Amcncaii l-ishcrics Society. 71 



land lakes and streams re-populatcd with the most desirable kinds 

 of fish, stand as a perpetual monument to the earnest. inlelli,Lrent 

 work of the .Michij^an l-'ish Commission. 



The}- have stocked our streams with trout and other _L;'ame 

 fislies, our lakes with bass, pike, i)ereh. and lake trout. 77u'v have 

 also gk'eii us the Geniiait carp. lUit in spite of the enaetment of 

 all these laws, the results were not entirely satisfactory. They 

 were not enforced. Local officers winked at the most tlat^rant 

 and open violations. The commercial fishermen used small mesh 

 nets, and in the inland lakes and streams, s])ears. dynamite, and 

 nets were used without danger of prosecution. 



In 1887 the present president of the Xational S])ortsinen's 

 Association. Hon. A. L. Lakey. of Kalamazoo, introduced a bill 

 "To provide for the appointment of a game and fish w^arden." 

 Mr. Lakev had accepted the nominatii^i and came to the Legisla- 

 ture for the sole purpose of revising the fish and game laws, and 

 provide for their enforcement. He met with a most determined 

 opposition, but succeeded in getting his l^ill through both houses, 

 and it was approved by the governor, March 15, 1887. 



The term of office of the State Warden is four years. A 

 brief comparison of the conditions existing before the appoint- 

 ment of a Warden may be interesting. During the entire four 

 years ])receding the appointment of a State Warden, there was a 

 total of fifty-six convictions in the State. During the four years' 

 adm.inistration of Hon. William Alden Smith, the first Michigan 

 Warden, 494 convictions were secured. Durinj; the year just 

 closed — being the first }ear of the administration of the Hon. 

 Grant M. Morse — 867 cases were handled, with a total loss of only 

 eighteen by acquittal. More than $20,000 worth of nets and fish- 

 ing appliances were found in illegal use, seized and condemned. 



Thus is the work of the h'ish Conmiissioners suipplemented 

 and aided by that of the Warden. It has been said: "He is indeed 

 a public benefactor wdio causes two blades of grass to grow where 

 but one grew before." 



The Fish Commissioners of Michigan have accomplished 

 more than this. They have increased the product of our inland 



