A CURIOUS EXPERIENCE 319 



public preserves. These by their very exist 

 ence afford a certain measure of the extent to 

 which democratic government can justify it 

 self. If in a given community unchecked pop 

 ular rule means unlimited waste and destruction 

 of the natural resources soil, fertility, water- 

 power, forests, game, wild-life generally which 

 by right belong as much to subsequent genera 

 tions as to the present generation, then it is 

 sure proof that the present generatiqn is not 

 yet really fit for self-control, that it is not yet 

 really fit to exercise the high and responsible 

 privilege of a rule which shall be both by the 

 people and for the people. The term &quot;for the 

 people&quot; must always include the people unborn 

 as well as the people now alive, or the demo 

 cratic ideal is not realized. The only way to 

 secure the chance for hunting, for the enjoy 

 ment of vigorous field-sports, to the average 

 man of small means, is to secure such enforced 

 game laws as will prevent anybody and every 

 body from killing game to a point which means 

 its diminution and therefore ultimate extinction. 

 Only in this way will the average man be able 

 to secure for himself and his children the op 

 portunity of occasionally spending his yearly 

 holiday in that school of hardihood and self- 

 reliance the chase. New Brunswick, Maine, 



