5 



Under separate heads will be found our reports on the status of 

 the various divisions of our work, and we would ask au examination 

 and consideration of such recommendations as we have made. 



WARDEN SERVIOB. 



The utility of unpaid warden service, that is, service depending 

 wholly upon fines collected for violations of the law for remunera- 

 tion for time and expense, has been fully tested, and we urge that 

 such changes be made in the law as will enable us to employ three 

 or four competent men to do warden service, and pay them a salary 

 and expenses. 



Under the present conditions a warden may occasionally be found 

 who does his duty thoroughly, either from local interest or on ac- 

 count of local influence and backing, but in the majority of cases 

 fish wardens have proved very unsatisfactory. And this is not with- 

 out some good reasons. That "the laborer is worthy of his hire" 

 was never truer than when applied to the fish warden who under- 

 takes an honest and rigorous enforcement of the fish laws. In the 

 first place, the duty is an unpleasant one at best, doubly so if he is 

 called upon, as he often is, to prosecute his own neighbors and 

 friends. This fact is a very great drawback to the successful en- 

 forcement of the law, and when the only possibility of his getting 

 remuneration for his time and expense is dependent on the fines 

 which may follow a conviction, the incentive is not in proportion to 

 the work, especially when the collection of his part of the fines from 

 the State's Attorney is as problematical as it is in some counties, 

 where it often happens that when the fine is collected by the justice 

 of the peace that part which should go to the complainant, under 

 the law, is taken by the State's Attorney, who has a lien on all fines 

 collected until his salary or compensation is made good. In such 

 cases the warden is out not only his time, but also such expense as 

 he may have incurred in the prosecution of the case, in many in- 

 stances a considerable amount, and it is not to be wondered at if, 

 when an opportunity is offered to recoup himself for some of his 

 losses by the prosecution of a technical violation easily proven, even 

 though it is plain no illegal act was intended, he does as mo^t men 

 do, looks after his own interest, and instead of showing the oflFender 

 his mistake and warning him against such violation, he prosecutes 

 and if possible convicts and collects his portion of the fine. This 

 state of afPairs existed for a long time in Chicago and threatened to 

 do great injury to a large business interest. President Cohen, to 

 whom this part of the work has been assigned, has shown remarkably 

 good judgment in the handling of these matters, and much seeming 

 injustice has been prevented by his care. 



The wholesale dealers of Chicago, generally speaking, are opposed 

 to the sale of small fish and freely turn them over to our wardens for 

 disposition. The wardens give the fish to some of the charitable in- 

 stitutions of the city, as before stated, and take a receipt for tbem 



