Bird Notes and News 



103 



humanitarians, and patriots who are strug- 

 gling for a law to protect the birds. 



" The first group, struggling against the 

 birds, against nature, against humanity, 

 against the people, are a few Jewish trades- 

 men and their hired Jewish la\\'3^ers. 



" The other group who form a voluntary 

 avant-guard of the people, have no personal 

 interest or designs or motives. 



" And we, from the ' Warheit,' as citizens 

 of America and children of the Jewish race, 

 again declare and protest that tlie Jewish 

 people is heart and soul in this stniggle, 

 not with the Je^^-ish tradesmen and im- 

 porters, but against them, and with the men 

 and for the men who are struggling to 

 preserve and perpetuate the birds of the 

 woods everywhere and forever." 



The fight for the Plumage clause in the 

 United States Tariff Bill has been on much 

 the same lines as the fight for the Plumage 

 Bill in Great Britain. The trade have put 

 forward the same arguments and worked 

 on much the same plan. A letter addressed 

 by their la\^^ers, Messrs. Leaventritt, Cook, 

 and Nathan, to Dr. Hornaday of the New 

 York Zoological Society, might indeed have 

 been the production of the " Committee for 

 the Economic Preservation of Birds." " The 

 reputable interests that we have the honour 

 to represent," blandly uTote these legal 

 luminaries, " are prepared to join in any 

 movement that will protect birds of song 

 or birds of beautiful plumage, or any species 

 of wild-life whatever that has its proper place 

 in the economy of nature " ! This from 

 the trade responsible for the slaughter of 

 millions of birds in the States — ^Egrets, 

 Herons, Grebes, Terns, Spoonbills, Water- 

 fowl — must have entertained Dr. Hornaday. 

 The species of wild-life required by the 

 " reputable trade " have presumably their 

 proper place only in the economy of the 

 trade pocket ; and the zoologists of the 



United States showed no interest in 

 " Economic " bird-protection. 



Two extracts from the debate in the 



Senate on the Plumage clause (August 16, 



1913) express in plain language the opinions 



of our American cousins. The first is from 



the comprehensive and powerful speech in 



which Senator McLean supported the clause. 



" The trade now suggests that a com- 

 mission be appointed to take this whole 

 matter into consideration in order that 

 some wise compromise and concert of 

 action may be reached. For 30 years this 

 shameful and cruel traffic has perpetuated 

 itself by fraud and subterfuge and crime 

 in the guise of compromise, always asking 

 for more time, always keeping its neck out 

 of the halter by playing the caprice and greed 

 of one nation against the caprice and greed 

 of other nations, always protesting its 

 innocence and always found guilty when 

 tried. It always asks for more time — it has 

 already had too much time." 



The second comment is made by one of 



the opponents of Senator McLean and of 



the clause. He argued that Herons were 



ungainly bu'ds which serve no useful purpose 



except by providing aigrette plumes ; but 



as to trade deceptions, he added — 



"It is hardly worth while to take the 

 time of the Senate to demonstrate that 

 the man milliner has very little regard for 

 truth and veracity. I think that might 

 be conceded." 



In England the plume-dealers are working 

 the word " compromise " for all it is worth, 

 and under its guise are asking, by the mouth 

 of the " Economic " Committee, for con- 

 fidence in the trade and for liberty to 

 perpetuate all that for which it stands con- 

 demned in the States. But requests for 

 "confidence" are somewhat notorious, and 

 the end will be gained, as in the States, not 

 by compromising with evil, but by straight 

 legislative veto upon it. 



