194 WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



mass, they are a doubtful asset. The few excep- 

 tions only prove the rule. 



Turn we, therefore, to the open-eyed, open- 

 minded general educators and general students, and 

 lay before them the appeal of the wild. Shall all 

 our best wild life be swept away, until nothing 

 remains save noxious insects, rats and mice? Shall 

 our forests, our orchards, gardens and grain-fields 

 be presented bodily to the insect world? Shall the 

 dignified chase of deer and bear, the wild turkey 

 and ruffed grouse, degenerate, as it has in Italy, to 

 the popping of robins, sparrows and bobolinks? 

 Already our sweethearts and wives are wearing 

 skunk-skin and rabbit-skin furs, where once they 

 wore sable, otter and beaver. We are presenting 

 annually to the insect world about $500,000,000 

 worth of our valuable products. Does this appeal 

 to the thoughtful mind, or not? 



The facts and figures that I have endeavored 

 to place before you are no figments of a fevered 

 imagination. They are incontestably true. The 

 conclusions to be drawn from them are inexorable. 

 The saving of our wild life is not an academic cause, 

 or an optional study. It is a burning question of 

 the market-basket and the dinner-pail. The great 

 question to-day is : Will the American people now 

 rise to the occasion, and prosecute this cause to its 

 logical conclusion, the real conservation of our 

 valuable wild life? 



