Forest and Stream 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Tebms, $4 a Year. 10 Crs. a Copt. 
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NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1896 
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VOL. XLVI.— No. 7. 
No. 318 Broadway, Nkw York. 
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A NEW JERSEY SCHEME. 
Here is something novel and interesting from New 
Jersey. Some student of game protection and politics 
has evolved a scheme to combine the two; and the plan 
has been embodied in a bill introduced into the Senate. 
The plan is this: 
Exact from every non-resident of the State a license 
fee of $10 for the privilege of shooting or fishing; and if he 
seeks to evade the tax, fine him $100 or clap him into the 
common jail, there to "remain until the same shall be 
paid." The county clerk gets $1 extra from the victim 
for his services in issuing the license, and the fine is to be 
divided, one-half to the persons who prosecute for it, and 
the other half to the county collector. The license ap- 
pears to be good only for the one specific county in which 
it is issued. So far there is nothing new in this non-resi- 
dent tax system; the novel feature is found in some 
entirely new county game commissioners' provisions. 
These provide for a board of ten commissioners, who, 
on petition of twenty-five residents of a county, shall be 
appointed by the presiding justice of the Supreme Court. 
The duties of the ten commissioners are designated to 
be the enforcement of the game laws; their term of office 
is three years; and they are to "serve without any com- 
pensation whatsoever." The officers of the proposed Com- 
mission are a president, a secretary and a treasurer; and 
they are given authority to dispose of all funds which 
may come into their possession for the purpose of enforc- 
ing the laws and restocking the covers; they are author- 
ized to arrest game law offenders; may employ agents to 
purchase game, birds and fish for stocking purposes, and 
may also employ aid to enforce the laws; all this provided 
that the funds expended by them shall come from their 
own treasury. The treasury is to draw its revenues from 
two sources: all sums received from non-resident licenses, 
and one-half of the fines collected by justices of the peace. 
Such a plan may have originated with some person 
who is intensely interested in game protection, who 
would perhaps be willing to give his own time gratui- 
tously to the cause, and imagines that in the several 
counties there will be found material for the boards of 
ten commissioners. 
It is one of those schemes which with honest, earnest 
and competent men might work wonders; but which 
would be quite as likely to prove a failure and to give 
opportunity for fraud. Indeed it is just such a plan as 
the pot-house politicians would certainly welcome and 
make the most of. 
There used to be a law in New Jersey which provided 
that non-resident sportsmen wishing to shoot or fish must 
first comply with the by-laws of the organized game 
societies. One game society got up a set of by-laws 
which required a non-resident to hand over into its 
treasury ten dollars before he could shoot birds; and as 
there was nothing small nor mean about the society, 
when a New Yorker had paid in his money, it gave him 
a license to pot song birds, the law of the State to the 
contrary notwithstanding. The fat income from New 
York city song bird shooters was cut off when the 
ridiculous statute was repealed; but if this new measure 
should go through, doubtless ten thrifty individuals 
could be mustered in the same county to revive the 
profitable plan on lines suitably modified. 
"We beg to call the attention of the West Jersey Game 
Protective Society to Sec. 10 of this bill, which provides 
for the repeal of the charter of any organized game pro- 
tective society now existing. That means that if the 
county commissioners go in the West Jersey Society goes 
out. 
The charter of the West Jersey Society delegates to it 
the making of laws for non-resident sportsmen in the six 
southern counties of the State, and the society has enacted 
that no non-resident may shoot in that country until he 
shall have become a member of the society, $5 the first 
year and $2 per annum afterward. In the last annual 
report to the Legislature the New Jersey Fish Commis- 
sioners said of the law creating the West Jersey institu- 
tion: 
The law In our opinion is not in accordance with the spirit of Amer- 
ican institutions. To exclude a man from certain privileges because 
he cannot afford to pay $5 therefor does not speak well for the 
hospitality of New Jersey. Numerous complaints concerning this 
law have been received, and information obtained from our wardens 
is to the effect that the violators of the law who have been prosecuted 
in the counties where this law applies were almost invariably mem- 
bers of this society. Your Commission is also informed that the 
membership of this society is composed principally of sportsmen 
from Philadelphia and other places. Your Commission would accord- 
ingly suggest the repeal of this law. 
There is not the slightest reason to believe that this 
extraordinary and preposterous delegation of the law 
making power to individuals would stand the test of the 
higher courts; unquestionably it would be declared un- 
constitutional. The only reason why it has not been 
tested is that those who have had their guns confiscated, 
or who have been fined under its provisions, have pre- 
ferred to settle rather than to go to the expense and 
worry of fighting the imposition in the higher courts. 
And now that we have mentioned the New Jersey Com- 
mission here is a pertinent suggestion: The members of the 
present board are doing excellent work; they have proved 
themselves to be intelligent, earnest, trustworty officials. 
Game and fish protection under their direction gives prom- 
ise of amounting to something. Instead of trying any 
new schemes give the present system a chance; back up 
the Commission with the funds they require; let them 
have the wardens they need for the work; and if there 
shall be found in any county ten men to co-operate with 
the Commissioners and their wardens the problem of how 
to protect New Jersey game will not long remain un- 
solved. 
SALE OF GAME IN CLOSE TIME. 
