Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 1, 18 9 8. 
Terms, $4 A Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. \_ 
Six Months, $2. | 
j VOL, L.-No. I. 
i No. 346 Broadway, New York. 
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TJIJi FISH COMMISSION AND THE LAW. 
When the United States Commission of Fish and 
Fisheries was established in 1871 and was put under the 
direction of Professor Baird, he stipulated that no salary 
should attach to the office of Commissioner. That great- 
minded man and devoted public servant strenuously in- 
sisted that the position should be one which shovild 
have no attractions for the politician. He clearly fore- 
saw and foretold that if the place were a salaried one it 
would be converted into political spoil. He served as 
the first Commissioner, doing the work of the office in 
connection with his other duties in the Smithsonian In- 
stitution and the National Museum; audit is known that 
his arduous devotion to the ptiblic service in these three 
several fields shortened his life. But in course of time, 
as developed by Professor Baird, the work grew in ex- 
tent until it could no longer be performed in connection 
with other duties. Accordingly in 1888 the independent 
office of Fish Commissioner was established by law, and 
was made a salaried position to be held by one engaged 
in no other branch of the public service. Marshal Mc- 
Donald was the first Commissioner under the new sys- 
tem. He had come into the service under Professor 
Baird; and he administered the office on the old lines 
which had been established by his predecessor. Under 
McDonald the Commission was free from political in- 
fluences. Following his term came the fate foretold by 
Professor Baird. The United States Fish Commission 
is now looked upon as the legitimate spoil of politicians, 
to be farmed out by the President at the dictation of 
political bosses. 
A crisis has now come in the Commission's affairs. A 
• new head is to be appointed. It had been the hope that 
:the President would intrust the commission to a person 
► competent to administer its affairs on the broad ground 
-of public interest, and without regard to politics; but, as 
■ we said last week, it is announced to be the purpose of 
President McKinley to nominate for the place of United 
: States Fish Commissioner a West Virginia politician 
named George F. Bowers, who, being ignorant of iish 
. and fisheries, is unqualified for the position and a wholly 
unfit person to hold it. The selection is made at the 
. dictation of Senator Elkins, who is intent upon reward- 
iing Bowers with a government place in return for ser- 
vices Bowers has rendered him in his political cam- 
:paigns. 
The nomination is one which we trust may not be ap- 
; proved by the Senate' Committee on Marine and Fish- 
'Cries, nor ratified by the Senate. The appointment, if 
•made, will be not only a betrayal of public interest, but a 
■ direct violation of law. The revised law providing for a 
Fish Commissioner was approved by the President Jan. 
:20, 1888; and reads: 
"Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, 
that Section 4395 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
^States be, and the same hereby is, amended to read as 
ifollows: 
"That there shall be appointed by the President, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a person 
of scientific and practical acquaintance with the fish and 
fisheries to be a Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 
and he shall receive a salary at the rate of $S,ooo a year, 
and he shall be removable at the pleasure of the Presi- 
dent. Said Commissioner shall not hold: any other of- 
fice or employment under the authority of the United 
States or any State." 
By the statute then the Commissioner is required to be 
"a person of scientific and practical acquaintance with 
the fish and fisheries." The appointment of a persora not 
so qualified is a violation of law. Mr. Bowers is not so 
qualified; his appointment would be a distinct violation ' 
of law. It is inconceivable that the Chief Executive 
should be persuaded by political pressure thus to set at 
naught the laws he has sworn to uphold and defend. We 
cannot believe that the Senate Committee on Marine and 
P'isheries will sanction such an appointment. There are 
men now in the Senate and on that Committee whose 
just pride it is that they had part in creating the Com- 
mission and establishing it upon the sure foundation on 
which in the past it has grown in public usefulness and 
has merited and received public recognition and confi- 
dence. We appeal to them now to defeat, by the with- 
holding of their approval, this scheme to overthrow the 
Commission and degrade it to political plunder. Such 
degradation means its ruin. Make the sole test of ap- 
pointment the personal fitness of the appointee as pre- 
scribed by law. 
THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
About a month ago the managers of the New York 
Zoological Society submitted to the Department of 
Parks the society's plan for the development of its Zo- 
ological Park. At the same time, preliminary studies for 
nine of the most important buildings to be erected at the 
expense of the society were also submitted to the Park 
Board. The general and final plan of the Zoological 
Park showed the locations of the buildings, ranges, dens 
and other inclosures for animals, together with the rocks, 
ponds, entrances, walks, roads and pleasure grounds. 
Other detail papers were shown, more fully amplifying 
the general scheme as presented on the large plan. 
The society states that neither time, labor nor expense 
has been spared in the effort to make these plans as 
nearly perfect as human skill and knowledge could make 
them. In addition to the advice obtained from the best 
zoological gardens of Europe, the planning of the so- 
ciety's park was carried on with the advice and criticism 
of no fewer than six expert zoologists, among whom 
were Mr. Arthur Erwin Brown, of the Philadelphia Zo- 
ological Society, and Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, 
Germany, whose experience in the precise work under 
consideration made their recommendations of the great- 
est value. The purpose originally announced by the so- 
ciety has been always kept clearly in view, so that the 
keynote of the present plan of development has been the 
utilization of the natural features of the grounds to the 
actual wants of the living creatures that are to be fur- 
nished with homes there. The development has thus 
been a work of adaptation rather than of creation. The 
area of the Park to be devoted to animals has been laid 
out with special regard to providing for the needs of those 
species and at the same time to make the collection most 
easily and comfortably accessible to the public. 
