LET US SAVE THE BIRDS. 



Speech of Hon. John F. Lacey, in the House of Representatives- 



1 he House being in Committee of the Whole on the 

 state of the Union, and having under consideration the bill 

 ( li. R. 6634) to enlarge the powers of the Department of 

 Agriculture, prohibit the transportation by interstate 

 commerce of game killed in violation of local laws, and 

 lor ot ler purposes. 



Mr. Chairman: This bill is one that has 

 attracted a great deal of interest in various 

 sections of the country. Horticulturists, 

 agriculturists, and lovers of birds every- 

 where, as well as the League ot Ameri- 

 can Sportsmen, and others interested in 

 game and the protection of game all over 

 the United States, have been strongly en- 

 listed in its support. 



Briefly, the bill provides for a few pur- 

 poses only. First, it authorizes the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture to utilize his depart- 

 ment for the reintroduction of birds that 

 have become locally extinct or are becom- 

 ing so in some parts of the Unitev. States. 

 There are some kinds of insectivorous 

 birds and some kinds of game birds, that 

 heretofore were abundant in many locali- 

 ties, which have become very scarce in- 

 deed, and in some localities entirely exter- 

 minated. The wild pigeon, formerly in 

 this country in flocks of millions, has en- 

 tirely disappeared from tl-- face of the 

 earth. Some hopeful enthusiasts have 

 claimed that the pigeon would again be 

 heard from in South America, but there 

 seems to me no well grounded basis for 

 this hope. In some localities certain kinds 

 of grouse have almost entirely disappeared. 

 This bill gives the Secretary of Agriculture 

 power to aid in the reintroduction, which, 

 I think, will prove a useful adjunct to the 

 action of the States which have under- 

 taken the preservation of the u tive wild 

 birds. 



The next purpose in the bill is to allow 

 the Secretary of Agriculture to control the 

 importation of foreign wild birds and for- 

 eign \.-id animals. If this law had been in 

 force at the time the mistake was made 

 in the introduction of the English sparrow, 

 we should have been spared from the pesti- 

 lential existence of that "rat of the air," 

 that vermin of the atmosphere. But some 

 gentlemen v\.o thought they knew better 

 than anybody else, what the country need- 

 ed, saw fit to import these little pests, and 

 they have done much toward driving the 

 native wild bird life out of the States. This 

 bill provides that the Secretary may pre- 

 vent the importation of the fruit bat, or 

 the flying fox, the English sparrow, the 

 starling, and other birds of that kind, 

 which, in his discretion, he may regard as 

 detrimental. 



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The necessity for a provision of this 

 kind is obvious. The mongoose, a mis- 

 erable, murderous animal that was intro- 

 duced for the purpose of killing snakes in 

 Jamaica — by the way, one member of the 

 House asked me the other day what kind 

 of a bird the mongoose was [laughter] — 

 the mongoose has proved a nuisance and a 

 pest worse than the serpent that it kills. It 

 drove the rats in Jamaica to the trees, and 

 the rat now there has become an arboreal 

 animal. The rat still exists and keeps out 

 of the way of the mongoose. 3ut the 

 birds of the island have been almost de- 

 stroyed by this imported pest. A proper 

 control on the part of the Secretary of 

 Agriculture would prevent the importa- 

 tion of injurious foreign animals. Some 

 gentlemen in California have suggested the 

 propriety of introducing the fruit bat or 

 the flying fox there, and this bill would 

 prevent their importation. They would 

 prove a, great a nuisance as the English 

 rabbits in Australia and the Scotch this- 

 tle in Canada. Some patriotic son of 

 Scotland wanted to see if the ^Sstle would 

 grow in Canada. He tried it, and there 

 is no disoute about it now. It grows in 

 Canada. 



There is a compensation in the distribu- 

 tion of plants, birds, and animals by the 

 God of nature. Man's attempt to change 

 and interfere often leads to serious results. 

 The French pink was introduced as a 

 flower in Oregon, and it has spread 

 throughout the wheat fields and become 

 an injury to agriculture. The English 

 yard plantain has become a great evil in 

 New Zealand. 



Rabbits were introduced in Australia, 

 and to-day the most persistent efforts are 

 necessary to keep them within endurable 

 limits. The Russian thistle is spreading 

 with great rapidity in the Dakotas, and 

 though this plant has finally proved to 

 have some value for forage, yet the peo- 

 ple of the Northwest would be glad if that 

 plant had never found a footing in that re- 

 gion. 



It is important that the introduction of 

 foreign wild birds and animals should be 

 under comoetent legal supervision, and 

 this bill will accomplish that result. 



The next proposition in the bill, and 

 that is the vital one of all, is to prohibit 

 interstate commerce in birds and wild 

 game — that is, insectivorous, useful birds, 

 and wild game birds, and wild game of 

 any kind killed in violation of local laws. 

 Take the State of Georgia, that has enact- 



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