478 



RECREA TION. 



civilized countries. The Street Commis- 

 sioners go to people in this city almost 

 every month, and say " You must move out 

 of your house. We are going to tear it 

 down and lay out a street where it now 

 stands." This sounds like savagery, to the 

 owner of this home, but the new street or 

 road is needed by the general public, and 

 the interests of the one man must give way 

 for the good of the many. 



As I have said before, I realize that in 

 making this statement, I incur your dis- 

 pleasure, and perhaps your ill will. Not 

 only this, but I incur the displeasure of your 

 neighbors, as well. If so, then let it be so. 

 I am acting for the good of the people at 

 large, and must abide by the consequences, 

 whatever they may be. — Editor. 



WHY WE PUT EASTERN MEN ON GUARD. 



Mr. T. G. Flower, of Butte, Mont, has 

 written a criticism on the plan of organiza- 

 tion of the L. A. S. He complains that the 

 West has not had proper recognition, in 

 the distribution of the offices. His com- 

 plaint would appear, at first sight, to be 

 entirely valid and his objections well taken, 

 but I have explained to him, in the follow- 

 ing letter, the reasons for organizing the 

 League as we have. 



" I do not believe, from the tone of your 

 letter, you have read the Constitution and 

 by-laws carefully. If you had you would 

 have had' no occasion to write as you have. 



" If you will look over this document, 

 you will see that as soon as a State has 25 

 members, we organize them into a division 

 of the League and return 60 per cent, of 

 the membership fee, to the Chief Warden 

 of such division. Then these men take en- 

 tire charge of the work of the League, in 

 their State, and the National League does 

 not assume to interfere with them in any 

 way. Your division would look after the 

 procuring of such legislation as you might 

 desire, and the enforcement of such laws as 

 you have, or may be able to procure the 

 enactment of. 



" The National League of course retains 

 the other 40 per cent, of membership fees, 

 originating in your State, and with this 

 money, it conducts the work of the Na- 

 tional Organization. In the first place it 

 provides the printed documents, of a gen- 

 eral character, which w T ill be delivered to 

 the various State divisions in such quanti- 

 ties as may be desired. The officers thus 

 far are advancing money out of their own 

 pockets for this printing and for the manu- 

 facturing of badges, etc. These latter will 

 be sold to the members, individually, and 

 thus we shall be reimbursed. The Chief 

 Warden of Montana will have the appoint- 

 ment of your county game wardens and 

 their assistants. These are to be offered a 

 reward of $10 for each conviction for a 

 violation of your State game laws. The 



Constitution provides that these rewards 

 shall be paid out of your division treasury, 

 in so far as possible, but should the de- 

 mand at first exceed the amount you may 

 have on hand, then the National Treasurer 

 is to come to your relief. 



" The National Committee on local or- 

 ganization will simply give advice and 

 ideas as to how best to recruit the mem- 

 bership in your State. They will not dic- 

 tate measures to you, but will simply un- 

 dertake to help you. 



" The general officers, as you know, are 

 to constitute the executive committee of 

 the National League. It is necessary for 

 these men to be in constant consultation. 

 We are holding almost daily meetings for 

 the purpose of advising together and of 

 planning the work. This being the case it 

 was necessary that, for the first year at 

 least, the majority of these officers should 

 live in the East and close together, in or- 

 der that they might be in constant touch. 



" Suppose we had distributed these offi- 

 cers, throughout the United States. How 

 could we have had an executive meeting, 

 even once a month? In such a case, it 

 would have been impossible to have got- 

 ten the executive committee together more 

 than once a year. 



" We placed one vice-president in Wyo- 

 ing, as you know. We should have been 

 glad to have placed the other 4 in Mon- 

 tana, Washington, California, and New 

 Mexico, for instance; but for reasons 

 stated above, this would have been imprac- 

 ticable. 



" We are profiting by the 18 years experi- 

 ence of the L. A. W. This organization, is, 

 as you know, eminently successful, and we 

 can certainly afford to take advice from its 

 officers. They have always been bunched 

 in the East, and while they have done a 

 great deal of hard work, yet all the local 

 work has been done by the State officers." 



THE NEW YORK DIVISION IN THE FIELD. 



124 Fifth Avenue, New York. 



Editor Recreation: Reports received 

 from many different localities in this State 

 show conclusively that the numerous mem- 

 bers of the L. A. S. have thoroughly 

 grasped the question of game protection, 

 and in the future we can safely look not 

 only for a better enforcement of the laws 

 but for attendant result in a large increase 

 in all kinds of game and game fishes. 



In accordance with the constitution and 

 by-laws, which provide for the appoint- 

 ment of a local game warden in each and 

 every county of this State, I have sent to 

 all members of the New York Division a 

 letter requesting the names of men who, 

 in the opinion of the gentlemen so ad- 

 dressed, are thoroughly qualified to act as 

 wardens and who, if appointed, would 

 faithfully perform their duties. 



