Page 290 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

268 OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
exposed to the view of the doctors. Conditions will be represented as they exist at the end of the summer of igi2, and it is to be hoped that these faults soon may be corrected.
A Roll-Call of the States
Alabama :
It is a satisfaction to be able to open this list with the name of a state
thatisentitledtoamedalofhonorforgameprotection. Inthisparticular field of progress and enlightenment, the state of Alabama is the pioneer stateoftheSouth. NewYorknowoccupiesasimilarpositioninthe North; but New York is an older state, and stronger in her general love of nature. The attainment of advanced protection in any southern state is a very different matter from what it is in the North.
Five years ago Alabama set her house in order. The slaughter of song and insectivorous birds has been so far stopped as any Southern state can stop it unaided by the federal government, and those birds are recognizedandtreatedasthefarmers'bestfriends. Theabsurdsystem ofattemptedprotectionthroughcountylawshasbeenabandoned. The sale of game has been stopped, and since that stoppage, quail have in- creased. The trapping and export of game have ceased, and wild turkeys and woodcock are now increasing. It is unlawful to kill or capture non-game birds. Bag limits have been imposed, but the bag limitlawsarealltooliberal,andshouldbereduced. Ahunter'slicenselaw isinforce,andthedepartmentofgameandfishisself-supporting. Night hunting is prohibited, and female deer may not be killed. A compre- hensive warden system has been provided. As yet, however, Alabama
Permits the shooting of waterfowl to March 15, which is too late, by one and one- half months.
The use of automatic and pump guns in hunting should be suppressed.
There should be a limit of two deer per year, and killing should be restricted to deer with horns not less than three inches long.
The story of game protection in Alabama began in 1907. Prior to that time, the slaughter of wild life was very great. It is known that enormous numbers of quail were annually killed by negro farm hands, who hunted at least three days each week, regardless of work to be done. The slaughter of quail, wild ducks woodcock, doves, robins and snipe was described as "nauseating."
The change that has been wrought since 1907 is chiefly due to the effortsofoneman. Alabamaowesherstandingto-daytotheadmirable qualities of John H. Wallace, Jr., her Game and Fish Commissioner, authoroftheState'spolicyinwild-lifeconservation. Hisbroad-minded- ness, his judgment and his success make him a living object lesson of the power of one determined man in the conservation of wild life.
Commissioner Wallace is an ardent supporter of the Weeks and Anthony bills for federal protection, and as a lawj^er of the South, he believes there is "no constitutional inhibition against federal legislation for the protection of birds of passage."