CH. XXXI 
GAME RESERVES 
3°9 
being, happiness, or prosperity of the bulk of the 
population, then that game must be banished. 
Short of this, it is admitted that we owe a certain 
duty to the actual wild denizens of the country. When 
we took upon ourselves the privileges which attach to 
our great Empire, we also assumed certain responsi¬ 
bilities. One of these responsibilities, a minor one 
perhaps, but still very real, is to see to it that none of 
the splendid and beautiful forms of animal life con¬ 
tained in that Empire should be ruthlessly or needlessly 
exterminated. This is the second consideration ; and 
on these two considerations I believe that the large 
bulk of our population, both settler and official, would 
be agreed. 
It is as to the best means to effect this end, i.e., to 
preserve the maximum amount of game at the 
minimum amount of inconvenience, that opinions 
mostly differ. It has been asserted by some that if 
a close season were imposed the farmers and settlers 
themselves might be safely entrusted with the task of 
preserving what amount of game they desired, while 
the Government could see to it, through their game- 
rangers, that no species came in danger of exter¬ 
mination. Those who hold this opinion are aware, 
of course, of the fact that wherever you pick the 
area to be reserved for game it is sure to be a 
Naboth’s vineyard to someone, and hold that game 
is likely to get a worse name through this supposed 
usurpation than if such land were actually thrown 
open for settlement. Against this view those who 
advocate Game Reserves argue, “ By all means 
let us have a close season ; but that is not enough. 
We believe, certainly, that a large proportion of the 
farming occupiers will, if only for the sake of sport, do 
