150 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
and to-day there are probably not far 
from five millions who are interested in 
the pursuit of game! 
The enormous number of men in a 
single State who hunt appears from a 
statement of the Secretary of the Game 
Commission of Pennsylvania, who says 
that “during the season of 1913 there 
were 305,028 resident hunter’s licenses 
issued in this State. During the season 
of 1914, from reports at hand, there were 
fully as many licenses issued. 
“When we consider that the landowner 
with his tenants and their families may 
hunt under the provisions of law without 
paying this license, and add to this those 
who hunt in violation of law, we are led 
to believe that fully 100,000 more men 
hunted in this State during each of these 
seasons than were licensed, making all 
together an army of more than 400,000 
men, who, for a certain period and for 
good reason, are permitted to destroy 
game that in the aggregate amounts to 
millions of pieces and thousands of tons 
in weight.” 
Large as the figures seem, and they are 
the largest for any State in the Union, it 
should be remembered that they repre- 
sent but 5 per cent of the total population 
of Pennsylvania, while in the Northwest, 
notably in Idaho and Montana, more than 
10 per cent of all the people are licensed 
hunters. 
What this army of five million hunters 
means to the large and small game of 
America can better be imagined than de- 
scribed! Modern guns and ammunition 
are of the very best, and they are sold at 
prices so low as to be within the reach 
of all. Added to these very efficient 
weapons for killing small game, are in- 
numerable devices for killing waterfowl, 
as sneak-boats, punt-guns, swivel-guns, 
sail-boats, steam-launches, night floating, 
night lighting, and others. 
W hile it is true that most of these de- 
vices are illegal, they are nevertheless in 
use at the present time, and in out-of- 
the-way places offenders are difficult of 
detection, especially as they are often 
intrenched behind local sentiment, which 
countenances and even encourages the 
practice because “it brings money into 
the county.” To the above devices for 
the destruction of game must be added 
the automobile, and it may be doubted if 
any other modern invention is so potent 
for harm. It is possible for a party of 
three or four in a speedy machine to hunt 
over territory in a single morning that 
formerly would have required a week or 
more. 
MONEY VALUE OF GAME BIRDS 
Passing by for the moment all esthetic 
considerations, the money value of the 
vast number ot game birds that breed 
within the several States or visit them in 
migration 1s so great as alone to entitle 
the birds to careful protection. This 
point of view is being taken by several 
States Thus Oregon values her game 
resources, which consist in no small part 
of game birds, at five millions of dollars 
annually, while Maine and California re- 
spectively claim their game to be worth 
twenty millions annually. 
To permit the extermination of any 
part of this valuable food asset, valuable 
alike to State and Nation, by continuing 
the wasteful methods of the past is an 
economic crime against present and fu- 
ture generations. And here it is impor- 
tant to point out that while the majority 
of our ducks, geese, and swans breed 
outside our jurisdiction they winter 
within our own borders. Failure ade- 
quately to protect them, therefore, in 
their winter quarters means their ulti- 
mate extinction 
SALE OF GAME BIRDS 
Intimately connected with the problem 
of conserving our wild game is the kill- 
ing of game for market. Many of those 
who have studied the subject earnestly 
do not hesitate to express the conviction 
that under the conditions now prevailing 
in the United States the conservation of 
our ducks. geese, and shorebirds is im- 
possible it their sale in open market con- 
tinues. 
In considering the present effect of the 
sale of wild game, it must not be forgot- 
ten that the demand for game in the 
United States has enormously increased 
in the last decade. Even with our pres- 
ent population the market demand is in- 
finitely greater than the supply, and all 
