



Juty 6, 1907.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 


17 

over the entire State or is confined to a small 
area, has assumed an importance and dignity it 
did not formerly possess. Fortified by plenary 
power to enforce the game laws, and with a con- 
sciousness of the important public service per- 
formed, the warden of to-day stands upon an 
equal footing with other executive officers of the 
Government and commands like respect. The 
salary attached to the position of State commis- 
sioner or warden in those States providing for 
a salary compares favorably with the compensa- 
tion of other State officials. In New York it 
is $5,000 a year, in Illinois $2,500, and in other 
States it varies from $1,000 to $2,000. In the States 
which intrust the administration of the game 
laws to a board of commissioners, position on 
the board, except in Connecticut, Massachusetts 
and Maine, is honorary and without compensa- 
tion. Such is the case in Arizona, California, 
New Hampshire, New Jersey, Minnesota, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, but even under 
these circumstances the States have no difficulty 
in securing ready and capable men. 
The compensation of deputies varies even more 
than that of the State officers, and the system 
of payment adopted by each State has features 
distinct from those of any other. A few States 
pay their deputies a salary. In Montana eth 
of the eight district wardens receives a salary 
of $100 a month, and in California the salary of 
county warden is graduated according to the 
population of the county, $50 to $125 per month, 
with an additional allowance of $25 for expenses. 
Colorado allows each of her five chief wardens 
$900 a year and $300 for expenses, besides a share 
of fines and officer’s costs: In Illinois the ten 
district game wardens receive $900 a year each and 
their actual and necessary expenses while under 
the direction of the commissioner. Game pro- 
tectors in New York, except the chief, first, sec- 
ond and third assistant protectors, who receive 
annual salaries of $2,000, $1,400 and $1,200 re- 
spectively, are paid $600 a year, and receive one- 
half of the fines in actions brought upon in- 
formation furnished by them; and they are al- 
lowed also $450 a year for their expenses. In 
some States the deputies receive the whole or 
part of the fines, together with the usual fees 
of a sheriff or constable. In Tennessee the State 
warden serves without compensation. 
The terms of service are usually the same as 
those of other officers. The State warden of 
Tennessee, however, is appointed for eight years, 
a longer term than is usual for any State officer. 
It may be of interest to note, as showing the 
type of men required for this work, that the pres- 
ent warden of Tennessee was a former member 
of the Federal House of Representatives; that 
one of:the members of Congress from Michigan 
was the first warden of that State; that the 
present game commissioner of one of the States 
was formerly United States minister to Turkey; 
and that several prominent lawyers and _ physi- 
cians are serving their States in the capacity of 
State warden or as members of the board of 
game and. fish commissioners. The governor of 
Nebraska is nominally fish and game commis- 
sioner of that State, but the active work of the 
ottice devolves upon his chief deputy. This some- 
what anomalous condition is due to a constitu- 
tional prohibition against the creation of any 
executive State office not provided for in the 
constitution. Hence the law of rgor, establish- 
ing the office of game and fish commissioner pro- 
vided that the duties of the position should de- 
volve upon the governor. 
. 
_ Duties. 
The duties of a game warden are those usually 
performed by a sheriff, but they differ in one im- 
portant particular, and this difference inheres 
in the object for which the wardenship was es- 
tablished. A sheriff ordinarily acts only in pur- 
suance of preliminary proceedings by private per- 
sons or by a court officer and usually under a war- 
rant issued by a court commanding him to arrest a 
certain person, summon a jury, or perform simi- 
lar acts; but a warden cannot await the initiative 
or detection of a, violation by others. He must 
act, must himself search out violations, find the 
evidence wherewith to convict offenders, and in- 
stitute prosecutions. This is one of the primary 
reasons for the existence of a special officer to 
enforce the game laws. 
During. the the game 
open season much of 
warden’s time is spent in examining .shipments, 
and if his territory includes a railway center this 
service is arduous and requires much night work. 
The devices employed by shippers to conceal 
contraband trade in game compel wardens to 
examine many packages the contents of which 
are not exposed to view. - It frequently happens 
that the warden must perform detective duty in 
order to secure the evidence necessary to con- 
vict suspected parties, and this means that occas- 
ionally he is subjected to all the dangers of such 
service. In States prohibiting sale or possession 
‘of game he must periodically visit and inspect 
hotels, restaurants and other resorts where it 1s 
likely to be served to guests, and must keep a 
watchful eye on markets and cold storage plants. 
In a few States and in several of the Canadian 
provinces wardens issue, hunting licenses, and in 
consequence are compelled to keep accounts. By 
the passage of laws in several States prohibiting 
the hounding of deer and directing the wardens 
to kill dogs found chasing or molesting deer or 
found in the deer country, another task, and 
often a disagreeable one, is added to the war- 
den’s duty. The secretary of the game commis- 
sion of Pennsylvania in January, 1906, estimated 
that 1,500 dogs had been killed in that State dur- 
ing the few months of the operation of the law. 
Examination of hunting licenses issued to non- 
residents requires the warden’s attention, and 
it is always necessary for him to make sure that 
all persons found hunting are provided with the 
proper license. In many States wardens are re- 
quired to destroy traps and devices employed to 
capture game, and in a few to seize guns and 
shooting paraphernalia used in violation of law. 
They often perform the duties of auctioneers 111 
the sale of confiscated game, guns, traps, nets 
etc. Occasionally when an offender against the 
game laws has escaped into another State the 
warden is required to enter that State and, with 
proper requisition papers, apprehend and bring 
back the fugitive. In nearly every State war- 
dens are empowered to serve criminal and civil 
process just as a sheriff would, and this requires 
knowledge of the proper procedure. 
Every statute providing for the appointment of 
a warden defines his duties, some more explicitly 
and in greater detail than others; but the officer 
who would perform the greatest service to the 
State must do many things not laid down in the 
law. As a rule, the active field work of the game 
department is performed by deputies under in- 
structions from the State warden, but the laws 
of Idaho and Wyoming declare that the State 
warden shall be an active executive officer, and 
when possible shall take the field in person .in 
performance of his duties. : 
An officer who realizes the responsibility of 
his position can do much to bring game protec- 
tion into popular favor. He may easily become 
an educator, however circumscribed his field. 
Much of the wanton destruction of animal life 
proceeds from thoughtlessness, and few persons 
once impressed with the importance of preserv- 
ing wild creatures coritinue to destroy them. In 
North Carolina the bird and game wardens, in 
addition to their official duties, spend a consider- 
able portion of their time educating the public 
as to the value of birds and game to the State. 
During the close seasons they visit farmers, ex- 
plain and discuss the game laws and their object, 
and hear complaints. Each warden is supplied 
with a selection of standard books on birds and 
is required to familiarize himself with them, so 
as to be able to answer the numerous questions 
propounded. 
A very useful and interesting feature of a 
warden’s duties in Illinois is the periodical census 
made by him of certain species of game. In 
this way the commissioner, with reasonable ac- 
curacy, can determine the status of certain species 
and recommend necessary legislation. Similar 
service is performed by the wardens in Pennsyl- 
vania. The general adoption of this scheme over 
the entire country would greatly facilitate the 
drafting of proper laws and in addition furnish 
very interesting statistics. 
Another valuable service performed by the 
Illinois wardens consists in rendering aid to the 
farmers in enforcing the trespass laws. ‘Tele 
phone connection makes it possible to quickly 
reach the scene of a trespass, and their ready 
reduced the number of such 
offenses in that State. The Illinois and Wiscon 
sin wardens, as part of their duties, periodically 
examine and check up the hunting license 
counts of the county clerks. 
The rapid decrease in the number of quail.in 
several States, due to starvation in win 
ters with heavy snows, has awakened the citizens 
of those States to a realization of the necessity 
of providing food for the starving birds during 
such periods. The game departments in some of 
the States have adopted a systematic plan for 
purchasing and distributing this food by the aid 
of wardens. During the winter of 1904-5, which 
was very severe and protracted as far south as 
North Carolina, thirty wardens in that State de- 
voted much of their time distributing grain for 
the quail and in enlisting the co-operation of 
the farmers in their behalf. During the same 
winter some of the wardens of New Jersey pur 
chased grain at their own expense and distri- 
buted it widely in their territory, and the In 
diana wardens employed men with sleighs to dis- 
tribute food for the quail. In Illinois quail were 
systematically fed by the game department dur- 
response has greatly 
ac- 
severe 

