ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



WILD LIFE PROTECTION SUPPLEMENT 



Vol. XVI 



NOVEMBER. 1913 



No. 60 



A GREAT VICTORY FOR THE BIRDS 



CONGRESS BARS OUT OF THE UNITED STATES 

 ALL IMPORTATIONS OF WILD BIRDS' PLUMAGE 



THE United States Senate has elected 

 to preserve unbroken its record in the 

 conservation of wild life. After a pro- 

 longed and very strenuous struggle with the 

 feather trade, the friends of the birds, both 

 in and out of Congress, have won a complete 

 victory. On September '2, the Senate dem- 

 ocratic caucus voted to withdraw the 

 amendment it previously adopted to the bird- 

 protecting clause of the tariff bill, and restore 

 that measure as it was written into the tariff 

 bill by the House Committee on Ways and 

 Means. Inasmuch as there is no probability 

 that this action ever will be reversed, the 

 war with "the feather trade" may be ac- 

 acounted as terminated, in a sweeping victory 

 for the birds of the world. 



On September 3, the Washington Post 

 contained the following account of the pro- 

 ceedings in the meeting of the Senate Demo- 

 cratic caucus on the night of Oct. 2: 



For five hours last night Democratic senators fought 

 out the question of whether or not the plumage of wild 

 birds should be permitted to be imported into the I nited 

 States. The Senate committee had agreed to a modifica- 

 tion of the drastic prohibition of the House. This modi- 

 fication was denounced by the Audubon Society and other 

 lovers of birds, anxious to stop their slaughter, as tending 

 to make the House provision absolutely ineffective. 



The fight for the House provisions was led by Senators 

 Lane and Chamberlain, of Oregon. The caucus finally 

 decided to stand by the committee. The two Oregon 

 senators bolted, and others supported them. Party 

 managers then found the spirit of insurgency too strong, 

 and the House paragraph was adopted. This absolutely 

 prohibits the importation of the plumage of wild birds 

 except for scientific and educational purposes. 



The action taken by the caucus affords 

 reasons for profound congratulation. Here- 

 tofore no party lines ever have been drawn 



in Congress against birds, or other forms of 

 wild life; and the prospect that the wreck 

 of the bird-protecting clause might or might 

 not be patched up in the conference commit- 

 tee, at the Senate's expense, gave the bird 

 protectors a feeling of genuine sorrow. It 

 seemed deplorable that the Senate should, 

 for even one month, assume a position of 

 friendliness to bird slaughter, and draw party 

 lines against the birds. 



But the ship of state has righted itself, 

 and once more rests on an even keel. The 

 new tariff bill will prohibit the importation of 

 wild birds' plumage for commercial purposes, 

 no matter from what country they come, and 

 will totally abolish in the United States and 

 all its territorial possessions the odious and 

 cruel traffic in the skins and feathers of 

 slaughtered wild birds. The news of the 

 action of the Senate will give joy to millions of 

 people, all over the world, who now are 

 thinking very hard on the subject of bird- 

 destruction. 



The friends of the birds will be deeply 

 grateful to Senator George 1'. McLean, who 

 ably championed their cause in the Senate; 

 to Senators Chamberlain and Lane of Oregon, 

 who through their bold and aggressive stand 

 in the great caucus fight of September '2, 

 literally snatched a victory out of the jaws 

 of defeat; to Senator James A. O'Gorman 

 who took a position on the right side at a 

 most critical moment, and to Senators Hitch- 

 cock, John Sharp Williams, Gore, Bryan, 

 Bacon, Shiveley, and other democratic Sena- 

 tors who were in a position to make their 

 influence felt. 



