32 HUNTING 



into asinine liee-aws beneath the question, " How much 

 do you subscribe to hounds ? " 



Now, if fox-hunting is to hold its own as the most 

 popular amusement for English sporsmen, some method 

 will have to be devised by which the hunting man will 

 have to pay for his sport. A man can neither race for 

 nothing, shoot for nothing, nor fish for nothing, but at 

 the present time he may go I'ox-poaching with impunity, 

 and inflict his presence upon good and true sportsmen. 

 Why, then, should we not have hunting licenses ? 

 These licenses could be issued by the Hunt Secretary, 

 for it would be manifestly the last straw on the camel's 

 back to ask the M.F.H. to issue them ; and in the same 

 way as a game license entitles the holder to shoot any- 

 where, so would a hunting license entitle the holder to 

 hunt with any pack he liked. All covert owners, farmers, 

 and occupiers of land should receive their licenses free. 

 In regard to the price of a license, we would suggest £5 

 for a resident inside a hunting country, and £7 for one 

 outside, and the funds collected by the Secretary should 

 go towards defraying the expenses of his own particular 

 hunt. Licenses might also be granted at lesser sums 

 for specific periods for the benefit of visitors, officers on 

 leave, and others who only get a limited time for 

 hunting during the season. 



These licenses ought not to seriously interfere with 

 the subscription list, any more than a game license 

 debars the shooting man from tipping the head keeper, 

 or, if it really were a burden, the subscriber could deduct 

 it from his subscription, for, though I know one gentle- 

 man who hunts in pink three days a week, and invari- 

 ably brings his wife out with him, on a £5 subscription, 

 such cases are happily rare. Still, the standard sub- 

 scription of £20, which in most countries entitles the 



