1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 275 



to them as sportsmen, to steal their birthright for themselves. The 

 general public, meanwhile, remains dull and apathetic, merely because 

 it does not appreciate the greatness of the issues at stake. 



The awakening of the public to the importance of these issues not 

 only would ensure public co-operation, but would carry with it compre- 

 hension of the value of the natural resources of the Province on the part 

 of its greater corporations, and a desire to assist in developing and 

 exploiting their almost boundless possibilities. Specific education is an 

 important means of awakening the public sentiment, and such educa- 

 tion must comprise a lucid exposition of the economics of the questions 

 involved. The public must be taught to understand that the fisheiy 

 regulations and game laws have been devised in their own interest, and 

 must be encouraged to take pleasure in conforming to the same; magis- 

 trates must be instructed to learn and enforce the provisions of the laws ; 

 but, above all, it is important that the general public, together with the 

 settler, should realize that the living deer is many times more valuable 

 to them than the same deer dead; together with the agriculturisit, that 

 the birds of the air are the farmer's best friends; together with the com- 

 mercial fisherman, that the capture of fish in the season devoted by 

 nature to reproduction but spells ultimate and utter depletion. 



The blue books of the country contain carefully-prepared statistics, 

 giving full information as to the amount of coal and other minerals 

 mined, of cereals raised, of butter and cheese manufactured for export, 

 etc., but one source of wealth possessed by the Province of Ontario — as 

 well, in fact, as by most of the other provinces of the Dominion — is not 

 included in these returns. The tourist traffic is the source of wealth 

 referred to. 



In several countries the value of this traffic is recognized and under- 

 stood, not only by the authorities, but by the general public also. Pos- 

 sibly the best example of this is the Eepublic of SAvitzerland, where 

 attractions of mountain scenery, an invigorating climate, and winter 

 and summer sports draw thousands of tourists annually, who leave vast 

 sums of money behind them, to enrich not only the hotels, which may be 

 numbered by the thousand, but to circulate freely among all classes of 

 the population. 



The tourist traffic of Italy, attracted by its wonderful climate and 

 by the historic associations and art collections of its many beautiful 

 cities, is enormous, and its importance is realized by the authorities and 

 people alike. 



As an example of the value of fish and game as an attraction to the 

 tourist no better case can be quoted than that of the State of Maine. 



In 1867 a commission, appointed by the State Legislature, made an 

 exhaustive enquiry into the conditions prevailing then, and the report 

 submitted stated that the inland fisheries were practically valueless,, 

 there was no moose in the state, and deer in only one small district. 

 This condition had been bronght about, not by the visiting sportsmen,. 



