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generation, and the commissioners and wardens were, 

 by virtue of their oaths of office, supposed to enforce it. 

 I might call attention to other laws equally ridiculous 

 which you will find on the statute books of some of the 

 states, but I trust that there is no need of ni}^ citing any 

 others for the purpose of explaining my meaning. A 

 law in order to be properly enforced must be respected; 

 it must be free from those absurdities which frequently 

 serve as a justification on the part of the general pub- 

 lic for a continued violation of a great many of our 

 laws. The public is very quick to perceive the motive 

 of a law, and if this motive does not command respect 

 you cannot hope that the law will do so. If a law is 

 passed for the benefit of a certain individual, or a class 

 of individuals, or if its enactment is dictated by poli- 

 tics, it at once becomes inoperative to a certain degree, 

 and, what is worse, the odium attaching^to one law is 

 apt to taint all others. Friends of proper fish and 

 game legislation ma}^ camp out in ihe corridors of our 

 state Capitols, within easy gunshot of the Senate, the 

 House of Assembly, and the Executive Chamber, but 

 in spite of all their watchfulness some obnoxious 

 features are almost sure to creep into laws pertaining 

 to fish and game. Eternal vigilance may be the price 

 of liberty, but you cannot obtain consistent fish and 

 game laws at the same bargain. 



The next evil concerning which I desire to say a 

 few words is the direct result of the foregoing. Incon- 

 sistent legislation conveys the idea to the mind of the 

 casual observer that fish and game laws are passed for 

 the benefit of a very few, and to the injur}^ of the 

 masses. Thus, in New Jersey a great deal of fault is 

 found with the laws governing the taking of fish by 

 the use of nets in the inland tide waters. These laws 

 are more numerous even than the bodies of water to 

 which they apply, for some of the creeks have different 

 laws every few miles, and what is lawful on the north 



