Page 289 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

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STATE ROLL-CALL FOR NEW LAWS 267
birds; and Canada and Mexico should be induced to join with the United States m an international treaty to that effect.
The other necessary measure is the passage of a joint resolution of Congress declaring every national forest and forest reserve also a game preserve and general sanctuary for wild life, in which there shall be no hunting or killing of wild creatures of any kind save predatory animals.
The tendency of the times,—and the universal slaughter of wild life on this continent,—point straight as an arrow flies in that direction. vSoon or late, we have GOT to come to it! If Congress does not take the initiatory steps, the People will! Such a consummation is necessary; it is justified by common sense and the inexorable logic of the situation, and when done it will be right.
The time was when the friends of wild life did not dare speak of this subjectinWashingtonsaveinwhispers. Thatwasinthedayswhenthe Appalachian Park bill could not be passed, and when there were angry mutterings and even curses leveled against Gilford Pinchot and the Forestry Bureau because so many national forests were being set aside. That was in the days when a few western sheep-men thought that they owned the whole Rocky Mountains without having bought them. To-day, the American people have grown accustomed to the idea of having the resources of the public domain saved and conserved for the benefitofthemillionsratherthanlavisheduponafavoredfew. To-day it is perfectly safe to talk about making every national forest a first class wild-life sanctuary, and it is up to the People to request Congress to take that action, at once.
The Weeks bill, the Anthony bill, and the McLean bill now before Congress to provide federal protection for migratory birds are practically identical. All three are good bills; and it matters not which one finally becomes a law. Whichever is put forward finally for passage should provide federal protection for all migratory birds that ever enter the UnitedStates,Alaska,orPortoRico. Whyfavortheduckandleave therobintoitsfate,orviceversa? Itwillbejustaseasytodothistask by wholes as by halves. The time to hesitate, to feel timid, or to be
afraid of the other fellow has gone by. To-day the millions of honest and serious-minded Americans are ready to back the most thorough an d most drastic policy, because that has become the most necessary and the best policy. Furthermore, it is the only policy worthy of serious con- sideration.
Some of our states ha\-e done rather well in wild-life protection, considering the absurdity of our national policy as a whole; others have doneindifferently,andsomehavebeenandstillareveryremiss. Here is where we intend to hew to the line, and without fear or favor set forth the standing of each state according to its merits or its lack of merits. In a life-or-death matter such as now confronts us regarding the wild life of our country, it is time to speak plainly.
In the following call of the States, the glaring deficiencies in state game laws will be set forth in detail, in order that the sore spots may be