Our Vanishing Wild Life Part 45

DRAFTING A BILL.--As a rule, the members of a legislative body do not have time to draft bills on subjects that are new or strange to them. A short bill is easily prepared by your own representative; but a lengthy bill, covering a serious reform, is a different matter. Hire a lawyer to draft the bill for you. A really good lawyer will not charge much for drafting a bill that is to benefit the public, and grind no private axe; but if the bill is long, and requires long study, even the good citizen must charge something.

Your bill must fully recognize existing laws. It must be either prohibitory or permissive; which means that it can say what shall not be done, or else that which may be done according to law, all other acts being forbidden. Your lawyer must decide which form is best. For my part, I greatly prefer the prohibitive form, as being the stronger and more impressive of the two. I think it is the province of the law _to forbid_ the destruction of wild life and forests, under penalties.

PENALTIES.--Every law should provide a penalty for its infringement; but the penalty should not be out of all proportion to the offense. It is just as unwise to impose a fine of one dollar for killing song-birds for food as it is to provide for a fine of three hundred dollars. A fine that is too small fails to impress the prisoner, and it begets contempt for the law and the courts! A fine that is altogether too high is apt to be set aside by the court as "excessive." In my opinion, the best fines for wild life slaughter would be as follows:

Shooting, netting or trapping song-birds, and other non-game birds, each bird $5 to $25 Killing game birds out of season, each bird 10 to 50 Selling game contrary to law, each offense 100 to 200 Dynamiting fish 100 to 200 Seining or netting game fishes 50 to 200 Shooting birds with unfair weapons 10 to 100 Killing an egret, Carolina parakeet or whooping crane 100 to 200 Killing a mountain sheep or antelope anywhere in the U.S. 500 Killing an elk contrary to law 50 Killing a female deer, or fawn without horns, each offense 50 Trapping a grizzly bear for its skin 100

For killing a man "by mistake," the fine should be $500, payable in five annual instalments, to the court, for the family of the victim.

Whenever fines are not paid, the convicted party should be sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor at the rate of one-half day for each dollar of the fine imposed; and a sentence at hard labor should be the _first option of the court_! Many a rich and reckless poacher snaps his fingers at fines; but a sentence to hard labor would strike terror to the heart of the most brazen of them. To all such men, "labor" is the twin terror to "death."

THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL.--Much wisdom is called for in the selection of legislative champions for wild-life bills. It is possible to state here only the leading principles involved.

Of course it is best to look for an introducer within the political party that is in the majority. A man who has many important bills on his hands is bound to give his best attention to his own pet measures; and it is best to choose a man who is not already overloaded. If a man has a host of enemies, pa.s.s him by. By all means choose a man whose high character and good name will be a tower of strength to your cause; and if necessary, _wait for him to make up his mind_. Mr. Lawrence W.

Trowbridge waited three long and anxious weeks in the hope that Hon.

George A. Blauvelt would finally consent to champion the Bayne bill in the New York a.s.sembly. At last Mr. Blauvelt consented to take it up; and the time spent in waiting for his decision was a grand investment! He was the Man of all men to pilot that bill through the a.s.sembly.

Very often the "quiet man" of a legislative body is a good man to champion a new and drastic measure. The quiet man who makes up his mind to take hold of "a hard bill to pa.s.s" often astonishes the natives by his ability to get results. Representative John F. Lacey, of Iowa, made his name a household word all over the United States by the quiet, steady, tireless and finally resistless energy with which for three long years in Congress he worked for "the Lacey bird bill." For years his colleagues laughed at him, and cheerfully voted down his bill. But he persisted. His cause steadily gained in strength; and his final triumph laid the axe at the root of a thousand crimes against wild life, throughout the length and breadth of this land. He rendered the people of America a service that ent.i.tles him to our everlasting grat.i.tude and remembrance.

AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF A BILL.--As soon as a bill is introduced it is referred to a committee, to be examined and reported upon. If there is opposition,--and to every bill that really does something worth while there always is opposition,--then there is a "hearing." The committee appoints a day, when the friends and foes of the bill a.s.semble, and express their views.

The week preceding a hearing is your busy week. You must plan your campaign, down to the smallest details. Pick the men whom you wish to have speak (for ten minutes each) on the various parts of your bill, and divide the topics and the time between them. Call upon the friends of the bill in various portions of the state to attend and "say something."

Go up with a strong body of fine men. _Have as many organizations represented as you possibly can_! The "organizations" represent the great ma.s.s of people, and the voters also.

When you reach the hearing, hand to your bill's champion, who will be floor manager for your side, a clear and concise list of your speakers, carefully arranged and stating who's who. That being done, you have only to fill your own ten minutes and afterward enjoy the occasion.

THE VALUE OF ACCURACY.--It is unnecessary to say, in working for a bill,--_always be sure of your facts_. Never let your opponents catch you tripping in accuracy of statement. If you make one serious error, your enemies will turn it against you to the utmost. Better understate facts than overstate them. This shrewd old world quickly recognizes the careful, conservative man whose testimony is so true and so rock-founded that no a.s.saults can shake it. Legislators are quick to rely on the words and opinions of the man who can safely be trusted. If your enemies try to overwhelm you with extravagant statements, that are unfair to your cause, the chances are that the men who judge between you will recognize them by their ear-marks, and discount them accordingly.

