Bird Notes and News 



53 



The Plumage Trade. 



DEPUTATION TO THE PEESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. 



The importation of feathers into the United 

 Kingdom was prohibited by order of the Board 

 of Trade on February 23rd, 1917, after repeated 

 protests and aj)peals from the Royal Society 

 for the Protection of Birds against the con- 

 tinuance of such imports at a time when no 

 tonnage could with sense or justice be sjjared 

 for the carriage of useless luxuries. 



In order to urge the desirability of con- 

 tinuing this prohibition in respect of all plumage 

 of wild birds, a deputation from the Society 

 interviewed Sir Auckland Geddes, K.C.B., 

 President of the Board of Trade, on July 25th, 

 1919. The deputation was introduced by 

 Major-General Page Croft, M.P. (Member of 

 the Council), and included also the Duchess 

 of Portland (President), Mr. Montagu Sharpe 

 (Chairman), Mr. Frank E. Lemon (Hon. 

 Secretary), Mr. Meade- Waldo (Chairman, 

 V/atchers' Committee), Mrs. F. E. Lemon 

 (Hon. Secretary, Watchers' Committee), and 

 Miss L. Gardiner (Secretary). 



Sir Auckland Geddes was accompanied 

 by Mr. W. C. Bridgeman, M.P. (ParUamentary 

 Secretary), Mr. H. Fountain, C.B. (Commerce 

 and Industry Dept.), and Mr. E. R. Eddison 

 (Private Secretary). Unfortunately only a 

 very short time could be given by the President, 

 as the coal crisis was then at its height, and 

 his presence at a meeting of miners urgent. 



General Page Croft, in explaining the exact 

 ])osition of affaii's, observed that the House 

 of Commons had shown itself overwhelmingly 

 in favour of the principle of prohibition. There 

 was no need to labour that point, as it had 

 been abundantly proved. The Bill, which 

 he himself introduced in 1913, was, as a matter 

 of fact, taken over by the Government and 

 steered in the House of Commons by Mr. 

 Hobhouse. The second reading was carried 

 by 297 votes to 15 ; it passed the Committee 

 stage, but just as the Report stage was entered 

 the war broke out and everything collapsed. 

 The importation of feathers was now prohibited, 

 but the Society feared that the trade, which 

 they considered a pernicious one, might be 

 built up again under the supposition that 

 nothing permanent was going to be done to 

 stop it. They therefore urged most strongly 



that the President vv^ould give an undertaking 

 that these feathers should be kept on the 

 list of prohibited imports until there was a 

 chance of legislation being again introduced. 

 He hoped the Government would introduce it, 

 but if not every efiort would be made to do so 

 early next year by means of a Private Member's 

 Bill. There was a very real national reason for 

 such action apart from the views of the Society ; 

 it was almost criminal in the present state of 

 the finances of this country to import inessential 

 luxuries and encourage extravagant expenditure. 

 The objection did not apply to ostrich feathers, 

 as ostrich farming was an imperial industry. 

 [Sir Auckland Geddes : The restrictions are o£E 

 ostrich feathers now.] India and other British 

 Dominions, as well as the United States of 

 America, had obtained legislation on the subject, 

 and much of that legislation was rendered 

 ineffective by want of co-operation at tliis end. 



Mr. Lemon emphasised the argument with 

 regard to the British Colonies. Nearly all 

 the British Dominions, Colonies and Protec- 

 torates had laws prohibiting export of plumage 

 of their wild birds. Lord Harcoiu-t, just before 

 finishing his work at the Colonial Ofhcc, was 

 dealing with every Colony, and the position 

 unvaryingly and inevitably was that to make 

 Ijrohibition of export effectual they must have 

 the stronger power of prohibition of import. 

 The Dutch Colonies, again, had said : You 

 have it all in your own hands ; prohibit import 

 and all you want will be obtained. The 

 humanitarian point of viev/, relating to the 

 destruction of birds in the breeding season, 

 and the economic point, dealing with the value 

 of the birds as pest-desti'oyers, were also 

 powerful factors in the matter. With regard 

 to the question of industry, the letter of Sir 

 Charles Hobhouse in the Observer had fairly 

 answered that point. The Society were anxious 

 not only that legislation should be continued, 

 but that it should be effective; cases had 

 been before them in which it appeared that 

 the feathers had come over and were sold, 

 yet a report of the facts to the Board of Trade 

 had not resulted in any action. 



Mr. Sharpe handed in a Slemorial signed by 

 eminent and representative men, begging 



