THE REFERENDUM 



379 



turned from the Philippine Islands, where I have 

 been for a period of about two years, during part 

 of which time 1 acted as interpreter for my father, 

 who is Lieut. Col. G. F. Chase of the Twelfth 

 Cavalry. 



Having been asked by a great many sportsmen 

 about the hunting in the Philippine Islands, I have 

 determined to write the story of one of the deer 

 hunts I went on while in the Orient, and, if you 

 wish them, I can send you articles on "Mindoro," 

 one of the least known of the Philippines; this 

 would be based on personal observation and the 

 official records of the first party of white men to 

 cross this wild tropical island, on which live a species 

 of water buffalo not found in any other part of the 

 world. 



I accompanied the troops of the Twelfth Cavalry 

 on nearly every "hike" they went on. 

 Yours truly, 



Geo. McClellan Chase. 



STRIVING FOR IDEAL LAWS. 



The United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, Division of the Biological Survey, 

 has issued a very instructive bulletin — its 

 No. is 47 and its title is "Recommendations 

 of State Game Commissioners and Wardens 

 of 1905." 



In the introduction it is stated that the 

 general interest in game protection, etc., is 

 responsible for an immense volume of game 

 legislation in the United States. Probably in 

 no other country in the world are more game 

 laws enacted or more frequent changes pro- 

 posed. It is not uncommon for more than 

 100 game laws to be passed in a single year, 

 and sometimes 25 or 50 will be enacted by a 

 single State where local laws are the rule. 

 In 1905 thirty-seven State legislatures con- 

 vened during the month of January; those of 

 Hawaii and Porto Rico met in February ; 

 and those of Florida and Georgia will meet 

 in April and June, respectively. In nearly all 

 of these States and Territories amendments 

 to the game laws have been or will be under 

 consideration. Some of these amendments 

 will become laws, others will not, but all are 

 more or less important in showing the 

 progress of game legislation, those that fail 

 no less than those that pass. Although com- 

 pilations of game laws are common, no at- 

 tempt has apparently ever been made to com- 

 pile or digest the immense number of game 

 bills introduced or to determine the number 

 which are of merely local or individual im- 

 portance ; nor has there been any attempt to 

 ascertain to what extent the bills considered 

 were based on recommendations of game 

 officials. 



Among the recommendations are several 

 contemplating the shortening of the open 

 season, or the making of a closed season for 

 several years, or a reduction in the bag. The 

 States making such proposals are Arizona, 

 New Mexico, California, Maine, and Ten- 

 nessee. 



Evidently, in each of these States there is 

 an urgent necessity for extra protection. 

 Oregon proposes to go even further than 

 these other States, and may protect her elk 



for ten years by a rigorous closed season. 



It is felt by many of the States that shore 

 birds are inadequately protected. Delaware 

 and New Jersey are agitating the prohibition 

 of summer woodcock shooting — a relic of the 

 dark ages that should never have survived 

 into the twentieth century. 



Waterfowl need protection in the spring, 

 when they are about to rear their young 

 And there is a very, healthy feeling in most 

 States regarding a prohibitive law of this na- 

 ture. 



Bag Limits. — Arizona proposes to limit the 

 number of doves which may be killed to .so 

 in one day; California to reduce the bag 

 limit on cloves and ducks from 50 to 25 per 

 day; California, Michigan, and Minnesota 

 agree in recommending that the number of 

 deer allowed each hunter be reduced from 3 

 to 2 in a season. Montana wishes to reduce 

 the number of deer from 6 to 3 and the num- 

 ber of mountain goats from 6 to 1. Colorado 

 proposes a limit of one each for elk, ante- 

 lope, and mountain sheep ; Delaware urges 

 the establishment of bag limits on game, 

 Idaho a reduction in the number of game 

 birds from 18 to 12 per day; Minnesota a 

 change in the bag limit, and North Dakota a 

 change in the number of prairie chickens and 

 grouse from 25 of each to 25 of both. 



Sale. — Extension of present restrictions to 

 cover sale of all game are made by Arizona, 

 Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Okla- 

 homa, and Utah. California proposes to stop 

 the sale of doves, rail, and snipe; New Mex- 

 ico sale of big game, pheasants, doves, quail, 

 and waterfowl ; and Oregon sale of upland 

 birds for five years. Pennsylvania suggests 

 changes to meet evasions of the present laws. 



Licenses. — More attention is given to li- 

 censes than to any other one feature, recom- 

 mendations concerning them being made by 

 18 different States. Arizona proposes a $10 

 non-resident license for hunting deer and 

 turkey; Maine a $5 non-resident license for 

 hunting plover in August and all birds in 

 September, a $15 license for hunting all game 

 in October and November, and a license for 

 residents ; Delaware and Montana a license 

 for unnaturalized foreigners; Massachusetts 

 a $10 license for unnaturalized "foreigners 

 with photograph of licensee; Oklahoma resi- 

 dent and non-resident licenses; Oregon a $20 

 non-resident and a $1 resident license; 

 Rhode Island a $5 license for residents and 

 non-residents alike; and Wyoming a $10 

 non-resident license for taking birds and fish 

 and a $2.50 resident license. Repeal of ex- 

 emptions under present license laws are pro- 

 posed by Colorado, Illinois, and Nebraska; 

 Michigan suggests an extension of the license 

 system to cover both hunting and fishing; 

 and New Hampshire an extension of the 

 non-resident license to cover all game. Pro- 

 visions permitting hunters to carrv home a 

 reasonable amount of game under license are 