WORK WITH MEMBERS.--Sometimes a subject that is put before a legislative body is so new, and the thing proposed is so drastic, it becomes necessary to take measures to place a great many facts before each member of the body. Under such circ.u.mstances the member naturally desires to be "shown." The cleanest and finest campaigning for a reform measure is that in which both sides deal with facts, rather than with personal importunities. With a good cause in hand, it is a pleasure to prepare concise statements of facts and conditions from which a legislator may draw logical conclusions. Whenever a bill can be won through in that way, game protection work becomes a delight.

In all important new measures affecting the rights and the property of the whole people of a state, the conscientious legislator wishes to know how the people feel about it. When you tell him that "The wild life belongs to the whole people of the state; and this bill is in their interest," he needs to know for certain that your proposition is true.

Sometimes there is only one way in which he can be fully convinced; and that is by the people of his district.

Then it becomes necessary to send out a general alarm, and call upon the People to write to their representatives and express _their_ views. Give them, in printed matter, the _latest facts_ in the case, forecast the future as you think it should be forecast, then demand that the men and women who are interested do write to their senators and a.s.semblyman, and express _their_ views, in _their own way!_ Let there be no "machine letters" sent out, all ready for signature; for such letters are a waste of effort, and belong in the waste baskets to which they are quickly consigned. The members of legislative bodies hate them, and rightly, too. They want to hear from men who can think for themselves, give reasons of their own, and express their desires in their own way.

THE PRESS AND THE NEWSPAPERS.--It is impossible to overestimate the influence of the newspapers and the periodical press in general, in the protection of wild life. But for their sympathy, their support and their independent a.s.saults upon the Army of Destruction, our game species would nearly all of them have been annihilated, long ago. Editors are sympathetic and responsive good-citizens, as keenly sensitive regarding their duties as any of the rest of us are, and from the earliest times of protection they have been on the firing line, helping to beat back the destroyers. It is indeed a rare sight to see an editor giving aid, comfort or advice to the enemy. I can not recall more than a score of articles that I have seen or heard of during thirty years in this field that opposed the cause of wild life protection.[K] At this moment, for instance, I bear in particularly grateful remembrance the active campaign work of the following newspapers:

[Footnote K: Just one hour after the above paragraph was written, a long telegram from San Francisco advised me that the _Examiner_ of that city had begun an active and aggressive campaign for the sale of all kinds of game.]

The New York Times The New York Tribune The New York Herald The New York Globe The New York Mail and Express The New York World The New York Sun The Springfield (Ma.s.s.) Republican The Chicago Inter-Ocean The San Francisco Call The Rochester Union and Advertiser The Victoria Colonist The Brooklyn Standard-Union The New York Evening Post The New York Press The Buffalo News The Minneapolis Journal The Pittsburgh Index-Appeal The St. Louis Globe-Democrat The Philadelphia North American The Utica Observer The Was.h.i.+ngton Star.

These magazines have done good service in the cause; and some of them have spent many years on the firing line:

Forest and Stream The American Field Field and Stream Recreation (old and new) Rod and Gun in Canada In the Open Sports Afield Western Field Outdoor Life s.h.i.+eld's Magazine Sportsman's Review Outing Collier's Weekly The Independent Country Life Outdoor World Bird Lore

In campaigning, always appeal for the help of the newspapers. If there are no private axes to grind, they help generously. The weekly journals are of value, but the monthlies are printed so long in advance of their dates of issue that they seldom move fast enough to keep abreast of the procession. Their mechanical limitations are many and serious.

Every newspaper likes "exclusive" news, letters and articles. On that basis they will print about all the live matter that you can furnish.

But at the same time, the important news of the campaign _must_ be sent to the press broadcast, in the form of printed slips all ready for the foreman. Many of these are never used, but the others are; and it pays.

The news in every slip must be vouched for by the sender, or it will not be used. Often it will appear as a letter signed by the sender; which is all right, only the news is most effective when printed without a signature. Do not count on the a.s.sociated Press; because its peculiar demands render it almost impossible for it to be utilized in game protection work.

HOW TO MEET OPPOSITION.--There is no rule for the handling of opposition that is fair and open. For opposition that is unfair and under-handed, there is one powerful weapon,--Publicity. The American people love fair play, and there is nothing so fatal to an unfair fighter as a searchlight, turned full on him without fear and without mercy. If it is reliably and persistently reported that some citizen who ought to be on the right side has for some dark reason become active on the wrong side, print the reports in a large newspaper, and ask him publicly if they are true. If the reports are false, he can quickly come out in a letter and say so, and end the matter. If they are true, the public will soon know it, and act accordingly.

ETERNAL VIGILANCE.--The progress of a bill must be watched by some competent person from day to day, and finally from hour to hour. I know one bill that was saved from defeat only because its promoter dragged it, almost by force, out of the hands of a tardy clerk, and accompanied it in person to the senate, where it was pa.s.sed in the last hour of a session.

