Correspondence.



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their species ; for members will be aviculturists for the love of the thing itself ;

and if it is not so, if they keep birds merely to gain a medal, then they are no

true and fervid aviculturists. HUBERT P. ASTLEY.



A GREAT VICTORY FOR THE BIRDS.


The United States Senate has elected to preserve unbroken its record in

the conservation of wild life. After a prolonged and very strenuous struggle with

the feather trade, the friends of the birds, both in and out of Congress, have won

a complete victory. On September 2nd, the Senate democratic caucus voted to

withdraw the amendment it previously adopted to the bird-protecting clause of

the tariff bill, and restore that measure as it was written into the tariff bill by

the House Committee on Ways and Means. Inasmuch as there is no probability

that this action ever will be reversed, the war with “ the feather trade ” may be

accounted as terminated, in a iweeping victory for the birds of the world.


The action taken by the caucus affords reasons for profound congratula¬

tion. Heretofore no party lines ever have been drawn in Congress against birds,

or other forms of wild life ; and the prospect that the wreck of the bird-

protecting clause might or might not be patched up in the conference committee,

at the Senate’s expense, gave the bird protectors a feeling of genuine sorrow. It

seemed deplorable that the Senate should, for even one month, assume a position

of friendliness to bird slaughter, and draw party lines against the birds.


But the ship of state has righted itself, and once more rests on an even

keel. The new tariff bill will prohibit the importation of wild birds’ plumage for

commercial purposes, no matter from what country they come, and will totally

abolish in the United States and all its territorial possessions the odious and

cruel traffic in the skins and feathers of slaughtered wild birds. The news of the

action of the Senate will give joy to millions of people, all over the world,

who now are thinking very hard on the subject of bird destruction.


The friends of the birds will be deeply grateful to Senator George P.

McLean, who ably championed their cause in the Senate ; to Senators

Chamberlain and Lane of Oregon, who through their bold and aggressive stand

in the great caucus fight of September 2nd, literally snatched a victory out of the

jaws of defeat ; to Senator James A. O’Gorman who took a position on the

right side at a most critical moment, and to Senators, Hitchcock, John Sharp

Williams, Gore, Bryan, Bacon, Shively, and other democratic Senators who were

in a position to make their influence felt.


The campaign was inaugurated and managed throughout by the New

York Zoological Society and National Association of Audubon Societies.

Immediately it attracted the vigorous support of National and State Federations

of Women’s Clubs, the State Audubon Societies, many patriotic societies of

women, the Women’s League for Animals, and a host of other organizations and

free-lance leaders. The press of the country at large supported the campaign