We recorded last week a Minnesota game law decision, 
in which it was held that the law forbidding the sale of 
game in close time did not apply to game imported from 
outside of the limits of Minnesota. The immediate result 
of this ruling is that the game dealers of St. Paul 
and Minneapolis are sending broadcast to the hunt- 
ers and commission merchants of adjoining States invita- 
tions to ship to them game, which, they explain, they can 
now openly expose for sale; and under the present condi- 
tions, as determined by the decision of the Supreme 
Court, they are enabled to offer more than usually en- 
ticing inducements to these outside dealers in game. 
The wardens of Minnesota, then, have to contend with 
the same obstacles, which are encountered in New York 
State, where also it is lawful to sell during the close sea- 
son game coming from outside the limits of New York. 
The practical operation of a law which thus permits 
the sale of game all the year around is this: There are 
absolutely no restrictions upon the amount of game dealt 
in, nor upon the sources of supply from whence it is 
drawn. The way is perfectly open for traffic in game killed 
illegally in local covers. Under one bill of lading hon- 
estly covering a shipment of game from abroad, a dealer 
in New York may go on perpetually selling game received 
from New York hunters, or in Minnesota from Minne- 
sota hunters. The protectors, wardens and voluntary 
associations of sportsmen cannot be expected to secure 
convictions of illicit traffic when the dealer has this suf- 
ficient shield in his invoices received with other game 
from other States. In New York city even so powerful 
and shrewd an association as the New York Association for 
the Protection of Game does not feel warranted in bring- 
ing action against a dealer, although the counsel of the 
Association may be convinced that he is dealing in New 
York game, for in one single invoice the dealer has that 
which, like charity, covers a multitude of sins. 
At the last meeting of the Association, held on Monday 
of this week, a committee of three was appointed by the 
president to endeavor to effect the repeal of Sec. 249, 
which is the provision permitting the universal sale of 
game, and to procure the passage of such other laws as 
may prevent the selling of game out of season in the 
State of New York. The members of the committee are 
Messrs. Charles E. Whitehead, Robert B. Lawrence and 
Benj. L. Ludington. The sum of $500 was appropriated 
for the expenses of the committee, and we feel assured 
that they will make a strenuous effort to carry out the 
spirit of the resolution under which they were appointed. 
The sportsmen of this State should band together and 
unite in an effort to repeal this iniquitous measure. The 
contest will not be an easy one, for it is almost certain 
that it will be necessary to overcome moneyed influence at 
Albany. The lobby is strong there this year and the in- 
terests at stake for the dealers are of such magnitude that 
they may be expected to spare no expense in holding their 
own. 
Happily, as the defect in the Minnesota statue is one of 
title only, there is reason to believe that it may be 
remedied without special difficulty. 
SNAP SHOTS; 
Recent advices from the Yellowstone National Park in- 
dicate that the winter there is late and light, but little 
snow having fallen at last reports. A scouting party, 
which came in a short time ago from the southern part of 
the Park, reported that only six buffalo were seen on the 
trip. Of these three were in the recently-constructed 
corral and one just outside of it, one was near the head 
of Fox Creek just north of Two Ocean Pass. This one, the 
scout said, looked thin and was restricted by the snow to 
a small area where there was very little grass. The scout 
did not believe that it would live through the winter. 
The other was on Falls River, not very far from Beula 
Lake. There is an open tract of country there with warm 
ground and water, and this buffalo will probably live 
through. However, the party saw the carcass of another, 
recently dead, lying in the middle of the stream, only a 
short distance from where they saw the living one. Three 
moose were seen yarded on Snake River. There was 
plenty of elk and other game. 
Deer were formerly counted among the game animals 
of Massachusetts, for the protection of which laws were 
provided. Subsequently the species became extinct or 
was supposed to be extinct in the State outside of Cape 
Cod, and as the law was altered by successive Legislatures, 
in course of time it came about that protection for deer 
was no longer afforded except in the counties of Ply- 
mouth and Barnstable. This condition appears to have 
resulted from inadvertence rather than from any deliber- 
ate design of the Legislature, and now that the game is 
once more appearing in the northern and western counties 
of the State there should be no delay in restoring ample 
protection for it in those sections. Massachusetts should 
have a law providing for a close term of several years on 
deer everywhere within her limits. If this is supplied 
there is no reason to doubt that the species may gradually 
increase and add to the woodland attractions and pot* 
sibly in time to the available game stock of Massachusetts 
covers. 
The Bannock Indian matter has now reach ed the very 
stage where it should have begun months ago. Th e people of 
Jackson's Hole started in to negotiate with the Bannocks 
with repeating rifles, and demonstrated their skill in 
negotiation by killing a number of inoffensive Indians. 
Now a bill has been introduced into Congress providing 
for the appointment of a commission to treat with the 
Bannocks for a surrender of their treaty rights to hunt 
on unoccupied Government lands. We ought all of us 
as citizens to rejoice that the repeating rifle has been put 
aside, and that civilized methods have been resorted to 
to secure the desired end. If the Indians can be induced 
to surrender their hunting privileges by fair means a de- 
cided advantage will have been gained. The next step 
in order would be to restrain the lawless whites who kill 
game out of season and have been accustomed to lay 
upon the shoulders of the Bannocks tl- e blame for the 
depletion which ensued, 
