THE DISAPPEAEANCE OF WILD LIFE 57 



that it is impossible to frame laws that will suit all parties and 

 all sections. Above and beyond all the real sportsman is in favor 

 of giving the wild birds, some kind of a fair show and a square 

 deal, for he well knows that they are at a great disadvantage not 

 only in the field, but also on account of not being represented 

 when bird and game laws are being considered, or when bag 

 limits and open and closed seasons are being discussed. The 

 success or failure of our game protection laws depends largely 

 on the kind of men behind the guns. Law or no law, the right- 

 minded sportsmen, old and young, do not need restrictive legis- 

 lation to control their actions, or regulate their hunting and fish- 

 ing methods, and there would be no need of game wardens, if the 

 majority of so-called "sportsmen" were earnestly and honestly 

 in favor of game and fish protection and preservation. Mr. 

 Hornaday says : 



"It is now a thoroughly established principle in every State that the 

 wild game is public property, and belongs to the people, and not wholly 

 and exclusively to the sportsmen and hunters. Posterity has claims 

 which no real sportsman can ignore, and he has no moral or legal right 

 to exterminate a valuable wild species of living things, thereby depriving 

 the generations that will come after us, of their usefulness and the 

 pleasure they afford." 



During recent years wild game has been at a great disad- 

 vantage and birds are getting less and less chance to escape the 

 hunters. In some instances game laws have been changed and 

 amendments adopted to facilitate killing, and in favor of the 

 hunters instead of the hunted. Makers of fire-arms and ammumi- 

 tion have taxed their ingenuity to make killing easier, especially 

 for the amateur sportsman. Over one hundred thousand auto- 

 matic and pump guns are made and sold every year. The use 

 of automobiles and motor boats by sportsmen and hunters, is of 

 the greatest assistance in aiding them to take still greater ad- 

 vantage of the game. It is a deplorable fact, that in the name of 

 sport, game and other valuable wild life is now being ex- 

 terminated by machinery and motor power, according to law, 

 although the officials of some of the principal gun clubs in the 

 United States, do not approve of these methods or the use of bird 

 killing machinery. They are also in favor of abolishing market 

 hunting altogether, and many of them have cut out spring shoot- 

 ing. 



The game birds and animals of Texas are among the most 

 valuable assets of this State. For many years past Texas has 

 been advertised as "The Sportsmen's Paradise'' and this has been 

 the means of attracting hundreds of visiting capitalists, investors 

 and new settlers. Evidently our legislators have not fully realized 



