The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-17 00:00:00

GAME LAWS.

The following is the report (,just i.suod by order of
the House of COITITI10!1%, t,geti,Pr with the minutes of
evidence taken (hiring the pre ,n; tv,,,,ion) of the Select
Committee appointed to inquir, into the operati,;n of the
game laws, and to report th-ir ob•ervatiot s an-i opinion
thereon to the House, and who were empowered to re-
port the minutes of evidence taken before 'hem.
1. Resolved, that it in the opinion of this Committee,
that the common law of England has alwas s distinctly
recognised a qualified right of property in game ; and
that from a very early period it has been found neces.
eery, by statutory enactment, to make some sp. vial pro-
Viet against the attempt to steal or dvstroy a p,cies
property peculiarly exp bsed to depredation.
z• ,gesolved, that it is the opinion of this Commit'oe,
that the "...tringpncy of the game-laws has been from time
to time materially qualified and relaxed.
3. Resolved, that it is the a pinion of this Committee,
that the recent Act Ist and 2d William IV., c. 32 vested
the property in gsme in the occupier of the soil, and
distinctly recognised in game, as the subject of sale,
one of the essential qualities of private property.
4. Resolved, that under these c;rcunvitarces, the
tenant has at all times the power to secure the game to
himself, or to reject the tenancy, if the proprietor of the
land insists on a reservation being made of the game in
his (the proprietor's) favour.
5. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that to exclude game from the protection of the law
would be inconsistent with a due regard to the secarity
Of other property.
6. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that the taking of game by persons who have no right
of property in it should continue to be the subject of
penal legislation.
7. Resolved, that in reviewing the statues now in force
with reference to the pursuit and sale of game, it
appears to Committee that alterations may be suggested
which, without impairing their efficiency for the re-
pression of crime, would prevent the uneval or exoes•
sive punishment of pers .ns who vio ate their provisions.
$. Resolved, that it is expedient to abolish cumulative
penalties for poaching.
9. Resolved, that your Committee are not, however,
prepared to recommend such an alteration of the law
as would exempt from more severe penalties those who,
in the illegal pursuit of game commit at the same
time a breach of the revenue laws, or those who in the
day time, being armed, and in numbers, are guilty of
violen e.

10. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that the p.•t►alty imposed by the statute s•t Geo.
c. 43, for spurting without a certificate, at pear; ex.
cessive.

11. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that the space oot• three days allowed by section 44 of
and 2 Will. IV., c. 32, for giving notic • of appeal
against any summary conviction under this Act, should
be extended.

12. Resolved, that it is the opinion o' this Committee,
that it is expedient that so much of the sth an I 6,11
Will. IV., c. 20. which allows a rn, iety of th:, p-nalty
levied under the Ist and 2 I Will. IV., c. 52, to go to the
informer, should be repealed.
13. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that no person convicted of night poaching. under see- 1,
liith Geo. IV., c. 69, whose offecce is unattended by cir-
cumstances of aggravation, should be subjected to the
punishment of transportation.
14. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that no person convicted of night poaching, and ,r the
first section 9th Geo. IV., c. 69, should be required to
find sureties for not repeaticg such offence.
15. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that, apart from consideration of revenue. every owner
or occupier of land having the right to kill the game on
that land, should ha►e such right a ithout being re
quire(' t4i tic. outs game certific itt'.
16 Resolved, that your Comm ttee rurther recommend
the ablition of certificates as regards the pursuit and de-
struction of hares by means of packs of hounds, or by
greyhounds ; and also to recommend the reduction to
the duties on greyhounds to those proposed on common
dogs.
17. Resolved, that your Committee regret to find that
great facilities stilt exist for the disposal of stolen game.
18. Resolved, that it has been suggested to Tim- Com-
mittee, that by imposing additional legislative restric-
tions upon the sale of game, such facilities might be di-
minished if not altogether removed ; but the practical
difficulty of enforcing any such regulations appears to
your Committee to be almost insurmountable, and the
regulations themselves would necessarily be of so strin-
gent and vexatious a character, that your Committee
cannot recommend their adoption.
19. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee.
that the powers of constables should be better defined
and enlarged, in regard to the search and detention of
persons found under suspicious circumstances with game
in their possession; and that power should he given to
constables to search public-houses and beer shops
(licensed to sell off as well as on the premises) for came,
it having been proved before the Committee that they
are extensive receptacles for stolen game.
20. Resolved, that it is the opinion of' this Committee,
that the present time fixed for the period at which
feathered game becomes a marketable article, and sale-
able by the dealer, should be postponed , and they re-
commend, that the sate f each species of game should
be deferred until one day after the season for shooting it
has commenced.

