130 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 
will be far more efficient and fewer men will be needed to enforce the 
laws. 
It is a common thing for people to abuse the Game Department 
and the‘r employes, and accuse them of not doing their duty, and these 
same people would not turn a hand to help the warden and in most 
cases their help and sympathy would be given to the violator. 
When a citizen has confided to the game warden that his neighbor 
has violated the law, and extracted a promise that the warden will 
not reveal who told him, then if the warden fails to ‘‘land’’ him, he 
is often said to have not done his duty. Never giving a thought to 
the forces working against the warden, as I have mentioned before, the 
violator himself and all his friends and sympathizers, and when he 
becomes aware you are after him, your job is a hard one. If he is an 
amateur, it might scare him out; if not, he will change his system. 
With all these things to contend with and one warden to about 25,000 
people, the work is not all sunshine. 
While conditions have improved, in the past and in many places, 
it is yet a fact that the warden’s troubles have only begun when he 
catches his man. It takes strong evidence to convict, and no matter 
how aggravated the case he will always plead ‘‘extenuating cireum- 
stances.’’ No matter what you have been told or know, you probably 
can prove but one charge. He will declare it the only violation he 
ever committed and was a ‘‘victim of circumstances’’ in this case. 
Friends will intercede for him,—and I have actually known people 
who complained of violations to assist the violator when caught. The 
warden is indeed unlucky who makes a slight mistake in handling a 
case or does anything capital can be made of. There are those, always 
watching, to try to make it appear that the warden has done a great 
injustice to the defendant. These tales grow as they travel, and if 
game wardens really did all the things I have heard of them doing, 
they would be a ‘‘hard outfit.’’ 
Conditions are improving slowly all the time, but if a majority of 
our people really took the interest in game protection they should take, 
much better results would be accomplished. Too many people who ery 
for game protection only want it protected from the other fellow, and 
it too often depends on who has been caught whether their sympathies 
are with the warden or the other fellow. 
Since I have been connected with this department, our resources 
have been so limited that we could not get the best results. There is 
often work in certain localities that is impossible for the local man 
to do, because the violator gets better co-operation from a majority of 
the people than the warden does. The local warden has information 
and knows what is being done, but needs special help to get positive 
evidence. I believe much good can be done by concentrating forees in 
certain districts where needed. Clean up that district, then take up 
another. 
Police work is most important in the preservation of our game 
today. I believe in education, but the good in this line can mostly be 
done by educating children and younger people. This work will bring 
results in the future. It is the game hog who is exterminating the 
game. He will talk game protection to you all day and when your 
back is turned, will kill everything in sight, or if he cannot kill enough 
himself, will often hire someone to kill some more. Education is a 
waste of time if spent on these. Nothing but fear of the law will 
make game protectionists of this class. 
