EDITOR'S CORNER. 



MORE WORK FOR SPORTSMEN. 



Here are copies of 2 very important bills 

 now pending in Congress, in the interest of 

 game protection : 



s. 6689. 



In the Senate, December 20, 1902, Mr. 

 Perkins, of California, introduced the fol- 

 lowing bill, which was read twice and re- 

 ferred to the Committee of Forest Reserva- 

 tions and the Protection of Game: 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House 

 of Representatives of the United States of 

 America in Congress assembled, That the 

 President of the United States is hereby au- 

 thorized to designate such areas in the pub- 

 lic forest reserves as should, in his opin- 

 ion, be set aside for the protection of wild 

 animals, birds and fish, and be recognized 

 as a breeding place therefor. 



Sec. 2. — That when such areas have been 

 designated as provided for in section one of 

 this act, hunting, trapping, killing or cap- 

 ture of wild animals, birds and fish upon 

 the lands and within the waters of the 

 United States within the limits of said 

 areas shall be unlawful, except under such 

 regulations as may be subscribed, from 

 time to time, by the Secretary of the In- 

 terior; and any person violating such regu- 

 lations shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 

 demeanor, and shall, upon conviction in any 

 United States court of competent jurisdic- 

 tion, be fined in a sum not exceeding one 

 thousand dollars, or be imprisoned for a 

 period not exceeding one year, or shall 

 suffer both fine and imprisonment in the 

 discretion of the court. 



Sec. 3. — That it is the purpose of this act 

 to protect from trespass the public lands 

 of the United States and the wild animals, 

 birds and fish which may be thereon, and 

 not to interfere with the operation of the 

 local game laws as affecting private, State, 

 or Territorial lands. 



h. r. 16,060. 



In the House of Representatives, Decem- 

 ber 15, 1902, Mr. McRae introduced the 

 following bill, which was referred to the 

 Committee on Public Lands and ordered 

 printed : 



A Bill for the protection of the public for- 

 i est reserves and .national parks of the 



United States. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House 

 of Representatives of the United States of 

 America in Congress assembled. That all 

 persons employed in the forest reserve and 

 national park service of the United States 

 shall have authority to make arrests for the 

 violation of the laws and regulations re- 



lating to the forest reserves and national 

 parks, and any person so arrested shall be 

 taken before the nearest United States com- 

 missioner within whose jurisdiction the 

 reservation or national park is located for 

 trial; and upon sworn information by any 

 competent person any United States com- 

 missioner in the proper jurisdiction shall 

 issue process for the arrest of any person 

 charged with the violation of said laws and 

 regulations; but nothing herein contained 

 shall be construed as preventing the arrest 

 by any officer of the United States without 

 process of any person taken in the act of 

 violating said laws and regulations. 



It now becomes necejssary for every 

 sportsman in the United States to write 

 his Senator and Representative in Congress, 

 urging favorable action on these bills. 

 Every thoughtful and observing man knows 

 that unless a number of national game pre- 

 serves are established in the near future, 

 the big game of this country will soon be 

 extinct. Senator Perkins's bill provides for 

 such game preserves in any of the forest 

 reserves in the West. 



Mr. McRae's bill proposes an important 

 addition to the effectiveness of the force 

 of forest rangers already employed to look 

 after these reserves. At present these men 

 have no authority to arrest a man accused 

 of hunting without a license, of killing 

 game out of season, of starting a forest 

 fire, or of committing any other crime, 

 without first obtaining a warrant. In many 

 cases this means a ride of 50 to 200 miles, 

 and the accused meantime has every op- 

 portunity to escape. The forest rangers 

 should be authorized to arrest law breakers 

 whenever and wherever found, without a 

 warrant. 



In writing your Congressmen and Sena- 

 tors, please refer to these bills by number, 

 as given above. You should attend to this 

 at once. There is no time to lose. 



DON'T KILL THE SQUIRRELS. 

 I agree with you on game questions ex- 

 cept that of killing squirrels. There I fail 

 to note the difference. 



J. E. Jones, Atoka, I. T. 



ANSWER. 



If you could take a walk with me in Cen- 

 tral park and watch the gray squirrels 

 there for an hour, I think you would read- 

 ily see the difference between killing these 

 animals and such others as deer, bears, 

 lynxes, rabbits, and such birds as quails, 

 prairie chickens, ruffed grouse, wild tur- 

 keys, etc. Of course, almost any wild ani- 



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