Dec. 9, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
469 
. outside of Maryland and shipped into this State was not 
. within, the prohibition of the statute, and might lawfully 
' be had in possession or sold during the closed season. 
Dickhaut's case was decided in April, 1897, and at the 
next session of the Legislature the act of l398, chapter 
266, was passed, as its title recites, "for the better protec- 
. tion and preservation of birds and ganle animals," amend- 
ing the law as it then stood and adding certain new sec- 
^ tions, including section 15 E, which contains the ^ords 
which we have already quoted. 
It is therefore perfectly clear both from the language of 
. section 15 E and the circumstances of its enactment that 
, the prohibition of the act of 1898 was intended by the 
Legislature to applpy to having' in possession or offering 
for sale during the closed season not only game killed in 
this State, but also game killed elsewhere. 
The appellant contends that the construction adopted in 
Dickhaut's case of the law as it stood at that time is ap- 
plicable to the present law and should control the case now 
bef ore us.. • - 
This contention is not sound because the language now 
used in the law is too plain to admit of construction, and 
the circumstances of its amendment clearly declare the 
present policy of the State to be to prohibit the possession 
' and sale by any one during the closed season of the game 
mentioned in the law, no matter where it was killed. 
He further insists that if the law be intended to apply 
to game killed without and shipped into this State, it is in 
. conflict with the act of Congress commonly known as the 
interstate commerce law, which was passed in the exercise ^ 
of the exclusive power conferred on Congress by the 
Federal Constitution to regulate commerce among the 
States. The question presented by this contention is not a 
new one. Many of the States of the Union have passed 
game laws which include among their provisions a prohibi- 
tion of the sale or possession of game during the closed 
season, and these laws have • frequently been before the 
State and Federal courts for construction. 
In some of these cases, such as the Commonwealth vs. 
Hall, 128 Mass., 410, and the People vs. O'Neil, 71 Mich., 
331, the statute before the court merely made the posses- 
sion of game within the closed season prima facie evidence 
of a violation of the law, and they, therefore, do not throw 
much light upon the issue before us, but in different well- 
reasoned cases, where it was entirely clear that the State 
law was intended to exclude all game, wherever it may 
'have been killed, from the markets of the State during 
the closed season, the law has been'iipheld- 
The authorities agree that the ownership of all game 
animals and birds is in the people i^. their sovereign capac- 
ity, that is in the State, and no individual has any property 
rights in game other than such as tlie State may pennit 
him to acquire, and even when game has been captured 
and reduced into possession by the individual with the 
permission of the State his ownership in it may be regu- 
lated and restrained by appropriate legislation enacted for 
considerations of State or the benefit of the community. 
In other words the cases hold that the question of en- 
joyment in this field is one of public policy and not of 
private right. Magner vs. People, 97 HI-. 320,' 333; Ex 
parte Maier, 103 Cal., 476; Phelps vs. Racey, 60 N. Y., 
• 10; Javins vs. U. S., 11 Tucker (D. C), 347; Common- 
wealth vs. Savage, 29 N. R., 468. 
In the case of Geer vs. Connecticut, 161,' S., 519, 
Justice White, speaking for the court, reviews at length the 
' ! origin and history of the State's ownership of animals 
■fercr naturce and fully upholds the doctrine announced in 
the cases which we have cited and distinctly recognizes 
the authority of the State to affix conditions to the kilhng 
and sale of game predicated, as he says this power is, on 
the peculiar nature of such property and its common 
ownership by all the citizens of the State. 
The right of the State to regulate and control the killing, 
possession and sale of game within its borders is also held 
to rest upon its police power, and if the provisions of the 
laws by which such regulation is made are reasonable for 
the accomplishment of the end sought to be obtained, the 
law will be held to be a valid exercise of that power. In 
Lawton vs. Steele, 152 U. S., the court says : "The 
preservation of game and fish has always been treated as 
within the proper domain of the police power, and laws 
limiting the seasons within which birds or wild animals 
may be killed or exposed for sale and prescribing the time 
and. maner in which fish may be caught have been re- 
peatedlv upheld by this court." . 
