n2 DIGEST OB^ GAME LAWS FOR 10()1. 
l)('(Mi (lirccti'd toward stx)ppin«^ this souiv(» of waste. Wyoming pro- 
hibits purt'hiise of hides or horns of deer, elk, moose, antelope, moun- 
tain sh(M'p, and ♦(oat; and in some othi^r States dealers are required to 
ol)tain special licenses for handlin<^ hides of deer and moose or other 
big game. (For restrictions on shipment of deer hides see page 60). 
POSSESSION AND STORAGE. 
One of tli(^ most important features of game legislation has been 
the gradual increase of provisions making the possession of game out 
of season an offense. Prohibitions against killing can })e enforced 
onl}^ against tin* hunter, who may b(^ merely thv. agent of the dealer; 
but penalties for possession can be enforced alike against hunter 
and dealer, agent and employer. The enforcement of such provisions 
has giv(Mi rise to cases which have ])een carried to the highest courts. 
Acknowdedgment has been slow of the principle that States can 
impose restrictions on possession of game,^ or that birds lawfully 
purchased in open season can become contra))and .'dimply by being 
kept a few dayii in storage. It is unnecessary here to review the his- 
tory of this litigation; but reference may be made to a case recently 
decided by the suprenu! court of Indiana, in which the appellant was 
convicted of having in his possession on February 5, 1900, a single 
quail, which he had ol)tained lawfully on December 30 previous and had 
kept in his refrigerator, notwithstanding that the law of Indiana pro- 
hibited possession of quail in that State after January 1. In deciding 
this case the court summarized the whole question briefly in the fol- 
lowing words: 
The individual lias no natural right to take- game, or to acquire property in it, and 
all the right he i)osyesses or can possewH in this respect is granted him by the State. 
The power to grant embodies the power to impose conditions The 
citizen when he accepts the State's grant, accepts it impressed with all the restric- 
tions and limitations laid upon it, and when he acquires property under such license 
he does so with full notice of his qualilied right; and so, if he loses that which he has 
taken, or held possession of, upon forbidden terms, he hd.s lod nofJiln(f that belonged to 
him, and there has been no taking of property without due j^rocess of law, or without 
just compensation. (Smith v. State, 58 N. E. Reporter, 1045.) 
Similar decisions have been rendered in Minnesota (State v. Rodman, 
58 Minn. :^\K^) and other western States. The supreme court of Mis- 
souri has even gone so far as to hold that under a law prohibiting 
possession during the close season, a contract on the part of a cold- 
storage company to keep game during the close season is illegal. 
(Ilaggcrty r. St. Louis Ice Co., -M S. W. IIU.) In Ontario game 
> Michigan (Act« of 1893, p. .S12) and Minnesota (Laws of 1897, p. 413) have 
declared that birds ])rotected by law shall always remain the property of the State. 
When their killing is not prohibited, they may be used in the manner and for the 
purposes authorized, but not otherwise. 
