The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-12-28
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(e) Gamekeepers, etc., may take the pame
away from poachers day or night. rs
Constables can search the person or domi
cle on suspicion. 4th. Allows gatnekeep.
ers to take away nets, guns and dogs from
persons not having license. 9th. All
persons dealing in game must have a Ii.
cense. The licensed seller must not be an
inkeeper, victualler or seller of beer or
liquors, person employed or having TO do
with any public conveyance. These deal
ers must not buy game of any one who has
not license to kill game. No one is al
lowed to sell to any one but a dealer, no
one is allowed to buy, as above noted, of
any but licensed dealer. III kill the
partridges on my own land cannot sell but
TO the dealer, if you wish to purchase n
pair you must buy them of the dealer.
Of licenses. Every person must take
out license before he can kill any game,
l. e., hares, pheasants, cartridges, wood
cock, snipe, rabbits, grouse, flock or moor
game, land rail, comics or deer. lie must
show his license when demanded by the
gamekceper, landowner, lessee or any IL
censed person. lie must give his name
and address. A list of persons licensed is
published. This license gives no right to
shoot on any ones land nor upon a public
highway. 1t is simply the imperative an
tecedent to shooting upon his own land
even. The gamekeeper of licensed per
son Is free to shoot while in his masters
service. The exceptions to the rule for Ii
cense are, LIST, taking woodcock with nets
or springs; %, for destroying rabbits in the
service of the proprietor 81, for coursirr
hares; 4th, chasing deer with hounds; 9th.
taking and killing deer by the proprietor in
enclosures. The members Of the royal
family, gamekeepers on crown lands and
guests of those having license are exempt.
This, substantially, ia the English game
code. SO much Of it as rests on the COM
mon law is almost identical with that which
by operation of the common law exists in
every state in the union, for l believe every
state has formally adopted as a part of lis
own, the common law of England so far
as that is compatible with its constitution
What we need now is statutes enforcing the
principles of the common law. OF what
avail is the common law right to the exclu
sive shooting on my own land if the statute
provides no penalty for robbing me of that
right? My land is my own, Cat least would
be If had any, and it seems but reason
able that the complete and unnterrupted
possession of it should be secured TO me by
the operation of law. True | can pursue
for trespass but the otfensc is merely techni.
cal. As it now stands l might turn out
fifty pairs of quail in the spring to re-estab-
fish the shooting, but unless / kept them
tame and in wire cages any one could come
in the fall and kill all the birds had turned
loose and their progeny. Oh, but, says
some one, "this would deprive the poor
man of his sport, and no one ought to be
allowed to do that The raising of corn
and potatoes is uso of the land and by Il
parity OF reasoning my corn and pototoes
should not be protected, for, in that case,
the poor man could not well help himself to
my whole crop. l have just as much right
to my shooting as to my potatoes. If my
crops were free to the public it is not at all
probable that 1 should trouble myself to
plant any. If all my neighbors came to
the same conclusion think the poor man
would be the first to suffer by it for pota-
toes would soon grow scarce and so high
in price as to be beyond the poor mans
purse As things now are the peor man
gets but little game for his tramp and /,
the landowner, get no more. The practice
does him no good and me much harm. The
land in New England yields now little or no
money value, in game to the acre, to any
body, while with game laws it would yield,
at least, one-fourth as much rs it does in
farm produce. Yours truly,
NJ. GOLDSMITH