THE GAME BREEDER 



ll'^ 



by the proper authorities (jf that Province 

 within the general dates and hmitations else- 

 where prescribed in this' convention for the 

 respective groups to which these birds belong. 

 Article IV. 



The High Contracting Powers agree that 

 special protection shall be given the wood 

 duck and the eider duck either (1) by a close 

 season extending over a period of at least 

 five years, or (2) by the establishment of 

 refuges, or (3) by such other regulations as 

 may be deemed appropria'te. 

 Article V. 



The taking of nests or eggs of migratory 

 game or insectivorous or nongame birds shall 

 be prohibited, except for scientific or propa- 

 gating purposes under such laws or regula- 

 tions as the High Contracting Powers may 

 severally deem appropriate. 

 Article VI. 



The High Contracting Powers agree that 

 the shipment or export of migratory birds or 

 their eggs from any State or Province, dur- 

 ing the continuance of the close season in 

 such State or Province, shall be prohibited 

 except for scientific or propagating purposes, 

 and the international traffic m any birds or 

 eggs at such time captured, killed, taken, or 

 shipped at any time contrary to the laws of 

 the State or Province in which the same were 

 captured, killed, taken, or shipped shall be 

 likewise prohibited. Every package contain- 

 ing migratory birds or any parts thereof or 

 any eggs of migratory birds transported, or 

 offered for transportation from the Dominion 

 of Canada into the United States or from the 

 United States into the Dominion of Canada, 

 shall have the name and address of the ship- 

 per and an accurate statement of the con- 

 tents clearly marked on the outside of such 

 package. 



Article VII. 



Permits to kill any of the above-named birds 

 which, under extraordinary conditions, may 

 become seriously injurious to the agricultural 

 or other interests in any particular commu- 

 nity, may be issued by the proper authorities 

 of the High Contracting Powers under suit- 

 able regulations prescribed therefor by them 

 respectively, but such permits shall lapse, or 

 may be cancelled, at any time when, in the 

 opinion of said authorities, the particular exi- 

 gency has passed, and no birds killed under 

 this article shall be shipped, sold, or offered 

 for sale. 



Article VIII. 



The High Contracting Powers agree them- 

 selves to take, or propose to their respective 

 appropriate law-making bodies, the necessary 

 measures for insuring the execution of the 

 present convention. 



Article IX. 



The present Convention shall be ratified by 

 the President of the United' States of Amer- 

 ica, by and with the advice and consent of 

 the Senate thereof, and by His Britannic Maj- 

 esty. The ratifications shall be exchanged at 



I 



Washington as soon as possible and the Con- 

 vention shall take effect on the date of the 

 exchange of the ratifications. It shall re- 

 main in force for fifteen years, and in the 

 event of neither of the High Contracting 

 Powers having given notification, twelve 

 months before the expiration of said period 

 of fifteen years, of its intention of termin- 

 ating its operation, the Convention shall con- 

 tinue to remain in force for one year and so 

 on from year to year. 



In faith whereof, the respective Plenipo- 

 tentiaries have signed the present Convention 

 in duplicate and have hereunto affixed their 

 seals. 



Done at Washington this sixteenth day of 

 August, one thousand nine hundred and six- 

 teen. 



[seal] Robert Lansing. 



[seal] Cecil Spring Rice. 



A Note on the Treaty. 



The animus of those who secured the 

 treaty with Canada in order to bolster up 

 an unconstitutional law seems evident 

 when we read in the treaty, Article IV. 

 the suggestion that a close season be 

 placed on woodduck. To close the wood- 

 duck season means to put an end to a 

 promising food-producing industry. 



Article VII is probably the most re- 

 markable of all the provisions of the 

 treaty. It provides that permits may 

 be granted to kill the birds protected 

 when they are injurious to agriculture. 

 "but no birds killed under this article 

 shall be shipped, sold or offered for sale." 



The animosity against the sale of de- 

 sirable foods seems to amount to a de- 

 mentia with the few game law enthusiasts 

 who seek to relieve Congress of its law- 

 making duties. 



The treaty actually provides for and 

 makes necessary a shocking waste ot 

 liighly desirable food. 



Recently wild ducks are reported l<> 

 have done so much damage to the rice- 

 growers of California that they appealed 

 to the State game officers for relief. 



By the terms of the treaty the food 

 birds killed under i)ermits granted to 

 stop the damage to rice must be left on 

 the ground to rot. They can not bi- 

 "shipped, sold or offered for sale." 



Long we have known that those who 

 originally proposed the migratory bird 

 law are opposed to the sale of game as 

 food. We regret to see the good work 



