Page 287 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

CHAPTER XXVIII
NEW LAWS NEEDED: A ROLL-CALL OF THE STATES
The principles of wild-life protection and encouragement are now so firmly established as to leave little room for argument regarding their value. When they are set forth before the people of any given state, the only question is of willingness to do the right thing; of duty or a defiance of duty; of good citizenship or the reign of selfishness. Men who do not wish to do their duty purposely befog great issues by noisy talk and tiresome academic discussions of trivial details; and such men are the curse and scourge of reform movements.
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There are a very few persons who foolishly assert that ' there are too
manygamelaws!" Itisentirelywrongforanypersontomakesucha statement,forittendstopromoteharmfulerror. Thefactthatourlaws are too lenient, or are not fully enforced, is no excuse for denouncing their purposes. Wehaveallalongbeentootimid,tooselfindulgent,andtoo much afraid of hurting the feelings of the game-hogs.
Give me the power to make the game laws of any state or province and I will guarantee to save the non-migratory wild life of that region I will not only make adequate laws, but I will also provide means, men andpenaltiesbywhichtheywillheenforced! Itiseasyandsimple,for men who are not afraid.
I have been at considerable pains to analyze the game laws of each state, ascertain their shortcomings, and give a list of the faults that need correction by new legislation. It has required no profound wisdom to do this, because the principles involved are so plain that any intelligent schoolboyfifteenyearsoldcanmastertheminonehour. Ihaveper- formed this task hopefully, in the belief that in many states the real issues have not been plainly put before the people. Hereafter no state shall destroy its wild life through ignorance of the laws that would pre- serve it.
Letnomansaythat"itistoolatetosavethewildlife"; forexcepting the dead-and-gone species, that is not true. Let no man say that "we cannotsavethewildlifebylaw";forthatisnottrue,either. Aslong as laws are lax, even law-abiding people will take advantage of them.
There are millions of men who think it is right to kill all the game that thelawallows! Therearethousandsofwomenwhothinkitisrightto wearaigrettesaslongasthelawpermitstheirsale! Andyet,ifweare resolute and diligent there is plenty of hope for the future. During the past three years, to go no farther back, we have seen the whole state of New York swept clean of the traffic in native wild game by the Bayne