RESULTS OF BEAVERS’ WORK 161 
tunity and practically every colony would have been 
sacked within a very few months, and small indeed 
would have been the number of survivors. How 
to devise a sound scheme which would be fair on both 
trapper and beaver is no easy task. But the Govern- 
ment has been so careful and far-sighted in its game 
laws, having set a standard which might well be 
considered by other countries, that I offer these 
suggestions with due humility in the hope that 
they may do some good. To open up a definite 
tract of country for a certain period has the 
disadvantage that it would mean the killing off of 
every beaver in that tract, and would entail a great 
deal of expense to the Government in the way of 
patrols in order to prevent poaching in the closed 
territory. Probably the soundest scheme would 
be to licence every trapper, and furnish him with a 
limited number of labels, one to be attached to 
every beaver skin before allowing it to be sold. 
This would serve the double purpose of limiting the 
number of beaver killed, and keeping track of the 
total amount with the least expense. Of course it 
would be necessary to make the selling of any un- 
labelled skins absolutely illegal, with punishment 
severe enough to make it effective. Imprisonment 
alone could do that, as the penalty would be most 
likely to fall on those to whom the very name of 
prison is most appalling. The number of labels 
issued should be strictly limited with due reference 
to the number of beaver. No beaver should be 
R.B. M 
