76 New York State 



legal restrictions for proper control of our streams, may be judged 

 by the fact that boats plying upon river and lake waters have been 

 frequently seen to indulge in the practice of throwing over-board 

 sweepings, rubbish, broken packing-cases, garbage, and other waste 

 materials. The practice has become in some rivers so general that 

 one may regularly find upon the bank at certain points broken boxes, 

 spoiled fruit and other remnants from the kitchen department of 

 river boats These things are not only an offense against general 

 decency, but render the river unsightly and constitute a damage to 

 which property owners justly object, and in which their objections 

 should be reasonably supported by the community at large. The 

 damage wrought in this way may on the whole be small, but it is 

 conspicuous and it is also certainly conducive to the formation of 

 a false public sentiment, so that it should be not only discouraged 

 but stringently forbidden. Definite action in such cases, and the 

 discussion of the situation in the public press, will do much to 

 formulate the right public opinion and pave the way for a broader 

 conception of public rights and for the support of public officials in 

 protecting those rights. I would, therefore, recommend that steps 

 be taken to introduce and enforce appropriate legislation. This 

 should make it a misdemeanor: I. for persons, corporations, or 

 municipalities to throw rubbish, animals dead or alive, waste paper, 

 boxes, etc., into any lake or stream ; 2. for any boat to dump garbage, 

 sweepings, waste or rubbish of any sort into a lake or river. 



Necessary to Enlist All Influences 



Finally, it seems to me that the Conservation Commission should 

 organize an educational campaign and acquaint the citizens of the 

 state far and wide with the value of their aquatic resources, the 

 dangers that are faced by virtue of the increasing pollution of 

 streams, and the means that should be taken to eliminate these 

 troubles. It is imperative not only to restore the streams to their 

 primitive condition and to make them again as beautiful and useful 

 as in the past, but, also, to develop the aquatic resources so that 

 they shall be a source of greater pleasure and profit to the individual 

 citizen and to the state. In this educational campaign, every effort 

 should be made to enlist all possible agencies in the work. The 

 regular educational forces of the state should be called upon to 

 contribute their share to the movement. There is now conducted 

 at various times in the educational program of all schools and col- 

 leges considerable work on natural history, on the resources of the 

 state, and on its plants and animals. The attention of teachers 

 should be called to the importance of indicating at the proper points 



