Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 20 , 
1908 
. VOL. LXX.—No. 25. 
} No. 127 Franklin St., New York, 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1908, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary. 
Louis Dean Speir ; Treasurer. 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE. OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful interest 
in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate a refined 
taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
THE HOUSE OF GOVERNORS. 
Although some little time has elapsed since 
the meeting of the Governors of States in the 
White House at Washington, the public is only 
beginning to realize the full import of the dis¬ 
cussions held and the conclusions arrived at at 
those sessions. 
The number of Governors who attended at 
the President’s invitation, together with men of 
great prominence in the professional and in¬ 
dustrial fields; the enthusiasm which prevailed; 
the unanimity of opinion on the questions dis¬ 
cussed by a body of men from so many widely 
separated regions, when it might well have been 
anticipated - that the opposite would obtain; the 
formation of the House of Governors; and the 
more recent appointment, by the President, of 
an advisory commission—all go far to prove that 
the public, so long apathetic, patient and for¬ 
bearing in the face of the enormous wastage of 
the natural resources of our country, has at last 
been thoroughly aroused and is taking an active 
interest in some of the most important questions 
bearing on the welfare of the present as well as 
future generations. 
Briefly, the President, the Forestry Depart¬ 
ment, the Department of Agriculture and its im¬ 
portant branch, the Biological Survey; the Gov¬ 
ernors of all the States and the leading men of 
the country have agreed that the time has come 
when our forests, waterways and other natural 
resources must and shall be preserved. Con¬ 
servation is the watchword, and it will be applied 
in more ways, from now on, than even the Gov¬ 
ernors contemplated. 
For years the foremost men of the United 
States have been urging the necessity of action 
in conserving the forests. They have pointed 
out the almost incalculable benefit to be derived 
from this work by all of America’s industries 
and by the people as well, but their work is only 
beginning to show signs of bearing fruit. Now 
that the Governors of all of the States have 
returned home filled with enthusiasm over their 
conference, and willing to do their share of the 
work that must be performed, important results 
may be expected. 
How far the House of Governors will extend 
its work cannot be even estimated now. It is 
the. theory that its conferences may have an im¬ 
portant bearing on all economic problems. 
The standing of the members will give great 
weight to all questions that may be considered. 
Frequent efforts have been made to bring 
about reforms in the game laws of the different 
States through uniform legislation, but these 
have in the main failed. There is much to be 
said in favor of uniform game laws, and if 
migratory birds and wildfowl are ever properly 
protected, uniform laws and their strict enforce¬ 
ment will accomplish this; provided the Govern¬ 
ment does not come to the rescue. Considering 
the respect with which any proposition is con¬ 
sidered by the people of a State when it is cham¬ 
pioned by their own Governor, it is reasonable 
to believe that if a careful plan is drawn up, 
looking to the co-operation of States North and 
South in the conservation of migratory birds 
and waterfowl, and submitted to the House of 
Governors at its next convention, much good will 
result therefrom. Minnesota and Mississippi 
sportsmen have a common interest in the wild¬ 
fowl; Massachusetts and Florida can agree on 
a plan to so regulate open seasons that ducks 
and geese will hold their own even if they do 
not actually increase. And if, through the Gov¬ 
ernors’ assistance, States at the North and the 
South agree to laws that will prove effective, 
those other States that lie in the line of flight 
of migratory birds must assist in the work if 
it is to be made effective. 
The interstate traffic in game and game fish, 
so troublesome at present, may in time be 
brought to the attention of the Governors and 
through them be regulated by their respec¬ 
tive Legislatures. The opportunity for worthy 
effort on the part of State Executives are almost 
unlimited, now that they are to meet at intervals 
to discuss and pass on matters of common in¬ 
terest to the people of all of the States. 
THE FRAN CO-BRITISH EXHIBITION. 
Within a year a wonderful transformation 
has taken place on the great common at Shep¬ 
herd’s Bush, near London, England. Enormous 
buildings have been erected on the grounds 
where the young people of the nearby suburbs 
were wont to meet to play tennis and other 
games. Streets have been laid out, lagoons ar¬ 
ranged, fountains installed and everything done 
to make the grounds as attractive and beautiful 
as the exhibits within the great buildings are 
interesting and instructive. 
Of games, feats of skill and all those contests 
in which the men and women of the outdoor 
world strive to excel there will be no lack. The 
athletic and sporting programme is not only most 
complete, but it will absorb many weeks’ time. 
Rifle and revolver shooting will attract the atten¬ 
tion of the best marksmen of several nations, 
and it is claimed that twenty-two nations will 
send representatives to compete in the games 
of the fourth international Olympiad, in the 
great stadium which has been erected for the 
purpose. As a general proposition the condi¬ 
tions under which contestants will enter have 
been made to attract the sportsmen of all coun¬ 
tries. 
There will also be held a fly- and bait-casting 
tournament, to occupy two days’ time. It will 
be conducted by a committee of well known 
British anglers. This committee, however, in¬ 
stead of endeavoring to attract competitors from 
those other countries in which contests of skill 
for anglers are held—the United States, Austra¬ 
lia, and possibly France and Germany—has in 
effect frowned on all rods and tackle that do 
not conform to its conception of what a “fish¬ 
ing rod” should be. Thus, instead of attempting 
to do what has always been done in the United 
States—encourage international visitors to com¬ 
pete with their favorite rods and tackle—the 
British committee has repaid our anglers’ cour¬ 
tesy by putting up the bars against American 
fishing rods and tackle. 
The London tournament will be the eleventh 
one of its kind to be held there. In the United 
States hundreds of tournaments for anglers have 
been held, many of them attracting scores of 
anglers from all parts of the country. So popu¬ 
lar have these affairs become in fact that a 
national association was formed to regulate 
them. The desire is to make all of the condi¬ 
tions as nearly uniform as may be possible. The 
London committee ignores the existence of the 
carefully formulated rules of our National Asso¬ 
ciation, and will not admit the rods and tackle 
which are standard on this side of the water. 
It holds that some of them are not “fishing 
rods,” despite the fact that np rod or tackle is 
used in American casting tournaments which is 
not adapted to angling for some variety of game 
fish in our waters. 
Much interest is taken in the comparison of 
records made with fly and bait in various places. 
In view of the popularity of the sport, the hope 
has often been expressed that our English 
friends would endeavor to make the conditions 
of their contests as nearly as possible similar 
to those observed in Australia and America, but 
it seems this is not to be realized. We can only 
indorse the sentiment expressed by the presi¬ 
dent of the National Association of Angling 
Clubs in writing to the chairman of the London 
tournament committee. Mr. Perce said: “It is 
fondly hoped that some day a genuine inter¬ 
national tournament may be held with a gen¬ 
erous representation from each side of the 
Atlantic.” 
The Forest, Fish and Game Commission of 
New York has prepared a summary of the game 
laws of the State, which is of a convenient size 
for posting. It is printed in large type on tough 
cardboard. The open seasons are plainly indi¬ 
cated, and those provisions with which all sports¬ 
men wish to familiarize themselves are included. 
Every club, hotel and camp in the State should 
procure a copy and post it where it will be seen. 