ing that winter. An expenditure of $25 in each 
county was authorized by the State game com- 
missioner to be used in February, and with the 
means thus supplied the wardens were able to 
scatter a large amount of grain throughout the 
region inhabited by quail. The mounted police 
on duty in the neighborhood of Washington, in 

the District of Columbia, under instructions from 
their superintendent, who is ex-officio game war- 
den of the district, carry with them regularly, 
during severe weather, bags of grain from which 
they scatter food for the quail. 
[TO BE CONCLUDED. |] 
God’s Green Inn. 
[Outdoor men and women will read with pleasure, 
and we think profit, Theodosia Garrison’s poem, “The 
Green *Inn,’’ which opens the July Scribner’s, and is 
introduced by a colored frontispiece. It fits well the 
season, and will speak to many hearts.—EpitTor.] 
[ sicken of men’s company 
The crowded tavern’s din, 
Where all day long with oath and song 
Sit they who entrance win; 
So, come I out from noise and rout 
To rest in God’s Green Inn. 
Here none may mock an empty purse, 
Cr ragged coat and poor 
But Silence waits within the gates, 
And Peace beside the door: 
Ihe weary guest is welcomest, 
The richest pays no score 
The roof is high and arched and b ue, 
The floor is spread with pine; 
On my four walls the sunlight falls 
In golden flecks and fine 
And swift and fleet, on noiseless feet, 
The Four Wirtds bring me wine. 
° Upon my board they set their store 
Great drinks mixed cunning:y, 
Wherein the scent of furze is blent 
With the odor of the sea, 
As from a cup I drink it up 
To thrill the veins of me. 
It’s I will sit in God’s Green Inn 
Unvexed by man or ghost, 
Yet ever fed and comforted, 
Companioned by mine host, 
And watched at night by that white light 
High-swung from coast to coast 
Oh, you who in the House of Str:fe 
Quarrel and game and sin, 
Come out and see what cheer may be 
For starveling souls and = 
Who come at last from drought and fast 
To sit in God’s Green ae 
Tue Forest AND STREAM may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dea'er to 
supply you regularly. 




























































































