THE LEGITIMATE USE OF GAME 111 



areas of wild lands naturally lack in population and 

 in tax funds ; and at present, with the national ten- 

 dencies as they are, not one such state can afford to 

 put into the field even one-half enough salaried 

 wardens to protect her game from surreptitious 

 slaughter. The average frontiersman never admits 

 the divine rights of kings, but he does ardently 

 believe in the divine rights of settlers to reach 

 out and take any of the products of nature that they 

 happen to need or to fancy. 



The dragon that stands between the people of 

 this land and an annual increment of 2,000,000 deer 

 worth $20,000,000 or more, is the lawless American 

 spirit! In the dweller on the borders of civilization, 

 and in the backwoods generally, that spirit is hostile 

 to all conservation that restrains the party of the 

 second part from taking what he desires. I now 

 ask the college men of America this question : Is it 

 possible to arouse public sentiment in this country 

 to such a pitch of morality, right thinking and right 

 doing, that a rational scheme for raising deer on 

 waste lands, and properly utilizing the increase, can 

 be made possible? If this question were put to me, 

 I would answer that in my opinion such a revolu- 

 tion is possible throughout one-half of the territory 

 affected, and even over the other half partial success 

 could be achieved. 



The campaign of education and appeal that 

 would be necessary would be tremendous; but in 

 time, when the meat problem becomes more acute 