In Geer vs. Connecticut, supra, the court said: Aside 
from the authority of the State derived from- the common 
ownership of game and the trust for the benefit of its 
people which the State exercises in relation thereto, there 
is another view of the power of the State in regard to 
the property in game which is equally conclusive.^ The 
right to preserve game flows from the undoubted existence 
in the State of a police power to that end, which may be 
none the less efficiently called into play because by doing 
so interstate commerce may be remotely and indirectly 
affected." In support of the proposition so announced, 
the Supreme Court cites Kidd vs. Pearson, 128 U. S., i ; 
Hal! vs. DeCain, 95 U. S., 485; Sherlock vs. Alhng, 
93 U. S., 103. , , 
That the total prohibition of having game, from what- 
ever source derived, in possession during the closed sea- 
' son, is a reasonable, if not necessary, means of protecting 
the domestic game of the State making the prohibition 
' has been held in a number of the cases already cited, and 
also in American Express Company vs. People, 133 HhJ 
' Roth vs. State, ST Ohio St., "209; State vs. Randolph, 
I Mo. App., 15. The act of 1898, chapter 206, does not 
prohibit the importation of foreign game into any other 
- portion of this State than the counties in which 'the law 
is operative, and even in those counties the prohibition is 
for but a portion of the year. . , ,. 
We are therefore well within the authorities m holding 
that the passage of the act constituted a valid exercise 
' by the State of power which it clearly possessed, and 
> ' that its provisions are reasonable for the accomplishment 
of its purpose, and that its operation Upon interstate com- 
merce is of that remote and inpidental character which the 
" Supreme Court in Geer vs. Connecticut ha? said 'does not 
■•interfere with the right of d ^tate ^o'pi'otect its jgame. 
It ' carinbt ' be successfully contended ' that the law now 
• under ■coWsideration' is unc«>iastituti'oViarbecaiuse it operates 
• unequally upon the inhabitants of the several parts of the 
State, ■and that it 'discriminates agai'nst 'the residents of 
• Baffittiore 'Cits^'bv reason ! of the fact that a 'numberof 
eobhti'e% aife excepted {row its operaltieio.' It has long betn 
the policy of the State of Maryland to enact local laws 
affecting only certain counties or to exempt particular 
counties or localities from the operation of general laws 
or of some of the provisions thereof. 
Nor is the law at variance with the provisions of article 
3, section 29, of the State Constitution, because it em- 
braces more than one subject and bas a misleading title. 
The law in its title is described as "An act to repeal and 
re-enact sections 13, 14 and 15 of article 99 of the Code of 
Public General Laws, title 'Wild Fowl, Birds and Garne,' 
and to add certain new sections for the better protection 
and preservation of birds and game animals." 
The several sections of the act relate to and are ger- 
mane to one subject matter, the protection and preserva- 
tion of birds and game animals, which is described in its 
title, and this is all that the Constitution requires. "While 
the title must indicate the subject of the act it need not 
give an abstract of its contents nor mention the means 
and method by which the general purpose is to be accom- 
plished." M. & C. C. of Baltimore vs. Reitz, 50 Md.. 579- 
We think the indictment was not defective. The offense 
was one created by statute, and the indictment described 
it in the words used in the statute. This has repeatedly 
been held by this court to be sufficient. Mincher vs. 
State, 66 Md.. 227; Gearfoss vs. State, 42 Md., 403; Dick- 
haut vs. State, 85 Md.. 464. 
The judgment appealed from will be affirmed with costs. 
New York Game Protectors. 
A R.^DicAL reform is promised in the enforcement of the 
game laws in this State. For several weeks past Governor 
Roosevelt has been looking into the matter and is pretty 
thoroughly convinced that there is plenty of room for 
improvement. He has received numerous complaints of 
violations of the law in the matter of hounding deer and 
killing game out of season, and has been informed that 
mar.y of the fish and game protectors were not competent 
to perform the work expected of them. 
This morning the Governor received a delegation of 
Adirondack guides from the Brown's Tract Guides' Asso- 
ciation and gave them a very plain talk on the subject of 
the standard of efficiency that Avill be required for fish and 
game protectors. The guides were all in favor of a strict 
enforcement of the game law. They said that one of the 
prime requisites for a game protector is "sand," and 
added that protectors in the past had not been over- 
burdened with that necessary quality. Further than that 
they said that a good many of tlie protectors were not 
competent to go into the woods without a guide. 
Richard C. Crego, H. Dw;ight Grant, William M. Com- 
merford and Merrill White, of Boonville: Henry H. 
Covey, and William Dart, of Big Moose ; Garrie Riggs 
and A. M. Church, of Old Forge, and Lester W. Kernan, 
of Utica, who constituted the delegation, were very frank 
in discussing the shortcomings of many of the game pro- 
tectors and said they were not competent to go into the 
woods without a gfuide. 
The Governor interrupted them to remark very em- 
phatically that he would not tolerate a game protector 
who has to have a guide to take him through the woods. 
