THE LEAGUE OE AMERICAN SPORTSMEN. 



397 



work are bound to extend. When these young 

 people grow up fully recognizing the im- 

 portance of this work and the righteousness 

 of it. because their mothers and fathers 

 have drilled it into them, then this senti- 

 ment and this good work are bound to be 

 everlasting. They will work a change that 

 means the ultimate saving of millions of 

 these birds and animals that are now on 

 the verge of destruction and that would 

 have been exterminated but for the efforts 

 and the devotion of the good men and 

 women who~ comprise the League of Amer- 

 ican Sportsmen. 



Lumber has increased in the last 10 

 years from $3 to $30 a thousand feet, ac- 

 cording to kind. It was supposed that the 

 supply was inexhaustible, but the supply 

 has diminished until it now presents a 

 serious problem for the future. As a boy, 

 in the late 70's or the early 8o's, I often 

 watched the pigeons in such numbers that 

 it would take hours for a single flock to 

 pass a given point. These birds were so 

 numerous that it seemed, as if they never 

 could be exterminated. In a few short 

 years, however, they have disappeared 

 as if they had been swallowed by a volcano 

 or an earthquake. We have seen prairie 

 chickens and quail so numerous that it did 

 not seem as if the supply could ever fail, 

 but in the region where I live to-day it is 

 not worth while to go hunting, because 

 what the pot hunter has not done before 

 the law could be enforced the storms and 

 the wet weather of the last few years have 

 practically finished. 



However, Nature is helping us. We 

 have worked up sentiment for the pro- 

 tection of these birds to such an extent 

 that there is no reason why, with the limited 

 supply we have and the protection we now 

 afford them, the number may not be ma- 

 terially increased. They are no longer 

 numerous enough to attract the hunter to 

 that section of the State, and they are bound 

 to increase. When they do come back, 

 they are going to stay and be protected. 

 It seems almost necessary in certain lo- 

 calities to put the hand of destruction on 

 the game and birds and to take from the 

 residents the game, the birds and the 

 forests before those people will open their 

 eyes to the necessity of adequate protec- 

 tion and preservation ; before they will 

 take an interest in the subject. When 

 they learn by bitter experience the mis- 

 takes they have made, then they will be- 

 gin to build up sentiment. 



There is not a newspaper of any stand- 

 ing to-day that does not believe in forest, 

 game and fish protection. In Minnesota, 

 for instance, a few years ago if a game 

 warden made an arrest he was ridiculed and 

 was practically ostracized. It was nearly 

 impossible to get a man to take the office. 



To-day, the hands of game wardens are up- 

 held and strengthened by public sentiment. 

 They can make an arrest and the news- 

 papers will pat them on the back and com- 

 pliment the magistrate who will give the 

 offender the maximum fine. (Applause.) 

 That is the sentiment not only in our com- 

 munity, but wherever proper steps have 

 been taken to create it. 



We must have practical game protection 

 and game law enforcement. In the first 

 place we must have practical laws. It 

 makes no difference what kind of laws 

 we have if we do not enforce them. 



Last winter, when I went to St. Paul, 

 Mr. Fullerton was instrumental in having 

 me made chairman of the Game Laws Com- 

 mittee. We were entitled to 9 members 

 on that committee, corresponding with 

 Congressional districts. We selected from 

 these Congressional districts men who we 

 knew were practical ' and able. Then we 

 went to work to secure the passage of the 

 best laws on the subject that we were able 

 to draft. 



When we approached the newspapers 

 we found that they had been ill advised, 

 and they spread broadcast the news that 

 certain provisions were to be embodied in 

 the law which we did not intend to put 

 in at all. The result was a strong op- 

 position from persons who did not under- 

 stand the exact provisions of the bill we 

 were asking to have enacted into law. Es- 

 pecially in the larger cities the sportsmen' 

 were much opposed to some of the pro- 

 visions, and one or 2 game clubs sent in 

 resolutions against the law. The sports- 

 men of the State who were opposed to 

 the prospective law came to me to confer 

 about it, and I assured them that the pro- 

 visions about which they complained were 

 not to be embodied in it. In that way the 

 opposition was dissipated. The result was 

 that the bill passed the Senate of Min- 

 nesota without being printed, something 

 that I never knew to occur before. We 

 introduced the bill in the Senate. It was 

 long, because it was an entirely new game 

 law. The reasons I gave why the bill 

 should not be delayed in the Senate until 

 it could be printed prevailed, and it passed 

 the Senate with but one dissenting vote. 



We introduced the bill in the House 

 and it was held up there for sundry hear- 

 ings. An effort was made among interested 

 persons, especially the pot hunters and com- 

 mission men, to defeat the law, and they 

 did succeed in having it held up in the 

 Committee for some time ; but when the 

 House organized the Committee, the bill 

 passed with only one dissenting voice. 



There were certain amendments that we 

 did not wait to add in the Senate, but that 

 were left for the House to put on. We 

 knew what they were, and it was under- 



