48 Thirtij-scvcnth Annual Medina 



many years^ of labor, and was due to a spirit similar to that 

 which is expressed in the resolution under consideration. But 

 as a born angler I am afraid my friend who spoke before me 

 ( Mr. Wilson) fails to place a proper share of blame on the sport- 

 ing ranks for lack of results in an a.ssertion so sweeping in char- 

 acter as to declare waters depleted of iisli life. 



When it comes to the bass question, unaided by artificial 

 l^ropagation, what is a sportsman's share, who does or should 

 determine it ? I believe from my ovm experience in the state of 

 Pennsylvania where for very many years 1 have l)i'en active in 

 securing proper legislation regarding fish, tiiat we ought to leave 

 questions of this kind to the different states. As I see it from 

 the fish protectionist's view point, if they suffer from poor laws 

 in Xew York state or in any other state, why is it not up to the 

 anglers of the particular state to correct the laws ? Why not or- 

 ganize a good central organization in all states to combine all 

 the local or county organizations, and back up what is really the 

 ideal of the sportsman, both for the close season and the numbers 

 to be taken ? 



As a sportsman I w'ant to say to you I cannot find any na- 

 tional standard to determine what is a sportsman's share. Xo- 

 body seems to know and nobody seems to set it. I wish I may 

 see the day wdien the preliminary labors that Ave' undertook in 

 Xew York City last Xovember will bring about an Anglers' 

 Association of the United States. There is the place where I 

 think a very important j^art of this question should liave its 

 gTeatest force and argument in co-operation with the work of 

 this society. 



Nowadays everybody goes fishing. You know as well as I 

 do how tile angling ranks of the great Ignited States l)y states as 

 a whole are heavily recruited each year. They pose as sports- 

 men, but do you ri'ally l)elieve they all are? I cannot see it, so 

 long as the idea of (piantity is so generally accepted as the stand- 

 ard of skill, ^^'hat we ought to labor for is to create higher 

 ideals of sportsmanship in taking out of the waters what largely 

 interests this society in placing therein, not to mention greater 

 ])urity of the w^aters, but I hope this can be accomplished in the 

 ])roposed new organization for which the preliminary meeting 

 was held in Xew York Citv: and T trust that the time mav come 



