140 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Aug. 2, 1913. 
Commissioner Adams of Massachusetts. 
On July 16, Governor Foss appointed Wil¬ 
liam C. Adams, of Boston, Mass., a commissioner 
on fisheries and game for that Commonwealth. 
There was a spirited campaign for the place, 
but it is fair to state that "politics” had nothing 
to do with this appointment. 
Mr. Adams stood squarely on his record, 
and it is safe to say that the merits of the case 
controlled. 
Mr. Adams was born in Wooster, Ohio, in 
1880. From his high school days on it was 
necessary for him to support himself while ob¬ 
taining his education, and he did this by follow¬ 
ing various activities, principally library work. 
He spent the first two years of his college life 
in Park College, Missouri, and received the 
Ph.B. degree from the University of Colorado 
in 1902. He spent a year in the law library of 
Harvard University, and in 1903 was appointed 
librarian of the law school of Columbia Univer¬ 
sity. He received the degree LL.B. from this 
institution in 1906. He first practiced law in 
New York. Later he came to Boston and has 
continued to practice with offices in the old South 
Building. 
Mr. Adams has been an ardent sportsman 
all his life. He has hunted and fished in Ohio, 
Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas, New 
York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. For 
years he has studied the problems of the protec¬ 
tion and propagation of game, especially as re¬ 
lating to Massachusetts. 
With practically no compensation or other 
recognition, Mr. Adams had for years at¬ 
tended the hearings of the committee on fisheries 
and game in the Legislature, and has been what 
might aptly be termed the “watch dog” for the 
sportsmen on all matters relating to shooting 
and fishing. 
In addition to this he has either drawn or 
helped draw most of the bills which have be¬ 
come law relating to fish and game, particularly 
the original lulls to establish one or more game 
farms; the act to codify the law relating to regis¬ 
tration of hunters; various bills designed to 
create a single head commission on fisheries and 
game; the bill to stop the sale of game and the 
resolution which was passed this year to codify 
the game laws. He has also advocated laws to 
require a license to fish, and to take firearms 
away from unnaturalized persons. 
At various times he has acted as attorney 
for the fish and game commission, and has suc¬ 
cessfully prosecuted important cases for this de¬ 
partment, which have had to do with violation 
of the fish and game laws. He has written many 
articles for the press relating to questions of 
protection and propagation. 
His interests have extended beyond this, for 
he has helped wage the fight to stop the traffic 
in birds’ feathers by upholding the provision in 
the pending tariff act directed to this end. 
In March, T912, he appeared before the com¬ 
mittee in Washington and argued in favor of the 
migratory bird bills, which have become law. 
Fie has always advocated the formation of 
local associations throughout the State, and in 
addition to being a member of and legislative 
counsel for the Massachusetts Gunners’ Asso¬ 
ciation and the Massachusetts Fish and Game 
League, he is also a member of the Middlesex 
Sportsmen’s Association, the Sportsmen’s Pro¬ 
tective Association of Eastern Massachusetts, 
the Worcester County Fish and Game Associa¬ 
tion, the Springfield Fish and Game Association, 
the Brockton Fish and Game Association, the 
WILLIAM C. ADAMS. 
Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Asso¬ 
ciation and the American Game Protective and 
Propagation Association. 
Enforcing the Gajne Laws in Delaware 
The arrest of forty-eight offenders against 
the game laws in Delaware within the past eight 
days by representatives of the Board of Fish and 
Game Commissioners, acting under the guidance 
of experts furnished by the American Game Pro¬ 
tective and Propagation Association of New York 
city, has brought forth the statement from Presi¬ 
dent John B. Burnham of the association that 
something akin to scientific management can be 
applied to game protection. Mr. Burnham pre¬ 
dicts that other State will rapidly follow the 
good example set by Delaware and certain of 
her sister States which have placed their pro¬ 
tective departments on the basis advocated by 
the American Association. 
"The day of haphazard work by inexperi¬ 
enced and inefficient men in protecting the wild 
life of the country is rapidly passing, in my opin¬ 
ion,” said Mr. Burnham, in discussing the re¬ 
sults that scientific organization has achieved in 
Delaware. 
“Our association, which is the national or¬ 
ganization of the. sportsmen of the United 
States,” he continued, “is advocating a method 
of organization and instruction of the protective 
forces of this country that is based on long prac¬ 
tical experience, and which reduces the work as 
nearly to an exact science as can be. We have 
a staff of well-trained wardens which is at the 
service of any State that wishes expert help. 
Its members are picked men who served on the 
New York protective force during the time I 
was deputy commissioner. They can follow the 
trail of the seasoned offender as persistently and 
as intelligently as a hound pursues a fox, and 
they are thoroughly experienced in all of the 
false trails and other wiles that characterize 
these gentry. 
“Delaware furnishes an excellent example of 
the results that can be achieved under the new 
system. Recently our association was called on 
for assistance by President Edward G. Braford, 
Jr., of the Board of Fish and Game Commis¬ 
sioners, in placing the force of that State on 
an effective basis. The expert we sent made a 
thorough study of the situation, and drew up a 
detailed plan of organization which has been fol¬ 
lowed almost to the letter. Dr. T. S. Palmer, 
of the Biological Survey of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, gladly lent his aid, 
and even came over to Dover to conduct the 
ornithological part of the searching examination 
that all applicants for game wardens’ posi¬ 
tions were required to undergo under the new 
system. 
“When the force of wardens had thus been 
chosen, our experts went out with the new ap¬ 
pointees to give them practical instruction in 
going about their work. The result of this is 
the large haul of offenders mentioned above. 
The majority of those apprehended were charged 
with fishing in the Delaware and Chesapeake 
Canal without a license. This sort of thing had 
been going on for year under the old system, 
but it is a safe wager that it will be reduced to 
a minimum from now on. 
“Since the licensing of hunters has become 
almost universal in this country, sportsmen see 
that it is their money that is paying for the pro¬ 
tection of game, and they are insisting on re¬ 
sults. These can be obtained only by having pro¬ 
tective forces organized on a scientific basis and 
absolutely divorced from politics. That is the 
sort of protection that our association stands for. 
I think I see a great awakening on this subject 
on the part of the real sportsmen of the coun¬ 
try, and if I am right in my deduction, it is 
certain that we shall witness a gratifying advance 
in methods of game law enforcement within the 
next few years.” 