Besides the zoological experts who have assisted the 
society, several most expert landscape architects, en- 
gineers, surveyors and architects have been engaged, each 
in performing some part which should make complete 
the project in hand. Two surveys have been made, one 
geographical, in which are located the forest areas, 
clumps of timber, trees and often rock exposures; and 
one topographical, in order to arrive at the levels for 
drainage, water supply, pond excavation and similar 
work. 
Very shortly after the plans had been submitted to the 
Park Board they were approved without any modifica- 
tion, and the society is now preparing to go to work so 
soon as it shall have obtained the funds required to 
enable it to enter upon the work of construction. The 
society needs to raise the sum of $250,000 within three 
years, but when $100,000 has been secured a city appro- 
priation of $125,000 becomes at once available for the 
groundwork of the Park — that is to say, for excavations, 
preparing walks, lakes, water supply and drain pipes and 
building of necessary fences. The funds provided by the 
society itself are to be applied to the erection of build- 
ings and to the purchase of collections. Subscriptions to 
the fund of the society already amount to about $65,000, 
and other contributions are greatly needed, in order that 
the whole amount may be on hand in ample time so that 
preparation may be made for beginning the work of im- 
proving the Park at the earliest possible moment next 
spring. A gift of $S,ooo entitles the giver to be called a 
founder of the society, while a gift of $1,000 constitutes 
a patron and $200 a life member. 
Besides such large sums, smaller ones are greatly de- 
sired. Annual membership in the Zoological Society 
costs $10, and it is on the dues received from these mem- 
bers that the society must depend for its ordinary run- 
ning expenses. This country should furnish to the New 
York Zoological Society many thousand annual mem- 
bers, and these should not be residents of New York 
city only, but should be scattered over the country at 
large. The society's work will not be by any means 
altogether local. Rather it will be for the whole aonti- 
nent. 
When it is remembered that the Park of the society will 
be the largest in the world — four times as large as the 
largest in Europe — that it will be devoted in large meas- 
ure to the exhibition and perpetuation of many species of 
North American large game now threatened with ex- 
tinction—it would seem to be the pleasure as well as the 
duty of each patriotic citizen of America who can afford 
it to contribute his small part by joining the society, and 
thus forwarding the good work which it has on hand. 
The list of annual members now numbers 540. It ought 
to be ten times as large. 
The Forest and Stream will take pleasure in further- 
ing the good work to be done by the Zoological So- 
ciety by supplying to any reader interested in the subject 
further information in regard to it, together with sub- 
scription blanks or any literature that may be desired. 
SNAP SHOTS. 
It is gratifying to be able to publish the letter which 
comes to us from Jackson's Hole, with its assurance 
that the great majority of the residents of the Hole are 
opposed to the illegal capture of elk in the snow for ex- 
port to the East, by speculators who, in their eagerness 
to exploit the live elk industry, have not hesitated to defy 
and violate the laws of the State. The attitude of oppo- 
sition of the Jackson's Hole Gim Club and others is 
most commendable, but what we fail to understand is 
the existence of the sentiment expressed by Mr. Simp- 
son and at the same time the successful carrying out of 
such brazen work as that of the Moose Head Ranch ex- 
port of elk. If the people of the Hole are really opposed 
to this raiding of their game supply, why do they not 
prevent and stop it? They have the law on their side, 
and while the law itself would not amount to much if 
there were no sentiment to back it up, the combination 
of the law and public spirit would close the railroads to 
any more live elk consigned to Eastern speculators. 
We publish to-day generous extracts from the report 
of the New Jersey Fish and Game Commissioners. The 
document illustrates what can be done by a well or- 
ganized force actively in earnest in making the game 
and fish laws of some meaning and effect. No State in 
the Union presents a better example of reform in this 
respect than New Jersey. It is not so many years since 
it was the rule there for everj'one to be a law unto him- 
self with respect to gun and rod and seine and dip net. 
When the commission was reorganized and a force of 
game wardens provided, and the administration of the 
service was intrusted to a competent board of commis- 
sioners and to a determined and indefatigable chief pro- 
tector, a tremendous and far-reaching change was 
wrought. To-day the New Jersey system of protection 
is being carried on effectively and w^ell. Public opinion 
is making pace with the new order of things, and pro- 
tective sentiment is gaining strength continually. The 
success of the protective work is due in large measure to 
the intelligent performance of duty by State Fish and 
Game Protector Charles A. Shriner, of Paterson. 
The account of the ascent of Mount Katahdin in Maine 
is not only an entertaining story of mountain climbing, 
but is extremely suggestive of the linappreciated and un- 
developed mountaineering resources which New Eng- 
land offers. It is, of course, only human nature to neg- 
lect home resources and to cross oceans to distant Alps 
or continents to the Rockies, but where one favored per- 
son has the time and means for such undertakings there 
are thousands of others who might achieve the peaks of 
the Appalachians, the Alleghanies and the Blue Ridge. 
If the realm of Pamola were truly appreciated in Bos- 
ton as it should be, a road would lead from the Hub 
to the summit of Katahdin as well worn as an elk trail 
ill the Rockies. The Appalachian Club in the East, and 
the Mazamas in the Northwest, are doing a most com- 
mendable work in making known the mountaineering 
possibilities of America. There is room for a thousand 
more clubs. Mountain climbing is one of the most ex- 
hilarating of outdoor recreations. It is destined to grow 
in popularity. 
