ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 17 



Conservation of Food and Conservation of Bird Life 



When Senate Bill 1553, which is the enabling act for putting into force 

 the Migratory Bird Treaty between the United States and Canada, came up 

 before the Senate, June 28, 1917, Senator Reed of Missouri opposed its 

 consideration. He said that he had understood that the legislation of the 

 present session was to be confined to war measures and that nothing was 

 to be done with that kind of legislation. Whereupon the following dia- 

 logue took place as printed in the Congressional Record : 



Senator Overman: "I wish to inquire of the Senator from Connecticut 

 if this is a war measure." 



Senator McLean: "It is a food-conservation measure; and I will say 

 to the Senator from North Carolina that if it is not disposed of in any other 

 way I shall offer it as an amendment to the pending bill (referring to the 

 Hoover Food Conservation Bill) because, if there is anything in statistics, 

 I can demonstrate that the operation of this proposed law will tend to 

 conserve the food of the country to quite as liberal an extent as anything 

 contained in the pending bill." 



The above dialogue may well be set down as historic. The records of 

 the United States Senate here contain the deliberate statement of one of 

 the most aggressive members of that body to the effect that the conservation 

 of bird- life is one of the important problems before the American people. 

 What Mr. Herbert Hoover has to say on this same subject, referred to else- 

 where in this issue, will bear repetition here. Writing to the publisher of 

 the People's Home Journal, he says : 



"I have noted with much satisfaction the information which your Journal 

 is giving to the public in its columns devoted to home economics and, pri- 

 marily, the conservation of food, and I hope the people of the United States 

 realize how closely related to this whole question of food saving is the 

 question of the protection and encouragement of insectivorous and migra- 

 tory birds." 



It has thus come about that in the midst of a great national crisis we 

 have the authoritative assertion of men high in public station that the bird 

 life of our country is one of its important assets. Such an assertion is a 

 challenge to all who have interested themselves in bird life, a challenge to 

 take courage and renew their activities. Esthetic considerations are now 

 reinforced as never before by considerations of economic needs. It has 

 become a patriotic act to work for the conservation of bird life. So one 

 may say it is patriotic to offer shelter and food to birds in winter, to set 

 up nesting boxes, to provide bird baths, to make war on the animal life 

 that preys upon useful birds. 



The duty of the members of the Illinois Audubon Society is plain. It 

 is to support the propaganda of the Society and to seek to extend its mem- 

 bership and influence. The Society has a right to be heard even amidst 

 the numerous appeals for help which every day brings forth. Conservation 

 is a w r eapon which will not lose its significance when peace shall come. Our 

 country has everything to gain, in war or in peace, from our propaganda. 



