Conservation Commission. 15 



streams to a point where the oldtime standard shall change. By 

 that, of course, is not meant that there shall be any relaxation of 

 vigilance and determination to bring habitual and wilful violators 

 of the law to justice, for as the chief protector says, " Every time 

 the game law is violated with impunity, the moral sense of the 

 violator is weakened and his respect for the law is lessened." And 

 touching on the necessity for the moral support of the general 

 public in the work of law enforcement, he adds : " But, if the sense 

 of the community in which he resides is in favor of a strict enforce- 

 ment of the law, the breaker of that law will be severely judged by 

 his associates." However, until public cooperation in the enforce- 

 ment of the law shall have become more general and active, the 

 efficiency of protectors must be to a large extent based on the num- 

 ber of convictions secured; and, until that time the hands of the 

 protective department should be strengthened in this State. An 

 increased number of protectors is urgently required. There should 

 be at least one in every county and several protectors in the coun- 

 ties where the fish and game are most abundant and the largest 

 number of violations of the law necessarily occur. From all over 

 the State come demands for increased protection for fish and game 

 which the Commission is unable to meet without legislation in- 

 creasing the total number of protectors. 



It is gratifying to report that during the year chapter 256 of the 

 Laws of 1910, for the protection of wild birds in this State, the so- 

 called plumage law, attacked by the plumage interests as uncon- 

 stitutional on the chief ground that the Legislature had no right 

 to classify birds into families, was upheld by the United States 

 Circuit Court in New York, and the Attorney-General's interpre- 

 tation of the law sustained. 



The utility and effectiveness of the so-called Bayne-Blauvelt 

 Law, prohibiting the sale of game (with certain exceptions), with 

 a view to the increase of game, is now on trial. All lovers of 

 recreation in forest, field and stream show a disposition to co- 

 operate with the Commission in making the test an instructive and 

 useful one. The general experience of the protectors is that the 

 anti-sale law is very helpful to the service and in itself a valuable 

 protection to the wild game of the State. The Cold Storage Law 

 and the Sullivan Law also come in for a similar commendation. 



