33 



V. 



THE PLUMAGE IMPORTATION BILL. 

 B. PRESERVATION OF BIRDS. 



The statement that the passing of the Bill will not protect the 

 life of a single bird is untenable. It is founded on the allegation 

 that the trade will go on just the same, with its head- quarters in 

 Hamburg or some other Continental port instead of in England ; 

 and that English women will flock over to the Continent to buy 

 the plumes prohibited by British law. The latter argument 

 requires little attention. When ladies cease to see the feathers 

 in milliners' shops and cease to be importuned to buy them, they 

 will cease to wish for them, and will buy new hats as frequently 

 and as happily, with trimmings of dainty ribbon and flower ; 

 and many milliners will experience a pleasant relief in no longer 

 being compelled to apologise or lie in order to sell their goods. 

 No one credits the story of Englishwomen of all classes swarming 

 over to France and Germany for the sake of persisting in a dis- 

 credited mode. It may even be that some of the small percentage 

 of women who now buy, and may still buy, their millinery abroad, 

 will perceive the odium attaching to a species of ornament con- 

 demned by their country's laws. So far the majority of women 

 have not realised the meaning of the trade or the gravity of the 

 objections to it. An Act of Parliament will throw a strong light 

 on the matter. Obviously, therefore, the birds killed to supply 

 the bulk of the British market will be saved. 



The British Empire. 



It is an undeniable fact that an anti-Importation Law in 

 Great Britain would strengthen and uphold protection and 

 export laws macje in other parts of the Empire. 



