t)EO. 15, i8&3.3 



POneSlr ANt) STREAM. 



O'Meara, editor Boston Journal, H. O. Stanley, of the 

 Maine Fish Commiasion ; John W, Titcomb, oC Vermont 

 Fish Commission, and W, Sidney Downe, of Connecticut 

 Fish Commission. Fish Commissioner E, W. Gould, of 

 Searsport, Me., wrote: 



Seabsport, Me.. Dec. H.—Ricliard 0. Harding: Dear Fib— 

 Your esteemed favor exteiidiiijtaa invitation to attend ttie annual 

 dioBer of the Massac huseta Pish and Game Protective Associ- 

 ation received. It is with profound regret that, owing to adverse 

 circumstances, I am obliged to forego the pleasure of being 

 present, and desire to express my sincere appreciation of the 

 honor shown. 



In this coTineetjon permit me to say that the Dommission of Sea 

 and Shore Fisheries of Maine is under great obligations for valu- 

 able assistance rendered by the different fish and gam« associ- 

 ations, which fact in itself demonstrates tue general good that 

 would be accomplished by a harmonions working of the difterent 

 associations %vith tbe Fisu and Game Commissioners of the sev- 

 eral States. It is earnestly to be hoped i hat a unity of purpose 

 may be established and a working formula promulgated that will 

 ultimately bring abuut, tbe desired result. 



The people of New England are gradually becoming awakened 

 to the fact that tbe money expended by the different commissions 

 In the enforcemput of the laws relating to the protection of fish 

 and game is an investment for general public good-, and that the 

 sportsman eventually pays dearly for the game thatheshoois 

 and is a direct pecuniary benefit to the immediate vicinity he may 

 select as the scene of his exploits. 



This change in public sentiment is largely due to the dissemina- 

 tion of these facts through the medium of the fish and game ae- 

 sociations. That they should be fostered by the States goes with- 

 out saying. 



These associations as a rule are formed ostensibly for the sport- 

 ing element, while in realitj' the prime object is to enhance the 

 general public prosperity, as is evidenced by the stand taken by 

 thfi Old Colony Club on the so-called "'Lapham Bill" and the 

 valuable and eff^^cCive assistance rendered the States by their 

 secretary, Chas. F. Chamberlayne, Esq. 



Again regretting mv inahillty to be with you. and hoping you 

 will continue to use erlucanon as the weapon with which to eradi- 

 cate tbe remaining prejudice against the protection of fish and 

 game as beeing done wholly in the interest of sport, 



I remain very truly yours, C. A. Gould, 



After the menu had been discussed and Mr, Tom Hall 

 had 6ung a macaronic song. President Wiggin gave this 

 interesting 



REPORT OP THE YEAR'S WORK. 

 The Past. 



Our organization hegan its existence in 1874 under the 

 name of the Massachusetts Anglers' Association, 



in various localities throughout the State 3,200 birds, and 

 87 Northern hares, and for that purpose have expended 

 in round numbers $l,!iOO. 



The birds let loose have been of the following varie- 

 ties: Pinnated grouse, 349; sharp tail grouse, 146; South- 

 ern quail, 1,020; Arizona qtiail, 658; Oregon quail, .36. 



This work was started as an experiment, but reports 



M H . K D W A K 1 ) E . H A K 1 ) V . 



Obairtaan Conunlttee on Enforcement of the Game Law.-.. 



Ic was inobrporated, as set fdrth in its charter, ''for the 

 purpose of securing and enforcing proper restrictions 

 upon the taking and killing of fish, shellfish and bivalves, 

 the promotion of fishculture and the introduction of new 

 species and varieties of fish, and to disseminate informa- 

 tion relating thereto." 



Three years later the name was changed to the Massa- 

 chusetts Fish and G-ame Protective Association, and its 

 purposes were enlarged so as to include the protection 

 and propagation of game as well as of fish, shellfish and 

 bivalves. 



From its beginning the Association became actively 

 engaged in carrj'ing out the objects for which it had been 

 chartered. 



The records show that the attention of its members was 

 early directed to such subjects as the preservation of fish 

 in our inland lakes and streams, the decrease of fish in 

 Massachusetts Bay, the destruction of lobsters on our 

 coast, the preservation of trout in our streams, the seining 

 of smelts in our bays. 



