April 6, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
435 
The Roosevelt Bill. 
Port Richmond, Staten Island, N. Y., March 
30 .—Editor Forest and Stream: The inclosed 
letter from Senator Roosevelt, the chairman in 
the Senate of forest, fish and game, will be.in¬ 
teresting reading to every man in our State who 
is at all interested in the important question of 
how best to effect the protection and conserva¬ 
tion of our fast diminishing numbers of fish and 
game: 
I beg to acknowledge your letter of Jlarch 12 in regard 
to the open season for hares and rabbits. I fear very 
much that your association does not understand the new 
fish and game bill. Under the bill, it is provided for in 
a simple manner that the Conservation Commission may, 
on the petition of one person, close or otherwise regu¬ 
late the open season in any locality in part or in whole. 
Under the new bill all that is necessary is for the 
Richmond County Field Trial Association, or. one of its 
members, to petition the Conservation Commission to 
restore the season on hares and rabbits in Richmond 
county to what it was before. I have absolutely no 
doubt that the Conservation Commission will make the 
regulation. 
You say in your letter that if the general law in force 
throughout the State allowing the killing of rabbits 
beginning Oct. 1, becomes effective in Richmond county 
it will result in the annihilation of practically the only 
game animal in the county. I wish to assure you that 
if the general law allowing the killing of rabbits begin¬ 
ning Oct. 1, becomes effective in Richmond county it 
will be solely the fault of the residents of Richmond 
county; 
As I have said before, there is no wish on the part of 
the Legislature or of the Conservation Commission to 
change your present law.. We are simply trying to do, 
by a rule of the Conservation Commission, what for¬ 
merly was done by an act of the Legislature. There are 
a good many animals and a good many counties in this 
State, and to have separate acts of the Legislature year 
after year for each of these animals and each of these 
counties, has created an intolerable situation that must 
be remedied. 
Let me call particular attention to that part 
of Senator Roosevelt’s letter which states that 
‘'under the bill it is provided for in a simple man¬ 
ner that the Conservation Commission may, on 
the petition of one person, close or otherwise 
regulate the open season in any locality in whole 
or in part.” 
It is hardly possible that any such provision is 
constitutional. The Legislature always had 
power to delegate to local boards the power to 
make such reasonable police and other regula¬ 
tions as were necessary for the conduct of the 
affairs of the localities and political subdivisions 
thus empowered. For instance, boards of super¬ 
visors in the matter of fish and game protection 
could make seasons for game and fish which 
restricted the seasons fixed by the Legislature, 
but such boards could never lawfully extend the 
seasons defined by the Legislature. If Senator 
Roosevelt has correctly stated the intent of the 
new bill, it will lie within the power of the Con¬ 
servation Commission to dictate open and closed 
seasons in any or all of the counties of the State 
without regard for the acts of the Legislature. 
Such exercise of power in that artificial body is 
against the principles of representation which lie 
at the root of our Government. 
That the Legislature cannot so divide its re¬ 
sponsibility of enacting laws seems to be de¬ 
clared by the case of people versus action re¬ 
ported in forty-eight of Barbour (N. Y.) in the 
following language of the opinion of Justice 
Ingraham: “* * * Legislature cannot con¬ 
fer the power to discharge duties and make 
regulations and pass laws relating thereto upon 
State officers no matter how appointed, whether 
by the Governor and Senate or by the Legisla¬ 
ture; and * * * could not vest officers appointed 
under authority of the State with the perform¬ 
ance of such duties.” 
So much for the legal aspect of the matters 
referred to in the Senator’s letter. Senator 
Roosevelt complains that the demands of the 
separate counties for separate acts of the Legis¬ 
lature to meet the needs of each county creates 
an ‘‘intolerable situation.” So far as Richmond 
is concerned, his complaint is without founda¬ 
tion. For years the open season for rabbits and 
hares in our county was from Nov. i to Dec. 31. 
Such a season is reasonable, but for the past 
five or six years our sportsmen have been wag¬ 
ing constant warfare against the attempts of the 
Legislature to extend our season, and indeed 
this year we have been defeated in our efforts 
for game protection in this particular regard, 
for the Legislature against our repeated petitions 
to both Senator Bayne and Senator Roosevelt 
has put us in the general section relating to hares 
and rabbits, and it will be lawful to shoot that 
sort of game in this county on Oct. i. 
At that time we have hundreds of young rab¬ 
bits not able to run before a dog, and perhaps 
not even separated from the parents. Of course 
their slaughter is easy. We petitioned also for 
a restriction against snow hunting, which met 
with no more recognition than our first request. 
