982 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



In sheer desperation, the Zoological Society 

 decided to inaugurate an aggressive campaign. 

 For years the sale of game had been carried on 

 in New York enormously to the detriment of 

 wild life. New York was the greatest dead- 

 game market on the continent. A bill was 

 drawn to suppress forever the sale of wild na- 

 tive game in this State, and Senator Howard R. 

 Bayne, of Staten Island, bravely consented to 

 introduce it, and champion its cause in the State 

 Senate. In the Assembly, Hon. George A. 

 Blauvelt undertook to render similar service. 

 An officer of the Society raised a special fund 

 (of $5,025) with which to meet the legitimate 

 expenses of the campaign. 



The result is familiar history. All the or- 

 ganizations actively working for the cause of 

 wild life protection rushed to the support of 

 the bill and to oppose the repeal bills. The 

 result was a tidal wave of insistent public sen- 

 timent that swept the Bayne-Blauvelt bill 

 through the legislature with only one dissenting 

 vote. And yet, Senator Bayne declared after 

 the event, in a speech at Albany, that when he 

 consented to introduce the bill he had not the 

 faintest hope that a measure so drastic and re- 

 volutionary ever could be passed in the State of 

 New York. 



The Bayne law is working admirably. It has 

 cut down the slaughter of ducks in Currituck 

 waters at least 50 per cent ! 



The Massachusetts "Bayne Law." 



In 1911, Massachusetts girded her loins and 

 set out to enact a duplicate of our no-sale 

 law; and again a tremendous struggle ensued. 

 The fight was more fierce and bitter than in 

 New York. When the struggle was well on, 

 and the tide was setting against the defenders, 

 a message came down to the Zoological Society, 

 stating that the war chest was empty. At once 

 the "discretionary campaign fund" that finan- 

 ced the New York campaign contributed about 

 $1,000 to the Massachusetts struggle, for use in 

 arousing the public, and spreading correct in- 

 formation. We are inclined to think that that 

 accession of strength at the most critical mo- 

 ment of the campaign fairly turned the scale : 

 and the fight was won. Incidentally, all the 

 vicious repeal bills were defeated. 



The Automatic Gun Campaign in New 

 Jersey. 

 While the no-sale struggle was in progress in 

 Massachusetts, President Ernest Napier and 

 his colleagues of the New Jersey Game and 

 Fish Commission decided that the time had 



come when the use of automatic and pump shot- 

 guns should no longer be permitted in hunting 

 the game of New Jersey. Prohibitive bills were 

 introduced in both houses of the Legislature, 

 and the fight began. 



The companies that produce those slaughter 

 guns are strong and tenacious fighters. Wher- 

 ever a hearing is held on an "auto-gun bill," 

 there will Mr. Thomas Marshall be found, with 

 an array of local and imported legal talent, and 

 a few alleged sportsmen. The Zoological So- 

 ciety was called upon for aid, and cheerfully 

 entered the campaign, furnishing quantities of 

 literature and other material. The New Jersey 

 members of the Zoological Society rendered ex- 

 cellent service. The bill passed both Houses of 

 the Legislature, by large majorities, and went 

 to the Governor. 



The attorneys for the gunmakers asked for a 

 hearing, which was granted. For nearly two 

 hours Governor Woodrow Wilson listened to 

 the arguments. The contentions of the gunmak- 

 ers' attorneys that (1) the bill was unconstitu- 

 tional, (2) confiscatory, and (3) class legisla- 

 tion, Governor Wilson "failed to follow," and 

 two hours later he signed the bill. 



The Struggle for a Bayne Law in 

 California. 

 By a rather odd adjustment of conditions, the 

 Zoological Society has been brought in close 

 touch with the leading zoologists and game-pro- 

 tectionists of California. Very soon after the 

 enactment of our no-sale-of-game law, a di- 

 gest of it was printed and widely circulated by 

 Californians, under the caption, "An Object 

 Lesson to California." Professor W. P. Taylor 

 and Director Joseph Grinnell, of the University 

 of California, were urged to bring about a com- 

 bination of state societies interested in the pre- 

 servation of wild life, and that was speedily 

 done. The result is a splendid organization 

 called the California Associated Societies for 

 the Conservation of Wild Life, consisting of 

 eight scientific societies, chiefly zoological. 

 "The Flint-Carey" bill, to stop the sale of na- 

 tive wild game, was introduced in the legisla- 

 ture, and immediately it was assailed in great 

 force by thousands of men, and many news- 

 papers, who claim that a poor sportsman who 

 can not afford to belong to a ducking club should 

 be permitted to buy ducks and geese for his 

 table ! That absurd proposition is the founda- 

 tion of the opposition. 



In California we see what a band of zoolo- 

 gists can do, when once they are aroused. It is 

 an object lesson to the world! The vigor, the 



