ever get our people to the 

 point of taking a universal and thor- 

 oughly intelligent interest in the preser- 

 vation of game birds and fish, the result 

 would be an important addition to our 

 food supply. Ultimately, people are sure 

 to realize that to kill off all game birds 

 and net out all fish streams is not much 

 more sensible than it would be to kill off 

 all our milch cows and brood mares. As 

 for the birds that are the special object 

 of the preservation of your Society, we 

 should keep them just as we keep trees. 

 They add immeasurably to the wholesome 

 beauty of life. Faithfully yours, 



(Signed) Theodore Roosevelt. 



An Agreement* 



Entered into between the members of The Mil- 

 linery Merchants' Protective Association and 

 others, regarding the importation, manufac- 

 ture and sale of North American birds. Made 

 Saturday, April 21, 1900. 



The undersigned importers, manufac- 

 turers and dealers in raw and made fancy 

 feathers do hereby pledge themselves not 

 to kill or buy any more North American 

 birds from hunters or such people who 

 make it a business to destroy North Ameri- 

 can birds. However, we shall continue to 

 manufacture, sell and dispose of all such 

 North American birds and their plumage, 

 as we now have in our stocks and ware- 



*See Editorial, page 93. 



houses, and shall so continue until Congress 

 shall make such laws which shall protect 

 all North American birds, and which laws 

 shall be approved by the Audubon Society 

 and the Ornithological Union, and also do 

 justice to the trade. This does not refer 

 to plumage or skins of barnyard fowl, 

 edible birds or game birds killed in their 

 season, nor to the birds or plumage of 

 foreign countries 7iot of the species of 

 North American birds. Furthermore, it 

 shall be our solemn duty not to assist any 

 dealer or person to dispose of any of their 

 North American birds, if same have been 

 killed after this date. 



Any member of this organization violat- 

 ing this pledge, upon conviction shall be 

 fined the sum of $500 for each offense. 

 However, as there are several dealers who 

 are not members of this organization and 

 over whom we may not have any influence ; 

 therefore, should we find that these dealers 

 are selling, killing or buying North Ameri- 

 can birds, we shall do all in our power to 

 have them brought under the penalties of 

 the various laws already existing. 



In return for this pledge, we expect the 

 Audubon Society and the Ornithological 

 Union to pledge themselves to do all in 

 their power to prevent laws being enacted 

 in Congress, or in any of the States, which 

 shall interfere with the manufacturing or 

 selling of plumage or skins from barn- 

 yard fowl, edible birds and game birds 

 killed in their season, and all birds which 

 are not North American birds. 



Resolved, That the Secretary be in- 

 structed to transmit a copy of this agree- 

 ment to Messrs Frank M. Chapman, of 

 the Museum of Natural History ; William 

 Dutcher, of the New York Ornithological 

 Union, and Witmer Stone, Chairman of 

 the Executive Committee of the Ornitho- 

 logical Union, advising them of the action 

 of the Association and asking their co- 

 operation in carrying out the same. 



Signed : Thomas H. Wood & Co., 

 L. Henry & Co., Alfred L. Simon 

 & Co., George Silva & Co , Wurz- 

 burger & Hecht, A. M. Levy, Max 

 Herman & Co., Jos Rosenthal & 

 Son, Blumenthal & Stiner, Lowen- 

 fels & Heilbroner, Philip Adelson & 

 Bro. , H. Hofheimer & Co., David 

 Spero, George Legg, Zucker & 

 Josephy, and many others. 



