FOREST PROTECTION AND ITS EFFECT ON 

 FISH AND GAME LIFE 



By HoNORE Mercier 



Minister of Lands and Forests, Quebec, Canada 



My first words must be those of gratitude. On m|y 

 own behalf and on behalf of all your guests from the 

 Province of Quebec I tender you sincere and hearty 

 thanks for your warm welcome and generous entertain- 

 ment of us on behalf of the Department of Marine and 

 Fisheries of the Dominion of Canada, Coupled with this 

 feeling of gratitude I am bound to admit that there rankles 

 in my heart a certain amount of jealousy. To be frank, 

 we in Quebec are envious of Ottawa for having secured 

 the privilege which we feel that we should have had of 

 welcoming you all in the Old instead of the New capital 

 of Canada. I feel that we have a grudge against my 

 good friend, Professor Prince, for stealing a march on us 

 by going down last year to Louisville and securing for 

 Ottawa the first Canadian visit of the American Fisheries 

 Society and the International Association of Game, Fish 

 and Conservation Commissioners. Had we in Quebec 

 known that Canada could have had these conventions in 

 September, 1920, and that my friend. Professor Prince, 

 was going to Louisville to secure this privilege for Ottawa, 

 I can assure you all that he would have had a hard fight 

 indeed to prevent the delegation that we would have sent 

 to Louisville from storming the convention there. There 

 is only one way for Professor Prince to obtain absolution, 

 and that is to undertake to work as hard for Quebec as 

 the scene of these conventions as he did for Ottawa, just 

 as soon as the two societies are willing to once more 

 favor Canada with their most welcome visits. I under- 

 stand that it is practically decided that the next meeting 



