CONSERVATION OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS 149 



impress upon the people of Canada that, once an animal is exter- 

 minated, it cannot be regained and the nation is the poorer in those 

 resources which increase our happiness, improve our health and add 

 ■ to our material prosperity. 



Mr. Vreei,and: Speaking for the Campfire Club of North 

 America, I want to express my extreme gratification at the facts that 

 Dr. Hewitt has presented to us to-day, especially regarding the Migra- 

 tory Bird Act. In the United States that is a thing for which we have 

 been fighting for a great many years and we believe that that Act, 

 backed by the laws for prohibiting the sale of game, has done more 

 for the preservation of the remnants of our wild life than any other 

 measures. It is highly gratifying to know that Canada is preparing 

 to take part in an international agreement, because really this matter 

 can only be handled in an international way. Before we had this law 

 in the United States, people in New York asked us what was the use 

 of protecting ducks when they were going to be shot in New Jersey, 

 and the people in New Jersey said the same thing with regard to New 

 York. Only last summer, when out in British Columbia pleading for 

 the protection of ducks and geese, they said to me :' What is the use of 

 protecting them in Canada when they will be shot in the United States. 

 The answer to that is that we are protecting them in the United States 

 and this internaticfnal treaty, if it is carried through, will give us a 

 uniform series of laws for all North America. 



With regard to prohibiting the importation of plumage, we had the 

 same problem of the menace to native birds when we passed similar 

 laws, and the way we overcame the difficulty was to pass State laws 

 making the sale of plumage illegal. In New York state, which is the 

 principal market for plumage, we have this provision : " No part of the 

 plumage, skin or body of any bird protected by this section or of any 

 birds coming from without the state, whether belonging to the same 

 or a different species from that native to the state of New York, pro- 

 vided such bird belongs to the same family as. those protected by this 

 article " — thereby providing against misrepresentation — " shall be sold 

 or be in possession for sale." The penalty is $25 for each bird. As 

 a result of that, the New York Conservation Commission recently 

 raided a mail-order house in New York and confiscated 1,200 aigrette 

 plumes, which at $25 apiece makes a heavy fine. If you protect the 

 centres where the plumage is sold, the battle is practically won. 



Mr. White : During the past summer, the Commission has made 

 rqjresentations respecting the further protection of game of all kinds, 



