THE GAME BREEDER 



119 



Congress should not be stampeded by 

 professional game law lobbyists. It 

 should investigate the subject carefully 

 before making any ill-advised laws pre- 

 venting the sale of food. We are sur- 

 prised that there should be any opposition 

 to a game breeding industry which it is 

 admitted will make game very cheap in 

 all of the markets. Mr. Burnham's rea- 

 son why the game is so cheap in England 

 is amusing. 



Mr. Burnham's statement before the 

 Congressional committee is so interesting 

 and amusing that we believe our readers 

 will enjoy reading it in full. It is printed 

 on another page. The idea of sports- 

 men having to pay for their ammunition 

 when they go to a pheasant (?) drive 

 on Andrew Carnegie's grouse shoot in- 

 dicates that the place is quite as demo- 

 cratic as such places are in America. We 

 fail to see why Mr. Burnham complains 

 of the hardship, or what bearing his com- 

 plaint has on the bill under discussion, 

 intended to prevent the sale or "having 

 in possession" of game birds in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia. 



WHY NOT A BUREAU OF GAME? 



The National Fancier and Breeder 

 urges its readers to write to their sena- 

 tors and congressmen urging that the 

 Government establish a rabbit raising bu- 

 reau. The Game Breeder endorses this 

 idea but suggests that it be enlarged and 

 that the bureau be termed the U. S. 

 Bureau of Game. The pheasants, ducks, 

 wild turkeys and other birds desirable 

 for human food and the elk, deer, ante- 

 lope and other big game animals owned 

 by breeders are now being produced in 

 large numbers and it would seem that 

 these foods which are inexpensively rear- 

 ed by those who know how are quite as 

 important as the rabbits which no doubt 

 just now occupy an important place on 

 our food map. We hope the National 

 Fancier and Breeder will amend its pro- 

 gram and go in for a bureau of game 

 with a big rabbit department. There are 

 no department or government officials 

 apparently in Washington who take any 

 interest in game as food. The little at- 

 tention given to the subject has been in 



the direction of tabulating the thousands 

 of game laws which until recently made 

 food production criminal strange as 

 such crime may appear. 



There is an excellent U. S. Bureau 

 of Fisheries. Let us by all means have 

 a good U. S. Bureau of Game and in two 

 years at the outside we believe all of the 

 people will have all of the game they 

 can eat at prices surprisingly small. The 

 rabbit breeders and the game breeders 

 should work together and if they can 

 have the encouragement of a bureau of 

 game we are quite sure the results will 

 be fine. 



Good statesmanship requires such gov- 

 ernmental aid; small politics may keep 

 up an opposition to the industry. 



A FEW THINGS. 



We want to know a few things. 



Provided the migratory bird bill be- 

 comes a law can the owners and breeders 

 of migratory wild fowl (or the descend- 

 ants of fowl which once migrated and 

 would do so again if given the chance) 

 have such birds in possession? 



Can they sell and ship such birds ? 



Can they have the eggs of such birds 

 in possession? 



Can they sell and ship eggs ? 



Can they trap migratory birds for 

 breeding purposes, provided the state of- 

 ficers permit them to do so ? 



Can they do any of these things if 

 state laws permit the industry referred 

 to? 



We doubt if many sportsmen or game 

 breeders, excepting readers of The Game 

 Breeder, ever knew or ever will know or 

 understand the terms of the migratory 

 bill. It seems certain that few people 

 will ever know the numerous criminal 

 regulations which are or will be made by 

 those to whom Congress delegates its 

 crime making power, until they happen 

 to get arrested for having food birds in 

 their possession or for some other ab- 

 surd crime. 



We are expecting some shipments of 

 teal and other migratory fowl for breed- 

 ing purposes. We propose to breed a 

 lot of game and donate it to hospitals 

 which entertain soldiers and sailors com- 