That there was abundant need of action on the part of 

 some one is shown by the following lines which I have 

 copied from those records: 



"But the most important phase of the subject relates to 

 the future supply of fish. Last year (1874) we were nearly 

 deprived of smelt; full-grown lobsters are now almost un- 

 known; while trout and salmon have hardly yet, under 

 the influence of stringent protective laws for several 

 years, recovered from the effects of their almost total 

 annihilation by being caught while in spawn before the 

 laws were enforced." 



From the beginning our records show an earnest, per- 

 sistent and disinterested endeavor on the part of the Asso- 

 ciation to secure such laws as would tend to the preserva- 

 tion and increase of our useful food fishes for all the 

 people of the Commonwealth. 



Year after year committees from our Association have 

 gone to the Legislature and asked for wholesome legisla- 

 tion for the preservation of our fish and game. 



Year after year those committees have succeeded little 

 by little until at last our laws are beginning to assume 

 an efliective condition. 



These laws to-day are by no means what they should 

 be, but they are infinitely better than they were when 

 the work of this Association began. 



But our efliorts have not ended with securing better 

 laws and attending to their enforcement. 



Three years ago the Association decided to enlarge its 

 sphere of action, and entered upon the work of introduc- 

 ing into the Commonwealth new species and varieties of 

 game Mrds} and thus far we have imported and set free 



PRESIDENT GEORGE W. WTOGUf. 



received from the localities where these birds were let 

 loose indicate that it has been a decided success. 



I am informed that, following our example, similar 

 organizations to ours, in several of our sister States, have 

 taken up and are carrying on a similar work to ours. 



The Present. 



During the year just drawing to a close our Associa- 

 tion has been blessed with a continuance of that pros- 

 perity which of late has marked our career. 



At no period in our history has our organization been 

 numerically stronger or more united than at the present 

 time. 



We began the year with a membership of 507, and we 

 now carry upon our rolls 565 names. 



Our financial prosperity has also kept pace with our 

 aumerical increase. 



At the beginning of the year our available funds 

 imounted to about $2,000. They now amount to over 

 $3,000. 



There seems to be no reasonable doubt that the effect 

 of our stringent game laws has been to increase both the 

 fish and game of our State, but the experience of our 

 officers, gathered in the discharge of their duty, shows us 

 yery plainly that those laws still need amendments and 

 additions. 



The reappearance of deer in the western part of our 

 State, the present season, has brought to our attention the 

 fact that we have at present no law protecting deer in 

 this State, except in Barnstable and Plymouth counties. 



Attempts to enforce the law against the destruction of 

 quail has revealed defects in that law also, while the 

 snaring of partridge still goes on unabated, and that, too, 

 legally, 1 am sorry to say. 



These matters will need, and will undoubtedly receivp, 

 the attention of the Association during the coming year. 



Our success in the introduction of new varieties of 



which we have to encounter in the prosecution of our 

 labors. 



If we can only succeed in convincing the people at 

 large that' we are laboring not for the gratification of our 

 own selfish desires, but for the broader and higher 

 purpose of benefitting the whole community , we shall 

 make those people our allies in the enforcement of our 

 laws, instead of enemies arrayed in hostile ranks against 

 us at every step in our progress. 



The putting out of birds upon the hills and in the 

 valleys of our State by our Association, and the re-stocking 

 of our rural streams with trout by our Stats authorities, 

 has done, and is still doing, more to disarm that opposi- 

 tion which we have always had to encounter, than any 

 other agency that has ever been set on foot. 



The splash of the trout in our brooks, the whirr of the 

 partridge upon our hillsides, and the whistle of Bob 

 White in our meadows, are far more powerful and con- 

 vincing arguments in our behalf than all the learned 

 reports and essays which can be produced. 



These are things which the farmer and the artisan can 

 understand and appreciate. 



Another powerful agency in our behalf is the local 

 fish and game associations which are springing up all 

 around us. I do not mean those associations whose mem- 

 bers on a given day array themselves in opposing forces, 

 and start out to see which side can outdo the other in the 

 indiscriminate slaughter of birds and animals, a most 

 barbarous and unhallowed sport, but those associations 

 'wViose aims and purposes lie in the same direction as our 

 own. 



