158 ROMANCE OF THE BEAVER 
was after all for a good purpose, for well enough 
they knew that unless the beaver was protected. 
it would be but a few years before they would be 
a thing of the past, gone to join the dodo and 
others that used to be. So they took their 
medicine like men, but when they saw that the 
park was being used for trapping purposes, and 
that the skins were being sold by the Government, 
their spirits rose in rebellion. More especially 
when they themselves as employees of the park 
had to take part in trapping the animals. They 
were for the most part quite willing to forego 
their share of beavers’ skins if the beaver was 
to be really protected, but they do not see the 
fairness of the present situation, and the result is 
that men who otherwise would have honestly 
observed laws which were for the welfare of the 
greater number are now in many instances doing 
their best to get a share of the spoils. They do 
not see that it is any longer a question of honour, 
for if beaver may be killed, why should not they 
as well as anyone else, reap the benefit? Laws 
relating to wild animals in a great country which 
has so small a population and so much wild land 
can only be of real value if they are in accordance 
with popular opinion, but just as soon as the public 
considers a law unfair the difficulties of enforcing 
that law become practically insurmountable. What 
I have written is not a matter of theory, but is the 
result of observation and conversation with the 
