DUTY AND POWER OF THE CITIZEN 165 



ment of the men who kill game-birds. Do sensible 

 shepherds set wolves to guard their flocks? Take a 

 lantern, like Diogenes, go out, and see if you can 

 find a sportsman who voluntarily makes any sacri- 

 fice for the good of the birds, or who does more than 

 preserve to-day in order to kill to-morrow. See if 

 you can find in your city more than five men who 

 shoot who will subscribe $50 each in order to pro- 

 mote a movement to give the quail remnant of the 

 state a five-year close season. Show me the cities 

 of the United States in which a campaigner will 

 not wear out a dollar's worth of shoe-leather for 

 every dollar that he raises by subscription among 

 gunners for real wild-life protection. I think the 

 total number can be counted on the fingers and 

 thumb of one hand. 



The point of this story is that if the remnants of 

 the wild life of North America are saved to pos- 

 terity, they must be saved by the efforts and the 

 sacrifices of men and women who do not kill wild 

 creatures. 



We hold that the real men and women of to-day 

 owe to posterity a duty in the preservation of wild 

 life than can not conscientiously be ignored. The 

 wild life of the world is not ours, to dispose of 

 wholly as we please. We hold it in trust, for the 

 benefit of ourselves, and equal benefits to those who 

 come after us. As honorable guardians we have no 

 right to waste and squander the heritage of our 