Strange as it may seem then, in view of the 
declared policy of the Conservation Commission 
to protect and conserve our game, we, in Rich¬ 
mond, have for years been upon the defensive 
against legislation which could not be more 
surely aimed at the annihilation of our only re¬ 
maining game animal. 
A uniform law for the State will relieve the 
legislators from a lot of tiresome work, but that 
such a law is best for game interests is undoubt¬ 
edly far from the truth. 
Differences in temperature and general condi¬ 
tions of food and shelter induced by climate and 
environment vary so much between the northern 
and southern counties of our State that open 
seasons should be regulated accordingly, and it 
seems too bad that the only reason alleged 
against the passage of equable laws should be 
that the labor involved is too great. 
Edward Sidney Rawson. 
A New Game Farm. 
San Francisco, Cal., March 26 . —Editor Forest 
and Stream: Fish and Game Commissioner F. 
M. Newbert, who is now in charge of the new 
branch office at Sacramento, is greatly interested 
in the new game farm that is being established 
at Folsom. In response to an inquiry as to 
what is being done at the new farm and what 
the plans are, Mr. Newbert has replied as fol¬ 
lows : 
‘‘The commission has undertaken a new idea 
regarding game propagation. We have obtained 
from the prison directors of the State a lease 
of twenty-five acres that adjoins the prison walls. 
It is the most ideal spot for a game farm. One 
might travel the world over and not find a place 
its equal, because it is located in the center of 
California where the sun shines three hundred 
and twenty-five days in the year, and where 
flowers are always in bloom. 
‘‘The farm will cover some of the round hills 
in a district where the lemon trees bear twelve 
months in the year, and where the earliest 
oranges are raised. These hills are asleep in 
sunshine almost the whole year, and they over¬ 
look the American River, one of our most beau¬ 
tiful streams. 
■‘No wonder that this spot at the present time 
is favored with the presence of more than 1,000 
of the king of game birds, our blue valley quail. 
We surely have the right to crown him king, 
for out of doors there does not live a bird that 
can make an experienced sportsman look so much 
like a novice at any time. Lie is game to the 
core, and will always find the one chance in a 
hundred to escape. An expert on bobwhite is a 
beginner when hunting the blue valley quail in 
Northern California. I have had the pleasure of 
experiencing the gameness of this grand little 
bird. After my dog had retrieved a winged one, 
and at the command to let go, the bird slipped 
from my hand, and running with the speed of 
a man, gained the brush and disappeared down 
a squirrel hole, lost forever. You count a blue 
valley quail when he is in the coat, and do not 
forget to note that his life struggles are over, 
or the count may be one less when you arrive 
home, for he is game to the last. 
‘‘This is the grand little fellow that the com¬ 
mission is going to try and save for the people 
of our State. He will remain close to habita¬ 
tions, but at the first crack of the gun he is off, 
and it takes a keen eye and an experienced dog 
for a sportsman to return with a few in his 
coat. 
"The Folsom prison affords many advantages 
besides being the natural home of the bird. 
There are on the grounds several acres of vine¬ 
yards, some olive and fig trees, and best of all 
their home—large rocks with small oaks grow¬ 
ing all around. We wdl also have the advantage 
of a large reservoir which will irrigate every 
inch of the twenty-five acres. Two searchlights 
play over the. grounds all night long, and it will 
be impossible for any predatory animal to come 
upon the tract. In other words, the farm is 
absolutely protected from all chances of losses 
by ’coons or other varmints, or two-legged 
skunks. 
"We believe that placing the farm at Folsom 
prison is the first step toward prison reform. 
After teaching this little fellow to eat from his 
hand, no living man can help but love and ad¬ 
mire him, and to improve any character you must 
first instill a loving spirit and the power of right 
thinking. If any warden can get a prisoner to 
think of his home and mother, the battle is half 
won, and he will begin to think that life is worth 
living after all. At the prison there are hun¬ 
dreds of men who would consider it an honor 
to help make our farm a success.^ Cleanliness 
is the key to success in poultry raising, and at 
the prison we will have the help necessary at 
all times, thereby saving the State many thou¬ 
sands of dollars, and giving the poor devil that 
misfortunes of life have overtaken and stopped 
a career that might have been successful, a 
chance to improve his mind and body. 
‘‘Warden W. H. Reilly, who is an ardent 
sportsman and greatly interested in this move¬ 
ment, with the assistance of our superintendent, 
will in a short time be able to announce that 
California is the possessor of one of the greatest 
propagation farms in the United States.” 
Golden Gate. 
