8 



WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 



so swiftly to the game-lands from the centers of popula- 

 tion. Unless the brakes are put on, every farmer who 

 permits free shooting soon will see the end of his game. 

 The existing privilege regarding unfenced farms should 

 at once be withdrawn or else greatly restricted, and the 

 farmers who have game to be saved are the very men 

 who should propose it, and see that the idea is carried 

 into effect. 



WASTE OF VALUABLE GAME BY NATIVES. 



In his warning article Dr. Haagner declares that the 

 wanton waste of game by natives now has become a very 

 serious factor in the preservation of South African game. 

 Will the white population of the Union permit the black 

 population to slaughter game, in season and out of season, 

 so long as any game remains? Are the people of South 

 Africa powerless to regulate, repress, and at times en- 

 tirely forbid game-killing by natives? Have the blacks 

 become so strong that they cannot reasonably be con- 

 trolled? 



With all their shortcomings the people of the United 

 States of America never have permitted our Indians to 

 exterminate our game. . The white American may be 

 something of a waster himself, but he draws the line at 

 wholesale or defiant waste by Indians. 



In America the principle has been laid down, and now 

 is fairly established, that an Indian or other native has 

 no more an inherent right to the wild game of a wild 

 country than he has to its minerals, its water power and 

 its forests. No white man in his senses will permit In- 

 dians, or any other natives, to burn down forests merely 

 for game-driving or amusement. The idea is preposter- 

 ous. Should a stock of fine — though vanishing — game 

 animals be regarded as any less of an asset, any less of a 

 trust to be guarded, than timber? By no means. 



