ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 31 



Constables as Deputy Wardens 



Section 2 of the law enlists several thousand constables of the state 

 specifically in its enforcement. It provides that "all constables in this 

 state shall be ex officio special deputy wardens, who shall receive no 

 salary per diem or expenses as such, but who shall receive in addi- 

 tion to the fees and mileage provided by law, one-half of all the fines 

 recovered for violation of this Act in any case where they have filed 

 the complaint." 



It should be noted that the fees and mileage provided by law pins the 

 share of the fines make it decidedly profitable for a constable to run down 

 violations of the law. For other officials such as police officers enforcement 

 of the provisions of the Act is all in the day's work but has no direct relation 

 to official salary. It would seem that this law should be amended to put 

 police officers upon the same footing as constables with fees and mileage and 

 one-half of the ensuing fines when they have filed complaints. The law 

 should even go farther and provide that any one who shall file a complaint 

 upon which there shall be a conviction shall receive one-half of the fine 

 received. 



Who Shall Hunt 



Almost any one may hunt, it seems. The law provides that "no person 

 may hunt, pursue, or kill with a gun. rabbits or any of the wild animals, 

 fowl or birds that are protected during any part of the year" without first 

 having procured a license from a county, city or village clerk, but prac- 

 tically whoever has the price may secure a license. There are no specific 

 restrictions as to age, sex, or "previous condition." One simply makes out 

 an application and pays the fee of one dollar required of residents of Illinois 

 and citizens, or prospective citizens, of the United States. A non-resident 

 of the state or an alien pays a fee of ten dollars and fifty cents. These 

 licenses expire on the 31st day of March of each year. License No. 202730 

 issued in the County Clerk's office in Lake County authorizes the nine year 

 old boy holding it to "hunt, pursue, or kill with a gun, rabbits or any of the 

 wild animals, fowl or birds that are protected during any part of the year." 

 The Clerk was acting within the law when he invested young Master 

 Tompkins with such authority. Eleven other Lake County boys under 

 fifteen years of age hold licenses issued at the County Clerk's office and 

 doubtless the names of many others would be obtained if the records of the 

 city and village clerks throughout that county were examined. Reference 

 is made to Lake County only because the home of the writer is in that 

 county. Possibly readers of this article would profit by conducting an in- 

 vestigation of this sort in their respective counties. Surely we are all agreed 

 that it is unwise to clothe such youthful Nimrods with so great a power 

 over wild life. There is to be reckoned with not only the menace to human 

 life from the careless handling of firearms, but the almost certain tempta- 

 tion to the heedless child to accept any chance bird as a target upon which 

 to test his prowess. The law wisely sets the minimum age limit at eighteen 

 for those applying for a license to take birds' eggs for scientific purposes. 

 Why not the same for hunting licenses? 