Just what course he would pursue in the matter, he said, 
he did not know, but if necessary he would have an 
amateur civil service examination on his own hook to 
determine the qualifications. He would have a man sent 
into the woods for a day and a night as a test of his 
ability. He. ought to be able to handle a rifle, an axe and 
a canoe, and also to use snowshoes when necessary. In 
short, a game protector should be a practical woodsman. 
His remarks were received Avith the liveliest interest by 
the guides, and when he had finished, H. D. Grant, who 
has been a guide for thirty-five years, arose and declared 
that if the Governor could secure that class of men — men 
with ''sand" — there would be no more violations of the 
game law in the woods. 
At the close of the conference all of the guides gathered 
about the Governor to shake hands with him and thank 
him for the effort he was making to prevent the destruc- 
tion of game in the State forests and the .forests them- 
sdves. , _ < 
in a few days the Governor will receive .a delegation 
from the Saranac Guides' Association. 
As a result of to-day's conference, Governor Roosevelt 
sent the following letter to the Fisheries, Forest and Game 
Commission : . , 
State of New York,- Executive Chamber, , Nov. 28. — ^To 
the Fisheries, Forest and Game Commission, Albany. 
N. Y. : Gentlemen — I. have just been called upon by a 
delegation representing the Brown's Tract .Guides' Asso- 
ciation. I have had very many complaints 'before this as 
to the inefficiency of 'the game wardens and game pro- 
tectors, the complaints usually taking the form that the 
men have been' appointed and are retained ' without due 
regard to the duties to be performed. I do not wish a 
man retained or appointed who is not thoroughly fit to 
perform the duties of game protector. The Adirondacks 
are entitled to a peculiar share of the Commission's at- 
tention, both from the standpoint of forestry and from 
the less important but' still very important standpoint of 
game and fish protection. The men who do duty as game 
protectors in the Adirondacks should by preference be 
appointed from the locality itself, and should in all cases 
be thorough woodsmen. The mere fact that a game pro- 
tector has to hire a guide to pilot him through the woods 
is enough to show his unfitness for the position. I want 
as game protectors men- of' courage, resolution and hardi- 
hood, who can handle the rifle, axe and paddle ; who can 
camp out in summer or winter ; who can go on snowshoes, 
if necessary ; 'who can through the woods by day or by 
night without regard to' trails. 
I should like -full' information about all your employees, 
• as to their capacities, as to the labor they perform, as to 
. their distribution ove'r the country, both where they are 
■ appointed from and where they do their work. 
Very truly yours, Theodore Ro*6EviLT. 
— Albany Evening Journal, Nov. 29. 
/^Tkc Ttail of the Sand HiU Stag; 
WiTia a colored plate and illuminated title page Messrs. 
Chas. Scribner's Sons have published Mr. E. S. Thomp- 
son's article which appeared some time ago in Scribner's 
Magarine. Needless to 'saj.', the volume r- beautifully 
gotten up and illustrated. 
The Man and His Gun; 
I OFTEN pass a large factory of shotguns in my hbrne 
town, and with "more interest than if it were a flour mill 
or a wagon shop. Visitors naturally are not. popular in 
the work rooms of the establishment, but 1 have se^n 
something of the inside of it, and one who has an eye 
for a gun will see a good deal with that sarne eye m 
merely passing the windows of such a shop. He may 
see, for instance, a great floor, space fuH of the machines 
that bore and smooth the in$ide of the barrels to the 
exact lines and surface necessary for the best execution. 
At some of the windows men are putting the polish on 
the outside. Elsewhere one may notice the barrels get- 
ting their final complexion; whether the ringed, streaked 
' and speckled pattern that the Belgian artisan — or should 
we say artist i"— hammered into them, or the sleek black 
coat on the high-grade plain steel which fools the casual 
observer with an appearance of cheapness. Apparently 
they will always call this process browning because there 
was a time when gun barrels were actually brown. A* 
other windows men with good eyes and steady hands 
are manipulating the files with those firm yet delicate 
touches that have to be made just right to preserve such 
a reputation for ^ood gunsmithing as is here at stake. 
Nowhere else in- the shop does ingenuity triumph m^re 
distinctly than where the woodworking machines turp 
out the shapely stocks from stubborn walnut planl^, and 
mortise them in almost no time for an exact fit with the 
receiver. Science, art and nature combine to display 
on the perfected stock the inimitable pattern of Icnots 
or roots, appropriate to the beautiful and intricate de- 
sign which the "browning" brings out on the welded 
barrels. Art reigns alone in the well-lighted room where 
the fine guns are decorated by the engravers. The buyer 
with money to burn can have sporting scenes hej-e 
pictured on the lockplates of his gun. But he is not 
always so much ahead of the poor shooter who has 
only powder to burn. The latter, if he have a faju" 
memory and a little imagination, can see a whole pan- 
orama of such pictures follow each other across the 
plain lockplate of his own cheap but well tried and well 
trusted weapon. 