21. Resolved, that yrur Committee has received evi-
dence to show that the preservation of large qtantities
of game has bee* the frequent cause of damage to the
neighbouring crops.
22. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that in cases where the damage done to the growing
crops of the occupier is caused by game belonging to or
reserved by the owner of the land, such damage may be
made the subject of pecuniary compensation.
23. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that although instances to the contrary have been proved
to your Committee, evidence has been adduced before
them which warrants the conclusion that. in g,•nPral, a
tenant's just claim for compensation is complied with by
his landlord.

24. Res.lred, that it is the opinion of this Committee.
that great diiiculty must a:wairs exit in (let, rorning
the great amount of darrE.g's which has been inflicted by
game on growing moos, and that the estimAte OF such
damage, however skilfully made, is rarely satisfactory to
both parties.
25. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that where, from the vicinity of the preserves of ad-
joining proprietors, such damage must be attributed to '
the game bred and preserved therein, the reparation for
such damage cannot generally be made the subject of
previous agreement.
26. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee
that, under these circumstances, cases of hardship may
be expected to recur ; but the extreme difficulty of e4a.
blishing the liability of any particular party for the
damage done, or correctly ass-sting the amount of such
damage, bare induc'd your Committee to reject the
:Ingestion that an action on the case would he a fitting
or practical remedy for damage done to growing crops
by game.
27. Resolved, that it is the opinion of thi4 Committee
that this species of damage is to be attrihtred
if not entirely. to hares and r bbits, and th no appre-
ciable proportion of suet damage can be ascribed to
feathered game.
28. Resolved, that it is the opinion of this Committee,
that the law in Scotland with regard to game cliff-I.s
from that in England in many essential particulars. and
but little evidence respecting that part of the subject has
been adduced before your Committee.

The followine is a copy of the resolutions proposed in
Committee by Mr. Bright:—
RESOLUTIONS.

1. That although the lawrec7gnises a qualified in-
terest in game, as resting in the owner of the land, it ap-
pears to your Committee that, among all classes of the
community, a most important d atieetion is drawn be-
tween such interest in game and the right by which
other property is held.
2. That this distinction is an insuperable obstacle to
any general acknowlegment of the propriety of the
stringent legislation by which it has been, and is now,
sought to give protection to the qualified property
which exists in game.
3. That infringements of the game-laws are not in
general regarded by any class as violations of the moral
law, and such offences are not considered of-thems9lyes
to fix criminality upon the characters of those who com-
mit them.

4. That, except among the class whose sports the
',game-laws are intended to protect, there apt,ears to pre-
vail a strong sympathy- towards. individuals who cume
under the penalties inflicted by ihose laws.
5 That the penalties thus inflicted appear wholly
ineffectual to prevent infractions of the g-me-laws, or
to reclaim those who offend against them, inasmuch as
it is proved that very frequently the same individuals
ere convicted ten, fifteen, or even twenty times during
the course of a few years.
6. That the offenders against whom the game-laws
are enforced do not admit the justice of their sentences,
but rather deny the impartiality of the tribunal by
which they are tried, and consider themselves as victims
-of a harsh and unequal law.
7. That, although game offences are not by public sen-
timent deemed criminal, yet they lead the labeuring
Classes, in towns as well as in the rand districts, by a
Course of irregular habits, to offences of a more seri- ms
character.

8* That Ina large proportion of cases, in almost every
county, the administer the came-laws
are preservers of game, who
and. very frequently passionately
fond of shooting t and this circumst.nee gives rise to a
suspicion of hiss
magistrates themselves feel
that ti administration tofethe law is regarded with ex-
treme jealousy.
of unfairness
t is increased by
9. That- this suspicion
only witnet-s against
• the fact that almost .invariably
or
9.B,Vstant, one of
the poacher is a gamekeeper
generally lays the information: nottilosre, receiver
whom
es the
secure a convictioni4jv
of a portion of the penaltl, whthit the
only testimony required to
pears, further, that it i- rare that an indiffwrent.or lii.' "-
terested party gives evidence in game cases ' Ish.'-
' except in
Savour of the perion chstN
law the game upon a farm
ed with the offence.
10. That although by
is held to be the property of the occupier, except when
sceGially reserved to the landlord, yet it is proved that
the practice of so rest rving it is all but universal; and
that, in reality, the control over the game is in very
rare instances is the hacds of the occupying tenants.
11. That by an overwhelming mass of evidence it
is proved that enormous danger is gustained by the
cultivators of the soil where game is prtaserved, greatly
exceeding, according to the evidence of 'Deny practical
and most .respectable farmers, the whole amount Of
the poor-rare, county-rate, church rate, high way rate,
and income•ta.%. payable upon 04 farm upon which
the game is preserved, or which may be in the imme-
diate neighbourht:od of a preserve.
12. That it is prov-ed upon the evidence of most trust.
worthy tenant-farmers and laadovueral that to compel).