EDITOR’S CORNER. 
SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF 
THE: L,- AS. 
Each annual meeting of the League 
of American Sportsmen has _ been 
more successful than any of its pred- 
ecessors, and the one held at Colum- 
bus, Ohio, February toth and 11th, 
was greater than any of the others. 
Twenty-five States were represented 
by League officers or delegates, some 
States having 3 to 4 each, making an 
aggregate of 70 rie ike represen- 
tatives. 
The Gata of 20 States ap- 
pointed our officers as official sponsors 
for the States as well as for the 
League. 
We have always heretofore been 
aLle to transact all the business that 
came before the meeting in one day, 
but this time it took 2 days of close, 
systematic work to clear the docket. 
The visiting delegates without ex- 
ception reported greater progress in 
the work of securing laws, of enforc- 
ing them and of creating public sen- 
. tment during the last year, than their 
predecessors had ever given at any of 
our previous meetings. The number 
- of prosecutions has increased in most 
of the States, showing a growing ac- 
tivity on the part of the League mem- 
bers and other sportsmen in reporting 
violations of the law; and it is safe to 
say that the aggregate of fines collect- 
ed in all the States during the past year 
is at least 3 times that of any previ- 
ous year in the history of the game 
protective movement. This shows a 
growing feeling of respect for game 
and fish laws and a growing con- 
tempt for game and fish destroyers, 
on the part of judicial officers and of 
men who are drawn as jurors. Every 
man familiar with the work of game 
protection knows that up to within 
2 or 3 years it was difficult to get a 
jury anywhere in the rural districts 
that would convict a man for a viola- 
319 
tion of a game or fish law, even though 
he might plead guilty. The same may 
be said of justices of the peace. We 
all know of many cases where men 
have been taken into a justice’s court, 
charged with the unlawful taking of 
game or fish, have pleaded guilty and 
have been discharged by the Justice 
without punishment. 
That. time has passed. There is 
scarcely a judicial officer in the land 
to-day who does not know that the 
public at large expects and demands 
that men who break the laws regard- 
ing the protection of fish and game 
must be dealt with just as severely 
as men who violate any section of the 
penal code, and there are thousands 
.of such officers who now give such 
offenders the maximum penalty when 
proven guilty. 
It is no exaggeration to say that 
this change of sentiment on the part 
of the justices, the judges of the high- 
er courts and of the general public, is 
due to the educational work carried 
on by the League of American Sports- 
men during the past 7 years. We have 
had a great deal of help in this from 
kindred societies, but the League has 
been on the firing line all the time. It 
has borne the brunt of the battle and 
has swept away one line after another 
of the enemy. The other and more 
conservative socicties have helped to 
hold the ground gained by the League. 
The Governor of Ohio and the 
Mayor of Columbus attended the 
League banquet and welcomed the 
visitors in speeches that stirred the 
souls of all within hearing, and con- 
vinced every one that these gentlemen 
felt deeply the importance and value 
of our work. 
Many members of the Ohio Legis- 
lature were present, and several of 
these gentlemen told me, personally, 
that they were astounded at the mag- 
nitude of the gathering; at the earn-, 