These guns are not without honor in their native 
town, but of course comparatively few stop here. There 
is a creditable group of trapshooters partial to theoj, 
but the game in the near vicinity is reduced to the passing 
water fowl and the irrepressible rabbit. Two or three 
blocks from the shop is one end of a street car line. At 
the other end is a weedy lake, where straggling duck<5 
spend the fall and get waywise dodging shot from fre- 
quent boats and from a long wall of dead cattails. The 
fine river which sends a share of its volume to turn the 
gun shop's wheels, lies in long, still reaches above and 
below the town, embrjicing islands around which an 
occasional duck can be picked up. But the guns as a 
whole are due elsewhere, and it is interesting to fancy 
their history. Appointments more or less complete have 
been made for them all the way to the borders of the 
United States and beyond. Famous trap shots and 
ardent game hunters far and near await their commg. 
Some of their future owners do not know the pleasure 
in store for them. Others do, and are impatiently watch- 
ing for their arrival. The chances are that at the next 
great trap tournament. North or South, or beside which- 
ever ocean, more of these guns will be used than of any 
other make. It has happened jnore than once or twice. 
On thousands of fields and marshes and club grounds 
they will speak for themselves, and their makers. Many 
a farmer's bov will be proud of a cheap one, and many a 
city doctor or lawyer or business man equally proud 
of a finer specimen. Many a writer for the sportsmen s 
prc^s will take pains to mention his gun by its well- 
known name, for the sake of the it|iphe4 compliment to 
himself for. having been so smart to select the right 
The up-to-date breechloader cQmmarids the admiration 
of every person with any mechanical sense,^sa triUmpJi of 
ingenuity and sound, honest workmanship, ft' has to 
sound. As with a railroad bridge, its every use js a 
strain upon its own strength and its builder s reputation. 
When American guns are so generally strong, effective 
and convenient, the manufacturer woi^d have a poor 
chance of business who offered flimsy or clumsy weapon$. 
Faulty devices and materials have gori?- under in the hard 
competition, and for a price lower thaft coul4 have been 
imagined when breechloaders were introduced m tins 
country one can be got that will satisfy eye and hand, wAll 
kill the game, and with any sane loading wili not kiU the 
shooter. . r i.- t. 
But it is the sort of semi-human association, of wincn 
it is capable, that gives a gun its highest fascination and 
makes it interesting to follow in fancy the shipments fr^i^ 
such a factory as this of my neighbors. To the appreciay 
tive amateur who gets one of these well-made ^ doublier 
barrels it will not be so much a tool as a companion, per- 
haps a pet. What other shape of wood and iron, whf t 
other manufactured thing, so much so? When it ' h»^ 
for years shared its owner's trampings and boatings, sup- 
plying perhaps the chief motive for them. When it hjs 
basked with him nightly in the glow of the camp-fire "pr 
the hearth fire, he feels toward it a sentiment of comrade- 
ship. When it has often brought him the exultation of a 
clean kill, the enjoyment of a game feast and the honors 
of the tournament, he cherishes toward it a feeling like 
gratitude. When its close-fitting bolts have long yielded 
handily to his ^humb and never to any explosi'C^e strain, 
and its tough barrels have a thpnsand times withstood 
the vicipus thrust of the. nitro anfi sent the shot triie to 
his aim, he finds it easy to credit the' gun vsrith something 
like fidelity. Ei-e long he loves it and wants to %5und;its 
praise. Perchance he indites an ode. and, escaping indict' 
ment himself, fires it at an unofjfeqdihg editor. If rather 
less daft and m6re genuinely literary, he may celebrate the 
breechloader in some such fine' prose sketches as William- 
Black's. If hot up to poetry or $cti(?n, but jtist an ordinary, 
honest, appreciative gun. cranlf, he will be. apt t<? sutjmit 
to his favorite sportsmen's j<s:«irr.al ' some such phsefvg,- 
tions ^s? the foregpij»-g- ^risto^ Hxtt- 
Dte FokzsT jcuvi Stxbak ta pot io' ppew each week on Tuesiday. 
Correspendenoe iaieeded for pu^fjcatton sht^uld reach us at the 
I 
