American Fisheries Society. 133 



CONCERNING FISH LAWS IN ILLINOIS. 



Urbana, 111., June 28, 1901. 

 S. Bower, Esq., 



Secretary American Fisheries Society, 



Detroit, Mich. 



My Dear Sir: Replying to your esteemed favor of the 19th 

 inst., requesting me to prepare a paper for the coming meeting, I 

 beg to express my sincere regret that circumstances render it 

 impossible for me to comply. Just at this moment my undivided 

 time and attention are devoted necessarily to the reorganization of 

 our warden system, in view of the fact that our newly amended law 

 for the encouragement of the propagation of fish and for their pro- 

 tection approved May 11 last, goes into effect on July 1, prox. This 

 Warden system has for some time been in a very much demoralized 

 condition, in part from the inaptitude of the appointees, and in a 

 greater sense from the fact that the statute made no provision for 

 remuneration for the services rendered. 



Incidentally, however, it may be of interest, in default of a for- 

 mally prepared paper, if I convey to you some idea of the improved 

 situation under which we expect to find ourselves under the opera- 

 tion of tiie amended law in Illinois. To begin with, the law will 

 now empower the commissioners to compensate the wardens when 

 on errands of duty. But above all the new law has an ample provi- 

 sion for the seizure and destruction of such devices for taking fish 

 as are declared by the act to be unlawful. This will have a most 

 salutary effect on all violators of the law. Hitherto it has been a 

 practical impossibility to secure convictions in our river towns. 

 Local sympatny ran almost uniformly with the fishermen, in conse- 

 quence of which justice, juries and state's attorneys seemed im- 

 pelled to override evidence, and the result was that the rights of 

 the people were ignored and the statutes practically nullified, so 

 that the destruction of tne fish supply went on almost without let or 

 hindrance. This exasperating state of affairs naturally demoralized 

 the Warden service. It was useless to send a Warden to make an 

 arrest, because the failure to impose, and collect a fine merely 

 operated to bring the law still farther into contempt. The commis- 

 sion was therefore constrained to abandon prosecutions in localities 

 where conditions such as these existed. 



These exigencies inspired the commission to seek a remedy in 

 the legislature by having introduced a new measure, the one to 

 which I have already referred as coming into effect July 1 prox., a 

 measure much better calculated to cope with the situation. After 



