82 THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OP 



Every day the inhabitants are appreciating more and more the 

 value to them of the big game which draws this class to their 

 locality, bringing them money and employment, and in many 

 places they nowadays assist the game laws in the event of the 

 sportsman breaking the regulations. 



I received a letter a short time ago from a storekeeper of a 

 settlement in British Columbia, and it maybe of sufficient interest 

 to quote a portion of it : — 



' I do not know if you heard of ■ being fined for having 



heads in his possession before the season opened. He took a 

 party out in August and they killed three rams before the season 

 opened. The Indian cook gave it away, and the game wardens 

 made a case out of it and won. People are beginning to realise 

 what the game means to the Province, and it will be much better 

 protected in the future.' 



The most interesting thing about this is that only a few years 

 ago this same man rode into the settlement one day with a party 

 who had been after bear in the spring ; halting in the middle of 

 the street, he threw down three rams' heads ; the whole population 

 turned out, amongst them the game warden, and he defied this 

 officer to summon him and was backed up by all the men present, 

 with the result that the game warden turned on his heel and no 

 notice was taken of the matter. 



Now in legislating for the sportsman I need say very little. 

 It is easy to keep an eye on him, and the laws with regard to him 

 are excellent ; lie has a good, many grievances, some of them quite 

 legitimate ; but he is a free individual, and if he does not like the 

 laws in one country he can go to another, and anyway it is not the 

 object of this Society to vent his grievances. 



With regard, therefore, to game laws as a whole, I have only 

 to say the open season should be made, taking the habits of the 

 animals and the climatic conditions of the country into account ; 

 the killing should bo restricted to the males alone, and the 

 numbers should bo limited to the quantity of game in the district. 



For the sake of statistics, the numbers killed by each individual 

 should be recorded, and sportsmen should be made to take out a 

 licence for which a heavy sum is charged. This may seem hard 

 on many individuals who find the expense of big-game shooting 

 heavy enough already, but the money so derived will help to pro- 

 toot the game in two ways : firstly, it will supply the wages of the 

 game wardens, and secondly the number of men who go after big 

 game increases year by year, and it is necessary to limit the 

 number in this way or else only to grant a certain number of 

 licences for each district every year. 



