34 



" I am quite sure," said Colonel Ryan, the deputed repre- 

 sentative of the Commonwealth of Australia to the House of 

 Lords enquiry, " that such legislation would be an inestimable 

 boon to Australia. . . We should hail with the greatest delight 

 the passing of such an Act." 



" An import duty," said Lord Stanmore, who has acted as 

 Governor of New Brunswick, Trinidad, Mauritius, Fiji, New 

 Zealand and Ceylon, "would unquestionably "strengthen legisla- 

 tion on the part of the Colonies. An import duty is a natural 

 complement to the export duty in the Colony." 



" My personal opinion, as a Customs officer," said Mr. C. G. 

 Todhunter, late Collector of Customs at Madras, "is that the 

 Bill would be most useful and helpful." 



A memorial was, in November, 1910, presented to the Colonial 

 Secretary from the self-governing Colonies of South Africa, New 

 Zealand, and Australia, calling attention to the manner in which 

 Colonial ordinances for the protection of plume-birds are frustrated 

 by illicit export. The Importation Bill would give the Customs 

 power to seize and deal with smuggled goods. 



It is, then, evident that the life of birds of the British Colonies 

 and Dependencies will be protected by the proposed Act. 



The effect, however, will not stop short with the confines of the 

 British Empire. 



The United States, 



" America cannot protect her own birds if the countries 

 of the Old World offer a market for the plumage of American 

 birds, as they are now doing. . . The milliners demand a 

 dead bird and require that it shall be killed at a season of the 

 year when it is in its best plumage, that is, during the period 

 of reproduction, the result being decrease and eventual 

 extermination." Paper read by Mr. W. Dutcher at the 

 Fifth International Ornithological Congress at Berlin^ June, 

 1910. 

 Mr. Downham, in seeking to explain away the smuggling 



business, says that " the trade cannot control consignments to 



a free market." - 



