210 REPOKT OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



territory it is now in full swing, and in consequence, throughout the 

 length and breadth of the Province fur-bearing creature's are relentlessly 

 pursued without much regard to age and without consideration of 

 dwindling numbers or the laws of reproduction, except and only in such 

 cases as those of the beaver and otter, where the state has intervened 

 to save the animal from extermination. In regard even to these pro- 

 tected animals the rights of the Indians, Avho in the north lands at least 

 are in the majority among trappers, to take these animals at their 

 pleasure and even to dispose of their pelts to the white man, have not as 

 yet been definitely disposed of. In view of such a situation it is small 

 wonder that the number of fur-bearing animals is steadily diminishing. 



Another noteworthy feature is that this great natural resource, this 

 vast and valuable public asset, has been allowed to be exploited to the 

 huge benefit of private individuals and firms without contributing more 

 than an insignificant pittance to the public revenue. At the present time 

 a fee of |10 is charged to non-residents for the privilege of trapping, 

 but no charge whatsoever is made in the case of trappers, buyers or 

 dealers, resident in the Province. It would, indeed, seem that in this 

 state of affairs there lies a distinct injustice to the public, for the great 

 profits that are made in the taking and disposing of furs are only accum- 

 ulated at the expense of the property of the public. 



In seeking for a remedy to the general situation the first considera- 

 tion must plainly be the conditions under which the actual trapping is 

 carried out. In this regard it is to be observed that trapping affords a 

 means of securing an income sufficient for the year in' a comparatively 

 short space of time and with comparatively little effort. On the other 

 hand the extent of territory that must as a rule be covered to secure 

 numbers of the animals living in the forests precludes the probability 

 of one man earning in average years very great sums by this means, 

 while the uncertainty of the measure of success and the conditions of 

 life under which the operations are protsecuted tend to lessen its attrac- 

 tion to the majority. Oonsequentl}', it has come about that the white 

 men engaged in the ordinary trapping business in ithe forest areas are 

 either the settlers in those localities, who avail themselves of this oppor- 

 tunity for obtaining cash either in preference to engaging in lumbering 

 operations or because no opportunities to do so are open to them, or else 

 those from the villages, settlements and towns who by preference select 

 the life rather than engage in other more steady occupations. Of this 

 latter class it may safely be said that in general their moral calibre is 

 not high or their value to the community of much account, and that, as a 

 class, they are by no means deserving of the privilege of exploiting pub- 

 lic property free, gratis and for nothing. It is to be noted, also, that the 

 average moral standard of these men is not sufficiently high to encourage 

 the belief that the majority could ever be relied on to obey the laws in 

 regard to the taking of animals so long as any possible channels for the 

 disposal of illegally taken pelts remained open to them. In such cases, 



