The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-12-11
PROPERTY IN FISH AND GAME.

If it was the common law that hens,
chickens, turkeys and geese belonged to
nobody; that anybody might kill and eat
them at pleasure, it would not be long
before the race of domestic fowls would
become extinct. Nobody would dare to
leave an egg in nest, lest some one else
should get it; or leave half ripe chicken
on the roost, lest some one else should pick
it. Every man would slay all he could lay
his hands on. Or if it was the common law
that sheep and lambs belonged to nobody,
it would be impossible to preserve them
from utter destruction. Each man, when
he saw sheep or lamb, would take it
and sequester it for his own use, lest his
neighbor should get the start of him.
There is no common or statute law pro-
tecting fish and game. Therefore our fish
and game are rapidly disappearing; in fact,
have almost entirely been extermnated.
No man who discovers a trout. however
small-the salmon and shad were long ago
destroyed-but hastens to catch it lest the
next fisherman should take what he re-
jected. Hence, our clear, cool mountain
streams, which the trout love, are fast
becoming depopulated of the electric, Grim
son-spotted beauty of the northern waters.
Rivers and brooks that once were the home
of the trout, and furnished ample and lux
urious supplies of food to the pioneers of
the State, are now stripped clean of this
rich and delicate fish. The disgusting
club and the nauseous pout have taken his
place. The streams that once were filled
with the flashing trout are now filled with
the mean-spirited tribes that hang lazily
and heavily on the hook, which no house
wife would cook and a starving man would
hardly eat. The red deer that used to
roam our forests long ago; the rabbits that
haunted the evergreen groves; the part
ridges that whirred through the cedar and
hemlock of the swamps; the woodcock that
loved the dingle and the open field, have
left us, in whole or in bunch, and we have
no venison for our table, and only now and
then a partridge, rabbit or woodcock for a
wedding feast or a special and honored
guest. What belongs to everybody belongs
to nobody, and hence our streams and for
ests, which might produce enough fish and
game to pay all our taxes, and leave us
handsome sum besides, are as barren and
unproductive as stagnant pool, Or the
Desert of Siberia.
What We need is a law, not simply pro
tecting game and fish-for such law is as
useless as any sumptuary statute-but one
making game and fish the property of the
owners of the land OH which they are
found, and the streams through whose ter
ritory they run. Then, every man who
owned forest or stream would protect
his property in game and fish as much as
he would protect his property in poultry
and sheep. A law protecting fish and game
can provide no adequate means to secure
the protection. A law making the fish and
game of the State the property of those
upon whose estates they are found, would
make each landholder in the State an inter-
ested keeper and guardian of his property.
Then every man will protect his own
rights in his trout and grouse, as much as
he would in his poultry and flocks. The
territory of the State would be constantly
under the eyes of the watchful guardians
of their own rights. The depopulated
streams wonld be filled again, either by the
natural increase of the few trout that are
left in them, or by artificial propagation
both of trout and salmon. The artificial
propagation of fish is of little use SO long
as no ownership is created anywhere in the
fish themselves.
The result of such laws would be, first,
the enrichment Of the people of the State.
Every farm would become breeding or
feeding ground for the most delicate and
luxurious articles Of food for the table.
In every stream and forest would be raised,
without cost to the proprietor, food enough
to equal all the product of the poultry yard
and sheep fold. The annual increase Of
fish and game, under favorable circum-
stances, is greater than the annual increase
of domestic animals. The woods and
streams furnish abundant supplies of cost
less food to their denizens. The proprie-
tor, if he did not wish to secure his own
game, could lease the privilege of shooting
or fishing, as is done in other countries, for
a sum that would exceed his interest and
taxes, and would furnish in many cases a
handsome revenue. 1t would turn what is
now of no profit, especially if he should
cultivate his forests and streams, into =