50 LEGISLATION FOE THE PROTECTION OP BIRDS. 



and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Ten days later, on 

 March 24, it was reported by the committee, with amendments, and 

 passed by the Senate. 1 It was supported by Senator Bacon, who sub- 

 mitted as his remarks the picturesque petition in the name of the birds 

 which had been prepared by Senator Hoar and presented to the legis- 

 lature of Massachusetts in support of the State act of 1897. (See pp. 

 11-12.) The bill, however, failed to pass the House before adjournment 

 and was reintroduced in the Senate, in essentially the same form, early 

 in the first session of the Fifty-sixth Congress, on December 12, 1899. 

 It prohibits (1) importation into the United States; (2) transportation 

 from one State to another; and, (3) sale within the Territories or the 

 District of Columbia, of birds or feathers for ornamental purposes. 

 This legislation was aimed directly against the feather trade, and 

 naturally aroused the opposition of the millinery interests. The fear 

 has also been expressed that the clause prohibiting the importation of 

 foreign birds would result in an increased demand for native species, 

 and hence increase, rather than diminish, the destruction of birds in 

 this country. The prohibition of the sale of feathers relates only to 

 Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Indian Territory, and the 

 District of Columbia, and even if strictly enforced here would have 

 little effect so long as such sales were unrestricted elsewhere. The 

 text of the bill as it now stands is as follows : 



A Bill (S. 1383) for the protection of song birds. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 

 in Congress assembled, That the importation into the United States of birds, feathers, 

 or parts of bir,ds for ornamental purposes, or for any purpose except for food, be, and 

 the same is hereby, prohibited: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall 

 be construed as prohibiting the importation of birds for museums, zoological gardens, 

 or scientific collections, or the importation of living birds or of feathers taken from 

 living birds without injury to the bird. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby 

 authorized to make regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this section. 



Sec. 2. That the transportation of birds, feathers, or parts of birds, to be used or 

 sold, except such as are excepted in the first section of this Act, from any State or 

 Territory of the United States to or through any other State or Territory of the 

 United States, is hereby prohibited. Whoever shall violate the provisions of this 

 section shall, upon conviction in the district where the offense shall have been com- 

 mitted, be punished for each such offense by a fine of fifty dollars. 



Sec. 3. That the sale, keeping, or offering for sale, within any Territory of the 

 United States, or within the District of Columbia, of birds, feathers, or parts of birds, 

 for ornamental purposes, except such as are excepted in the first section of this Act, 

 be, and the same is hereby, prohibited. Whoever shall violate the provisions of 

 this section shall, upon conviction, be punished for each such offense by a fine of 

 fifty dollars. « 



THE TELLER BILL. 



The Teller bill, 'to regulate interstate traffic in wild game,' was first 

 introduced in the Fifty-fifth Congress by Senator Henry M. Teller, 



'Cong. Becord, XXXI, pt. 3, p. 3166; Forest and Stream, L, p. 264, April 2, 1898. 



