82 PISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



tomorrow. If they had the opportunity, they would kill the last quail, 

 duck, or deer and then brag about it for the remainder of their lives. 

 Such men cannot be reached b,y appealing to their finer sensibilities 

 but must be educated through the courts. This education can only be 

 accomplished by having men in the field to enforce the laws, who are 

 trustworthy in every particular, who have the backing of the judges, 

 and the assistance of all good sportsmen. Day by day the sentiment 

 for the enforcement of the game laws is getting better and better. 

 Heavier fines are imposed and more and more violators are convicted, 

 but the best results can only be obtained by having a greater number 

 of active game wardens working at all hours of the day and night. It 

 is unreasonable to expect one man to keep an area of many hundreds 

 of square miles free from violations. Those who hunt are increasing 

 year by year and make no complaint regarding the payment of a 

 dollar for a license. If the number of hunters increase, so should 

 the number of wardens increase. The more seriously the laws are 

 enforced, the more seriously will violations be considered. The penalty 

 for violating a game law can be made as high as the conscience of the 

 justice of the peace before whom the violator is taken, will allow. 

 Fines as high as $500 may be imposed and in addition a jail sentence 

 may be given. In counties where heavy fines are imposed, there is a 

 decided improvement in conditioixs. In other counties where the mini- 

 mum fine is the rule, violations are more frequent. Many individuals 

 are willing to take a chance on killing game during the closed season 

 if when taken to court they will only have to pay $25 ; but if there was 

 a probability of their having to pay somewhere near $500, they would 

 not take a chance. 



The work of the deputies in the San Francisco District has, for the 

 most part, been entirely satisfactory. The general public has no 

 conception of the long hours that a serious deputy puts in. It is not 

 everyone who can make good in law enforcement work. It requires a 

 peculiar training and fitness to make good as a game warden. The 

 most discouraging thing that can happen to a deputy is to take a good 

 case before a justice of the peace and have the defendants liberated or 

 made to pay a petty fine. 



More wardens, better couperation of the judges, and the active 

 assistance of sportsmen "will assure game in California for years to 

 come. 



During the last two years fines totalling $32,995 were imposed in the 

 San Francisco District. Judge Ray Griffin of Redwood City imposed 

 fines amounting to $3,455 in his court. Other judges in various parts 

 of the district did almost as well. One deputy working in San Mateo 

 arrested defendants who were assessed a total of $4,215. Another 

 deputy in Santa Cruz County had fines to his credit in the amount of 

 $3,675. A third deputy in "Marin County had $3,025 to his credit. 

 Fines of $100 were not unusual. Some of the most noteworthy cases 

 by deputies working in this district were as follows: 



' August 13, 1922, Judge Griffin of Redwood City fined Felix Doer 

 and John Perasso $250 each for killing a doe ; Deceml)er 10, 1922, Judge 

 Whipple of Fort Bragg sent Amador Mecidas to jail for 180 days for 

 using a set net; March 11, 1923, Judge Griffin fined P. S. Bogani $200 

 for liaving illegal abalones in ])ossession ; April 9, 1923, Judge Wallace 



