New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-19
THE GAME LAW BAD.
AN uNAvAILING EFFORT TO NuLLIry IT
IT WAS PROPOSED TO ALLOW THE SALE or BIRD
AND BEAST ALL THE YEAR HOUND
but TiIrs BILL WAS RAD

49,. .,.,. ,oo,,. wouid no able 10 buy game OF n
| kinds in the open market al the year ro"",' ~
| vIded tho dealers would swear that " hnh pee"
killed or captured out OF the State or before tne
| beginning OF the close season. he was astoun"'.
| AcconIne to the dealer, the bill had passed po'"
! houses and only awaited the Governors signature
TO become n law. or what use then All the ca'e"'
| laws for the protection of game with wh'ch '"e
various societies all over the state nave oeen
hedging the fur and feathers OF the woooed p''''
OF the country for SO many years. II at one sweep
the whole thing was thus to be done away WIN
| 1t appears, however that the Association Ior ''e
| Protection of Game has not been asleep TOT 'ne
bill was radically amended. In fact since the 'as'
buffalo was killed In New-York State IN leoi inns
az sociation has not only labored successfully AZ
| Albany for the furtherance OF Its objects, Out IL
| has done far more. 1t has taken up .tne very
strongest possible weapon In behalf OF the game ~,
tereststhe social one-and successfully WELDED lie
| II has done what the old lines say Is an infaiioie
way OF stopp,ng an evil; It has made pot hunting
| and killing game out of season unfashionapie'
| Let parsons tell what Ills befal
| On such as listen when their passions call;
| We from things our pupils to ahr'snt,
| Say they're SINS but that they're ifnpon'e'
| There was a time when 1t was the height OF po-
likeness for a to offer game to his guests OUT
| of season and call 1t facetiously owl NO" sue"
! a thing would be looked upon as positively rude'
The change from the idea that violations OF 'he
game laws smart or pleasing has come apou'
| through the efforts Of the members of the dfereht
societies for the protection of objects or the chase
| who when game offered them out OF season
always refused 1t In such a manner that the OF
| fence would not be repeated at least with them
Robert b. Lawrence. secretary or the Ne"-iorh
| Association for the Protection OF Game says thae
| everybody in America ought TO work together 10
! helm keep the game laws 1t is not here, MT Law
| renee saws as in England, where the laws for the
| protection of game against the many and for
| the few Here these laws are for the many ana
against the few. He instances to prove TINS asSer-
| ton the prohibition of placing nets where they
would prevent the fish from going up the streams
| to spawn and thus deprive a large number OF peo-
| nIe NJ n food and of a sport that should be theirs.
| II Is the same with game with fish. II gunners
| could bang away all the month or September at
| the migratory birds that stop to feed along the
| shores of Long Island, the birds that managed 10
get away would soon forget that there were any
good feeding places along Long Island that 1t was
| in fact anything else than good place to keep
| away from.
Mr. Lawrence admitted that at first there was a
| bill offered which contained a clause permitting
| the exposure and sale of game in New-York mar
kes all the year II the dealers could swear that IL
was either taken or killed in the open season or
| outside the State. This promptly amended
| and the game law awaiting Governor Mortons
| signature Mr. Lawrence considers Improvement
| in several directions over the existing one.
One OF the most important amendments to tho
is the provision that wild fowl may be shot all over
| the State until May !. But the opening OF the
sea son has been postponed until OCTOBER on Long
Island. while 1t opens on September In the other
shooting grounds OF the State. The change maze
| cxtends the omen season from March /. giving two
| clear months OF the sport TO It's followers.
Opinions are divided 10 the advisabiity or ms
Some enthusiastic sportsmen even go so Tar as 10
| criticlse Grover Cleveland for going duck-shooung
| In the spring. Mr.. Lawrence says ne DANES no
| man for shooting all he can In the open season.
| sun another change IN the game laws ~ the
prohibition OF any deer shooting whatever on Long
| Island for "A period OF two years from tho passage
! of the act I,y an amendment offered by Mr. hig-
bic 10 tho Donaldson BILL II was provided tha inc
| clause permitting tho shooting OF bay enpe on
| Long Island from May Ii 20 January be stricken
| ont although It favored by tho marketmen
| and now the bay snpe are protected up TO July j.
durinp their migrating season. so are other snipe
| c,irlew and povcr. Mr.. Lawrence himself went
TO Albany and held consultations regarding tho
/ proposed changes In the game laws with senators
| Guy and Childs.
| Alfred Wagsaff vice president OF the Association
| for tho Protection OF Came lives at Babylon and
| "a extremely fond Of the sporting attractions or
| the Great South Bay. Mr.. Wagstah thinks that
| one of the most important changes In the game
| laws is the one inserting "or having IN posses
| sion' in tho black bass provisions. Mr. Wagstar
does not think even If II practicable that 1t
would be a good thing to close the shooting lists
| NJ the State absolutely for say five years He
| thinks that scarcity OF game, anomalous as this
| may seem, would result from it, QUAIL for eN-
| ample according to Mr.. Wagstan, need 10 De dis-
| turbed In order to breed freely. Mr. WagstaH does
not think that there Is any scarcity OF game TO be
| feared on account of the severe weather of last
! winter at would only be the quail that would De
the sufferers from its effects he says All the
| other birds go too far South 10 be affected Whoie
| beves of quail were found dead In virginia AFTER
| last February's severe storm
| Thomas y. Cuthbert. treasurer and counsel OF
| tho New-york Association for the Protection OF
Game who lives at Riverdale only thinks of shoot
| ing and fishing when not engaged IN MS business.
| Mr. Cuthbert says that TO do away with the Ia"
| preventing the exposure and sale OF game during
the closed season is to nuilfy these laws Tor the
| nrotection of fur and feathers altogether III was
| .ho ,ate Rova1 Phelps who was chiefly responsible
for the act of 1871 when game lovers succeeded in
| getting through law absolutely promoting the
| exposure sale having IN possession OF game
during the closed season, and 1t Is due to this law
that there is now any game al all IN the state Oh
| New-York
| Mr. c,thbert saws that game Is naturally becon,-
| ,ry scarcer and dearer with the advance of civza-
ton. and looking back in his memory, he dwelt for
! a moment in the happy days of the past, when
quail that now cost 50 30 10 81 dozen, were plenti-
Iua'' a. from 81 20 to So: prairie chicken. that
command 81 IS pair were only % cents Ana other
Tas in perpSe to see how the is dsap
pearlng even under the strictest laws that can be
| enforced II the law was repealed there would be
no came AT ali in surprisingly short time
When Mr. Cuthbert was told that a WASHINGTON
| of the game laws In New York state would make
little difference In the number OF deer and partridge
,hat would still be found In Newly ork because the
greater part OF the market supply OF game FOR this
ccommunity comes from points far beyond the Adj
rondack region, and the pot-hunters would have
no object in killing New York game for the reason
tbat The West and Canada could ship game 10 New
York more cheaply than It could be sold here when
shot in the East and also because amateurs did
IN he
and said that there two replies to these argu,
menfs The first that the loss to lovers OF
Shooting and fishing by allowing the exposure and
sale OF game at all seasons would be just great
A. the game was killed out of the State. as In IL.
for Ncw-Yoril sportsmen did not con1ne their trips
TO the ACKNOWLEDGES but went much further Dis.
lance aiied The other reason for not dong away
with a close season FOR the sale of game was that
unless there were castron laws against having In any
onc's during certain seasons OF the
wear the whole list of laws might as well be taken
an ar once and the bars let entirely down IL would
he a shftlcss sort OF dealer who II arrested Tor
exposing game In New ork curing the close sen s