194 PROBLEMS IN WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



Appointment of Wardens: What type of individual makes 

 the best game warden? What qualities are to be sought in 

 the candidates who apply for positions with the depart- 

 ment? What should be demanded of a candidate at the 

 time of entrance into the service and what can best be taught 

 him after entrance? These are vital points which should 

 be determined before any attempt is made to set up a scien- 

 tific personnel system. 



One of the most common fallacies is that the higher the 

 educational standard required for admission to the service, 

 the more efficient the warden force will be. Certain mini- 

 mum educational standards are necessary, yet the limits are 

 soon reached. One of the outstanding authorities on police 

 administration has said that a highly educated individual 

 would make a very poor police patrolman because he would 

 observe too much. In the opinion of this authority a patrol- 

 man should be trained to concentrate his attention on a 

 limited number of facts. A highly intelligent individual is 

 likely to allow his attention to wander off upon other prob- 

 lems. The game warden, like the patrolman, should be 

 trained to watch for certain definite facts. For this reason 

 if for no other the educational standard required for en- 

 trance into the service should be kept relatively low. 



There is another aspect of this subject : men entering the 

 service with a great deal of education will not be content 

 to remain ordinary wardens for any length of time. They 

 will expect rapid promotion, and in its absence will leave 

 the service. Unfortunately, as most state warden forces are 

 small in numbers, the available promotions will be limited. 

 That means, that should the state attempt to recruit its 

 warden force only, let us say, from among the college grad- 

 uates, the advantages that it can offer as a life career are 

 so limited that few would remain long in the service. As a 

 warden increases in value with his years of service, at least 