A bill should not be left to a long slumber in the drawer of a committee. Such delays nearly always are dangerous.

SIGNING THE BILL.--The promoter of a great measure always seeks the sympathy of the Chief Executive early in the day; but he should not make the diplomatic error of trying to exact promises or pledges in advance.

Good judges do not give away their decisions in advance.

Because a Chief Executive remarks after a bill has been sent to him for signing that he "cannot approve it," it is no reason to give up in despair. Many an executive approval has been s.n.a.t.c.hed at the last moment, as a brand from the burning. _Ask for a hearing before the bill is acted upon_. At the hearing, and before it and after, the People who wish the bill to become a law must express themselves,--by letter, by telegram, and by appeal in person. If the governor becomes convinced that an _overwhelming majority_ of his people desire him to sign the bill, _he will sign it_, even though personally he is opposed to it! The hall mark of a good governor is a spirit of obedience to the will of the great majority.

Not until your bill has been signed by the governor are you ready to go home with a quiet mind, take off your armor, and put your ear to the telephone while you hear some one say as your only reward,--"Well done, good and faithful servant."

AS TO "CREDIT."--Do not count upon receiving any credit for what you do in the cause of game protection, outside the narrow circle of your own family and your nearest friends. This is a busy world; and the human mind flits like a restless bird from one subject to another. The men who win campaigns are forgotten by the general public, in a few hours! There is nothing more fickle or more fleeting than the bubble called "popular applause." Judging by the experiences of great men, I should say that it has no substance, whatever. The most valuable reward of the man who fights in a great cause, and helps to win victories, is the profound satisfaction that comes to every good citizen who bravely does his whole duty, and leaves the world better than he found it, without the slightest thought of gallery applause.

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 citizens.h.i.+p 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.

There are a very few persons who foolishly a.s.sert that "there are too many game laws!" It is entirely wrong for any person to make such a statement, for it tends to promote harmful error. The fact that our laws are _too lenient_, or are not fully enforced, is no excuse for denouncing their purposes. We have all along been too timid, too self indulgent, and too 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 and penalties by which _they will be enforced_! It is easy and simple, for men who are not afraid.

I have been at considerable pains to a.n.a.lyze 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 schoolboy fifteen years old can master them in one hour. I have performed 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 preserve it.

Let no man say that "it is too late to save the wild life"; for excepting the dead-and-gone species, that is not true. Let no man say that "we can not save the wild life by law"; for that is not true, either. As long 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 the law allows_! There are thousands of women who think it is right to wear aigrettes as long as the law permits their sale! And yet, if we are 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 law, and of the traffic in wild birds' plumage on women's hats through the Dutcher law. To-day, in this state, we find ninety-nine women out of every one hundred wearing flowers, and laces, and plush and satin on their hats, instead of the heads, bodies and feathers of wild birds that were the regular thing until three years ago. The change has been a powerful commentary on the value of good laws for the protection of wild life. The Dutcher law has caused the plumage of wild birds _almost wholly to disappear from the State of New York_!

We shall here point out the plain duty of each state; and then it will be up to them, individually, to decide whether they can stand the blood-test or not.

A state or a nation can be ungentlemanly, unfair or mean, just the same as an individual. No state has a right to maintain shambles for the slaughter of migratory game or song birds that belong in part to sister states. _Every state holds its migratory bird life in trust, for the benefit of the people of the nation at large_. A state is just as responsible for its treatment of wild life as any individual; and it is time to open books of account.

It is robbery, as well as murder, for any southern state to slaughter the robins of the northern states, where no robins may be killed. _No southern gentleman can permit such doings, after the crime has been pointed out to him_! In the North, the men who are caught shooting robins are instantly haled to court, and fined or imprisoned. If we of the North should kill for food the mockingbirds that visit us, the people of the South instantly would brand us as monsters of greed and meanness; and they would be perfectly justified in so doing.

Let us at least be honest in "agreeing upon a state of fact," as the lawyers say, whether we act sensibly and mercifully or not. Just so long as there remains in this land of ours a fauna of game birds, and the gunners of one-half the states are allowed to dictate the laws for the slaughter of it, just so long will our present protection remain utterly absurd and criminally inadequate. Look at these absurdities:

New York, New Jersey and many other northern states rigidly prohibit the late winter and spring shooting of waterfowl and sh.o.r.e birds, and limit the bag; North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and other southern states not only slaughter wild fowl and sh.o.r.e birds all winter and spring, without limit, but several of them kill certain non-game birds besides!

All the northern states protect the robin, for the good that it does; but in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and some other southern states, thousands of robins are shot for food. Minnesota has stopped spring shooting; but her sister state on the south, Iowa, obstinately refuses to do so.

THE UNITED STATES AT LARGE.--There are two great measures that should be carried into effect by the governing body of the United States. One is the enactment of a law providing federal protection for all migratory birds; and Canada and Mexico should be induced to join with the United States _in an international treaty to that effect_.