GAME PROTECTION 127 



he is so longing for and which he would value higher 

 than all the wealth and glory of Solomon? Most of 

 us concede that it is right to kill animals for food and 

 clothing, and to enslave them to do our heavy work. 

 These points we must concede or turn vegetarians, and, 

 if all mankind became vegetarian they would have to 

 kill a few animals now and then or the animals would 

 kill them and crowd them off the earth. As a food sup- 

 ply, wild mammals and birds are of importance only in 

 frontier settlements. If we kill and eat wild or tame 

 animals, we destroy a lower form of life so that a higher 

 form may continue. This is in general the course of 

 nature. If the fatigued business man, statesman, and 

 professional man leave the bustle of the city, the dust, 

 and the artificial light of their offices to gain new health 

 and elasticity of mind and body on bass and trout 

 streams, or with the wild ducks on the weird sea-coast 

 and inland marshes, or on a stalk after deer and moose 

 in the wild woods, they do nothing wrong. On the 

 contrary they make the wild creatures of woods, lakes, 

 fields, and stream serve a far higher purpose than he 

 who kills them merely to satisfy the cravings of a hun- 

 gry stomach. If the President of the United States 

 can keep in good health and buoyant spirits by going 

 on a duck-shooting trip, so that he can more safely steer 

 the nation through all the vicissitudes of national and 

 international difficulties, by all means let him go after 

 the ducks, whenever his duties permit. The ducks he 

 bags could not be sacrificed for a more worthy purpose. 

 The question has still another aspect. If game were 