Tnese organizations deserve, and ought , to receive, our 

 heartiest cooperation. 



Put half a dozen of these local associations in every, 

 county throughout the State and interest them in our 

 work, and we can bid defiance to all the hostile, selfish 

 opposition that can be arrayed against us. 



There is another class of men who ought to be^with us, 

 and in the future I believe will be with us. They are the 

 market men. 



They ought to understand, and I believe they are begin- 

 ning to understand, that the indiscriminate destruction of 



game birds into the State, brings forcibly to our minds 

 the question whether the Association ought not to at- 

 tempt something further in the matter of restocking our 

 streams with trout and other useful food fishes. 



In our efforts for the protection, preservation and 

 propagation of fish and game, I feel that the field is 

 broad enough for the employment of all our means and 

 energies, without trenching upon the province of our 

 State authorities. 



They have their work to do, and we have ours, but all 

 should labor for the accomplishment of the greatest good 

 to all the people of the common wealth. 



One of the cardinal principles of our Association is the 

 dissemination of information upon fish and game culture, 

 and fish and game protection ; and the degree of unfam- 

 iliarity with those subjects which we encounter wl>en- 

 ever we attempt to secure some wholesome legislation, 

 leads to the conclusion that we have still another broad 

 field for useful work. 



}!gaorance and selfishness are two of - the worst obsitacles 



ilR. HENTiY ,T. THATER. 



Secretary Cojnmlttee on Accllmatizatloji , 



our fish and game means, in the end, the destruction of a 

 portion of their profits. 



When once this fact comes to be fully realized by them, 

 they, too, will be found on our side, instead of in the 

 opposing ranks. 



To gather up all these forces, to marshal them on the 

 side of right, and to lead them on to victory is the work 

 of this Association, 



Col. Needham congrattdated the Association upon its 

 large membership, full treasury and growing influence 

 and weight as one of the factors making for public good 

 in the Commonwealth. The Colonel's story of a 6| pound 

 |)rairie chicken he had shot in Illinois years and years 

 J go, prompted the Rev. Chas. FoUen Lee to declare his 

 tnquestioning acceptance of fish stories and sportsmen's 

 t des, though he occasionally did feel called upon to 

 ' make allowances." "I am reminded," said Mr. Lee, "of 

 the incident of the old man who was reading to his 

 wife the Bible narrative of how Samson caught the 

 ihree hundred foxes and fastened to their tails fire- 

 brands and set on fire the corn of the Philistines. 

 'Five hundred, does it say, father?' 'Yes, five hundred.' 

 'That's a powerful number,' said the old lady. 'Our 

 Zeke is a pretty good fox-hunter, and foxes are j)retty 

 plenty about here; but I don't believe Zeke has killed .30 

 m all his born days. Don't appear as if it could have 

 been five hundred.' 'Well, mother, it says he caught 

 five hundred foxes, but I suspicion that if the truth were 

 really known, more'n three-fifths on 'em was skunks and 

 woodchucks!' 



"I always accept a fish story," went on Mr. Lee, "but 

 if some of you were to tax my credulity as to your score 

 of trout or salmon, I should suspect that some of the fish 

 might have been mud eels or suckers." 



Hon. E. H. Lathrbp, whose experience as a member of 

 the Assembly has given him excellent opportunities of 

 observation, made a strong plea for effort on the part of 

 the association in the direction of educating the legisla- 

 tive committees who have to do with fish and game, Mr. 

 Lathrop spoke truly, not only for Massachusetts, but for 

 the entire Union, when be said that the efficiency of our 

 game legislation is largely due to the ignorant and harm- 

 ful—if well meaning — meddling of legislative igno- 

 ramuses. Mr. Robert Grant read an impromptu poem, 

 and related that the Boston Water Gommissioners had 

 granted permits for bass fishing in Chestntit Hill Reser- 

 voir, and although the hours were 4 to 7 A. M., there were 

 always more applicants than could be given permission. 

 Other speakers were ex District Attorney Cooney and 

 Mr. Chas, B. Ifceynolds, of Fokbst and Stream, 



